39—44-
‘dyyapedoe: "' µίλιον ἕν, " ὕπαγε pet αὐτοῦ δύο.
113
42. τῷ * αἰτοῦντί 1 Ch. xxvii 32.
σε Sidou!- καὶ τὸν θέλοντα ἀπὸ god Saveicacbar? μὴ ἀποστραφῇῆς. xv. 21.
m here only.
43. ᾿Ηκούσατε ὅτι ἐρρέθη, ᾿Αγαπήσεις τὸν ° πλησίον σου, καὶ µισήσεις n followed
τὸν ἐχθρόν σου’ 44. ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν», εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς καταρωµένους ὑμᾶς, καλῶς ποιεῖτε τοὺς μισοῦντας ὑμᾶς,ξ καὶ προσεύχεσθε ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐπηρεαζόντων Spas, καὶ * διωκόντων
ο with acc. of person asked here, Ch. vi. 8 Lk. vi. 9ο.
by pera and gen. here and in Lk. xii. 58 (ἐπί τινα
2 added).
p Ch. xix. 19. Lk. x. 27.
1 δος in NBD. διδου (T. R.) conforms to Luke (vi. 30).
2.W.H. Ρὶνεδανισασθαι after SB*DA.
* One of the more important various readings occurs here.
From ευλογειτε to
vpas is omitted in QB, some ancient versions (including Syr. Sin.), and some
cursives. spirit from Lk. vi. 27.
The omitted part may be regarded as an importation in a harmonistic It is left out by most modern editors.
‘rev επηρεαζοντων υμας και also wanting in ${B, and also imported from Lk.
(vi. 28).
extent to which this system prevailed is seen in the elaborate provisions of the later Roman law: angariae came to be one of those modes of taxing property which, under the vicious system of the empire, ruined both individuals and com- munities’. An instance in N. T. of the use of the word in this later sense occurs in Mt. xxvii. 32, Mk. xv. 21, in reference to Simon compelled to carry Christ’s cross. We may conceive the compulsion in the present case to proceed from a military man.—p(Avoy, a Roman mile, about 1600 yards, a late word.—8vo, in point of time, the additional mile = two, there and back, with proportional fatigue, a decided climax of hardship. But it is not merely a question of time, as Achelis thinks, The sense of oppression is in- volved, subjection to arbitrary military power. Christ’s counsel is: do not sub- mit to the inevitable in a slavish, sullen spirit, harbouring thoughts of revolt. Do the service cheerfully, and more than you are asked. The counsel is far-reaching, covering the case of the Jewish people subject to the Roman yoke, and of slaves serving hard masters. The three cases of non-resistance are not meant to foster an abject spirit. They point out the higher way to victory. He that mag- nanimously bears overcomes,
Ver. 42. This counsel does not seem to belong to the same category as the preceding three. One does not think of begging or borrowing as an injury, but at most as a nuisance. Some have doubted the genuineness of the logion as a part of the Sermon. But it occurs in Luke’s redaction (vi. 30), transformed indeed so as to make it a case of the
sturdy beggar who helps himself to what he does not get for the asking. Were there idle, lawless tramps in Palestine in our Lord’s time, and would He counsel
uch treatment of them? If so, it is the extreme instance of not resisting evil.— μὴ ἀποστραφῇς with τὸν θέλοντα in accusative. One would expect the geni- tive with the middle, the active taking an accusative with genitive, ¢.¢., 2 Tim. iv. 4, THY ἀκοὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας. But the transitive sense is intelligible. In turn- ing myself away from another, I turn him away from me. Vide Heb. xii. 25, 2 Tim. i. 15.
Vv. 43-48. Sixth and final illus- tration: from the Law of Love. Το απ old partial form of the law Jesus opposes a new universal one.—Ver. 43. ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐρρέθη: said where, by whom, and about whom? The sentiment Jesus supposes His hearers to have heard is not found in so many words in the O. T. The first part, ‘“ Thou shalt love thy neighbour,”’ occurs in Lev. xix. 18. The contrary of thessecond part is found in Ex. xxiii. 4, where humanity towards the straying or overburdened beast of an enemy is enjoined. It is to be hoped that even the scribes did not in cold blood sin against the spirit of this precept by teaching men to love their private friends and hate their private enemies. Does πλησίον then mean an Israelite, and ἐχθρόν a Gentile, and was the fault of. the traditional law of love that it con- fined obligation within national limits ? The context in Lev. xix. 18 gives wh. that sense: ‘‘ Thou shalt not bear any grudge against the children of thy people”. On