212
a Acts i. 25 (with ἀπὸ).
b Mk. vii. 3, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι,”
5, 9, 13.
.
XV. 1. ΤΟΤΕ προσέρχονται τῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ of! ἀπὸ “Ἱεροσολύμων
λέγοντες, 2. “Atari οἱ µαθηταί σου
1 Cor. xi.* παραβαίνουσι τὴν παράδοσιν τῶν πρεσβυτέρων ; οὗ γὰρ νίπτονται
2. Gali
14. Col. τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῶν," ὅταν ἄρτον ἐσθίωσιν.͵ 3. Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν
Thess. ii. αὐτοῖς, “ Διατί καὶ ὑμεῖς παραβαίνετε τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ τὴν
τς; ΠΠ. 6.
cme ae παράδοσιν ὑμῶν; 4. ὍὉ γὰρ Θεὸς ἐνετείλατο, λέγων, ‘Tipa τὸν Acts xix. 9 πατέρα cov,° καὶ τὴν μητέρα: καί, ΄Ὁ *kaxohoyav πατέρα ἢ
24. 26 ;
xiii. 9 al.
148BD omit οι.
4 For ενετειλατο λεγων BD have simply ειπεν.
. XVi. > 26; xxvii. µητέρα θανάτῳ teheuTaTw :
-Vve ‘ a , A ra > a . > .
Heb. πατρὶ ἢ τῇ µητρί, Δῶρον, ὃ ἐὰν ἐξ ἐμοῦ ἃ ὀφεληθῇς, καὶ ὅ οὗ μὴ
2 Φαρ. και γραμ. in NBD.
5. ὑμεῖς δὲ λέγετε, “Os ἂν εἴπῃ τῷ B Y πῃ τῷ
5 SBA Orig. omit αντων. > &8BCD omit σον.
® K8BCD omit και, which affects the construction; vide below.
changed into ἀπὸ by attraction of the verb.—?ap. καὶ yp.-, usually named in inverse order, as in Τ.Ε. Our evangelist makes the whole party come from Jeru- salem; Mk., with more probability, the scribes only. The guardians of tradition in the Capital have their evil eye on Jesus and co-operate with the provincial rigor- ists.—Ver. 2. διατί of pad. cov παραβ.: no instance of offence specified in this case, as in ix. 1Ο and xii. 1. The zealots must have been making inquiries or playing the spy into the private habits of the disciple circle, seeking for grounds of fault-finding (cf. Mk. vii. 2).---παρα- βαίνουσι: strong word (Mk.’s milder), putting breach of Rabbinical rules on a level with breaking the greatest moral laws, as if the former were of equal importance with the latter. That they were, was deliberately maintained by the scribes (vide Lightfoot).—rhv παράδοσιν τ. π.: not merely the opinion, dogma, placitum, of the elders (Grotius), but opinion expressed ex cathedra, custom originated with authority by the ancients. The “elders” here are not the living rulers of the people, but the past bearers of religious authority, the more remote the more venerable. The “tradition” was unwritten (ἄγραφοφ διδασκαλία, Hesych.), the “law upon the lip” reaching back, like the written law (so it was pretended), to Moses. Baseless asser- tion, but believed ; therefore to attack the παράδοσις a Herculean, dangerous task. The assailants regard the act imputed as an unheard-of monstrous impiety. That is why they make a general charge before specifying the particular form under which the offence is committed, so giving the latter as serious an aspect as possible.— οὐ γὰρ νίπτονται, etc. : granting the fact
it did not necessarily mean deliberate disregard of the tradition. It might be an occasional carelessness on the part of some of the disciples (τινὰς, Mk. vii. 2) which even the offenders would not care to defend. A time-server might easily have evaded discussion by putting the matter on this ground. The Pharisees eagerly put the worst construction on the act, and Jesus was incapable of time- serving insincerity; thus conflict was inevitable.—vlwreo@at, the proper word before meat, aoviwreo@at, after, Elsner, citing Athenaeus, lib. ix., cap. 1δ.---ἄρτον ἐσθίωσιν, Hebrew idiom for taking food. The neglect charged was not that of ordinary cleanliness, but of the technical rules for securing ceremonial cleanness. These were innumerable and ridiculously minute. Lightfoot, referring to certain Rabbinical tracts, says: ‘lege, si vacat, et si per taedium et nauseam potes’’.
Vv. 3-6. Christ's reply ; consists of a counter charge and a prophetic citation (vv. 7-9) in the inverse order to that of Mk.—Ver. 3. καὶ ὑμεῖς: the retort, if justifiable, the best defence possible of neglect charged = “we transgress the tradition because we want to keep the commands of God: choice lies between these; you make the wrong choice”’. Grave issue raised; no compromise possible Πετε.-- διὰ τ. π. ὑμῶν : not rules made by the parties addressed (Weiss- Meyer), but the tradition which ye idolise, your precious paradosis.—Ver. 4. 6 yap Geos: counter charge substantiated. The question being the validity of the tradition and its value, its evil tendency might be illustrated at will in connection with any moral interest. It might have been illustrated directly in connection.