, the other hand, the tendency of Israel’s.
114
Vv.
μας” 45. ὅπως γένησθε υἱοὶ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς, ὅτι only in Ν. τὸν ἥλιον αὐτοῦ Ἰ ἀνατέλλει ἐπὶ πονηροὺς καὶ ἀγαθούς, καὶ * βρέχει Gen. iii. ἐπὶ δικαίους καὶ ἀδίκους. 46. ἐὰν γὰρ ἀγαπήσητε τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας
Ἰ. Some editors, following DZ, prefer οντως to το αυτο.
W.H., while retaining
το αντο, which has the support of JBL, put οντως (DZ) in the margin.
election, and of certain texts (vide Ex. xxiii., Deut. vii.), was to foster aversion to the outside nations, and from Ezra onwards the spirit of Judaism was ope of increasing hostility towards the goyim— vide Esther. The saying ο. by Jesus, if not an exact report of Rabbinical teaching, did no injustice to its general attitude. And the average Jew in this respect followed the guidance of his teachers, loving his own countrymen, regarding with racial and _ religious aversion those beyond the pale.—Ver. 44. ἐχθροὺς may be taken in all senses: national, private, religious. Jesus abso- lutely negatives hatred as inh
But the sequel shows that He has in view the enemies whom it is most diffi- cult to Ίονε--διωκόντων : those who persecute on account of μη. The clauses imported into the T. R. from Luke have a more general reference to enmities arising from any cause, although they also receive a very emphatic mean- ing when the cause of alienation is religious differences. There are no hatreds so bitter and ruthless as those originating therein. How hard to love the persecutor who thinks he does God service by igh upon you all manner of indignities. ut the man who can rejoice in persecution (ver. 12) can love and pray for the tor. The cleavage between Christians and un- believers took the place of that between the chosen race and the Gentiles, and tempted to the same sin.
Vv. 45-47. Characteristically lofty in- ducements to obey the new law; like- ness to God (ver. 45); moral distinction among men (vv. 46, 47).—wlol τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν: in order that ye may be indeed sons of God: noblesse oblige ; . God's sons must be Godlike. “ Father”
i The new name for God occurs sixteen times in the Sermon on the Mount ; to familiarise by repetition, and define by discriminating use.—8r1, not = 3s, but meaning '' because’’: for so your Father acts, and not otherwise can ye be His sons.—ayv. “€AAe, sometimes intransitive,
as in Μι, iv. 16, Lk. xii. 54, here transitive, also in Sept., Gen. iii. 18, etc., and in some Greek authors (Pindar. Isth. vi., 11ο, e.g.) to cause to rise. The use of καίειν (νετ. 15) and ἀνατέλλειν in an active sense is a revival of an old
tic sy 4 in later brs (exx. of the
er in Elsner). a= pluit(Vulg.), said of God, as fe de dy κοιν τοῦ Aids (Kypke, Observ. Sac.). The use Eas be ag gh also in this sense is a revi poetic usage. —-rovypois, ἀγαθούς; Sixalovs, a5ixovs, not pie repetition, Thereis a difference between ἀγαθός and Tees similar to that between generous and just. πονηροὺς may be rendered niggardly—vide on vi. 23. The sentiment thus becomes: “ God makes His sun rise on niggardly and generous alike, and His rain on just and unjust”. A similar thought in Seneca, De benif. iv. 26: “Si deos imitaris, da et ingratis beneficia, nam et sceleratis sol oritur, et piratis patent maria”. The power of fact stated to influence as a motive is wholly destroyed by a pantheistic conception of God as indifferent to moral distinctions, or a deistic idea of Him as transcendent, too far above the world, in heaven, as it were, to be able to take note of such differences. The divine impartiality is due to magnanimity, not to indifference or i ce. Another important re- flection is that in this word of Jesus we find distinct recognition of the fact that in human life ε is a large sphere (sun and rain, how much these cover !) in which men are treated by Providence irrespectively of character; by no means a matter of course in a Jewish teacher, the tendency being to insist on exact correspondence between lot and charac- ter under a purely retributive conception of God's relation toman.—Ver. 46.μισθὸν: here, and three times in next chapter ; one of several words used in this connection of