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sufficiency in themselves. God is sufficient for those who are taught by Him. — rig), any one , whoever he may be. By rejecting the whole class of seducers, individuals are the more easily ordered to begone, although they wish to appear more excellent than others. — d/dawy, teach) Heb. viii. 11, note. — b^ag, you) You are cra/d/a, little children , but not however ignorant. — a?X ug, but [it is] as) The verb sub- stantive is to be understood between the two particles, as between but as, and as, not as, in ver. 19, 18, and ch. iii. 12 ; 2 Cor. iii. 13. Nor are we to think that as in this passage has not its Apodosis until the is, or, ye shall abide. — ro ah to, the same) at all times ; not one thing at one time, and another at another, but consistent with itself, and the same in the case of all who are holy. — diddaxsi v/xdg, teaches you) The mutual communication is not set aside, but is approved of, in the case of those who are made partakers of the anointing in one body. Teaches, the present tense : from which arises the past, hath taught , with an eye to the future, ye shall abide. — <rspi ndvruv, concerning all things) which you ought to know and to be taught. An antithesis to one and the same. — xa i ohx ten -^whoc, and is no lie) like that, which they boast of. — sd/dag sv, hath taught you) the anointing. — /asv sTrs, ye shall abide) The faithful are ordered to say, As the anointing hath taught us, abiding in that doctrine, we shall abide in the Son, and therefore in the Father also : ver. 24. This Future has the force of consolation and exhortation. The whole discourse brought down from ver. 18 to this verse, is most pleasantly adapted to young children, and in particular the mention of teaching and anointing.
28. Texv/a,1 dear sons) Having now finished his address to the three different ages, he returns to the whole. — fi'svsre, abide ) — iv aura, in Him) in Jesus Christ. For it is He who shall be manifested. — KuppYiriav) confidence, of having kept the truth (ch. iii. 21, iv. 17, v. 14). — (Jjt\ u/^vvdu^sv, we may not be ashamed) Oh! how great will then be your shame, ye Jews, Socinians, and all pretended Christians, and whomsoever He shall deny to be His ! — era povc'ta, at His coming) He places this object before the fathers, the young men, and chil- dren. It appears, therefore, that he wrote this Epistle before the Apocalypse, in which at length His coming is represented as put off to a greater distance. Tertullian supposes that the Epistle was sub- sequently written.
1 The word pcov, which was set down by the margin of both Editions among the readings not to be approved of, by some chance or other has crept into the Germ. Vers. — E. B.
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