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rou T/oD roO 0eou, unto you who believe in the name of the Son of God) The sura of verses 5-10. — ha tihr\rt bn g^srg alwviov, that ye may know that ye may have eternal eternal life) This is derived from ver.
11. xai i'va tfvmuTjrs, and that ye may believe) namely, under the
nearer hope of life. This is derived from ver. 12. We ought altogether to be in the faith.
14. Kara ro Oshrifia aurov , according to His will) A most just con- dition, of very extensive application. [The pronoun avrov has reference to God. — Y. g.]
15. ’Eav oi&afie v) if we know . ’Em sometimes takes an indicative, of past time ; and it does so here to give strength. — fyopev, we have) even before the event itself (comp. 1 Sam. i. 17, 18) ; and we know that the event itself is not from chance, but obtained by prayers.
16. ’Eav nc , if any one) The most important of all cases is added,
that you are able to pray even for another, in a most serious matter : comp. ch. ii. 1. — 7 Bp, shall see) This sin can therefore be known by the regenerate. — d,aaprdvovra a/joapriav , fx,r\ rrpog Qdvarov , sinning a sin , not unto death) A sin of any kind, provided that it is not unto death. — w, not) a form of excepting (Matt. xix. 9), has greater force than ov , not , ver. 17. As long as it is not evident that it is a sin unto death, it is lawful to pray. — Qdvarov , death) Respecting the disease of which Lazarus died, but shortly afterwards was raised from the dead, it is said, It is not unto death , John xi. 4, note : but Hezekiah was sick unto death , Isa. xxxviii. 1, had he not
recovered by a miracle. But J ohn is here speaking of death and life , as ch. iii. 14. Moreover what is meant by a sin unto death , is declared from the opposite, in ver. 17, where the subject is, all un- righteousness ; the predicate consists of two members, sin, and that coming short of death. Therefore any unrighteousness, which is committed in common life, is a sin not unto death. But sin unto death is not an ordinary or sudden sin, but a state of the soul, in which faith, and love, and hope, in short, the new life, is extin- guished : when any one knowingly and willingly embraces death, not from the allurements of the flesh, but from the love of sin, as sin.
ferent order which occurs in the Germ. Yers. follows the decision of Ed. 2. — E. B.
The words after vpt.lv, viz. rolg xionvovtnv down to rov ©gov, are omitted by AB Vulg. Memph. Theb. and both Syr. Versions. Rec. Text adds them after vpt.lv, without any of the oldest authorities. Lower down Rec. Text has ku\ hot, mo~ rev/irs , with more recent authorities. But A Yulg. and almost all other Versions have oi moTivourti. B has ro?j manvovoiv. — E.
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