27—39.
τη
33. ᾿᾽Απεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ, “'"Σπέρμα ᾽Αβραάμ ἐσμεν, καὶ οὐδενὶ 4 δε- ο vv. 37, 39.
al. iii. 16.
δουλεύκαµεν πώποτε’ πῶς σὺ λέγεις, Ὅτι ἐλεύθεροι γενήσεσθε ;” d Gen. xv.
34. ᾿Απεκρίθη αὐτοῖς 6
ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, δοῦλός ἐστι τῆς ἁμαρτίας.
~
τη
36. ἐὰν οὖν ὁ
fod µένει ἐν
2? 3 BY 2A οικιᾳ εις τον αιωνα
vids ὑμᾶς ἐλευθερώση, ὄντως ἐλεύθεροι ἔσεσθε. iv. 22.
> A 3 A € A oe a 14. Ingots, ''᾽Αμὴν ἁμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅτι οπᾶς ο2 Pet. ii.
35. 6 δὲ δοῦλος ν. το.
ς εν 3 by 7A . ὁ υἱὸς μένει εἲς τὸν αἰῶνα. fGen. xxi. 1ο. Gal.
37. οἶδα ὅτι σπέρμα “ABpadp ἐστε" ἀλλὰ ἔ {ητεῖτέ µε ἀποκτεῖναι, gv. 44.
ὅτι 6 λόγος ὁ ἐμὸς οὗ χωρεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν. εαν |S a 2 ὑμῶν,ὸ ποιεῖτε.
1 µου omitted in BCL.
38. εγω ὃ ἑώρακα παρὰ τῷ Ἡ ν. 19; χι.
x a 1g 4% παρὰ τῷ πατρὶ
39. ᾽Απεκρίθησαν καὶ εἶπον αὐτῷ, “‘O πατὴρ
7a ηκονσατε with ΝΕΒΟΚΙ, 1, 33.
Στον πατρος without vpev in T.Tr.W.H.R.
γωγῆσαί pe δύναται.]- Ὑετ. 33. But this announcement, instead of seeming to the Jews the culmination of all bliss, provokes even in the πεπιστευκότες (ver. 31) a blind, carping criticism: Σπέρμα . . . Ὑενήσεσθε; we are the seed of Abraham, called by God to rule all peoples, and to none have we ever been slaves. “' The episodes of Egyptian, Babylonian, Syrian, and Roman con- quests were treated as mere transitory accidents, not touching the real life of the people, who had never accepted the dominion of their conquerors or coalesced with them,” Westcott. Sayings such as ΜΑΙ] Israel are the children of kings” were current among the people. How then could emancipation be spoken of as yet to be given them ?—Ver. 34. The answer is: ἁμὴν ... ἁμαρτίας [τῆς ἁμαρτίας is bracketed by W.H.]. The liberty meant is inward, radical, and individual. ‘Every one who lives a life of sin is a slave.” Cf. Rom. vi. 16, 20; 2 Pet. ii. 19; Xen., Mem., iv. 5, 3; Philo’s tract “‘Quod omnis probus sit liber,” and the Stoic say- ing ‘“solus sapiens est liber”. The relations subsisting ἐν τῇ otxlq in the house of God, the Theocracy to which they boasted to belong, must be deter- mined by what is spiritual, by likeness to the Head of the house; “this servitude would lead to national rejection,” Eders- heim. It behoves them therefore to remember this result of the generally recognised principle that sin masters the sinner and makes him a slave (ver. 35), viz., “that the slave does not abide in the house,” does not permanently inherit the promises to Abraham, and the blessed- ness of fellowship with God; it is the Son who abides for ever. Cf. Heb. in.
6. The slave has no permanent footing in the house: he may be dismissed or sold. The transition which Paul himself had made from the servile to the filial position coloured his view of the Gospel, Gal. iv. 1-7 ; but here it is not the servile attitude towards God but slavery to sin that isin view. From this slavery only the Son emancipates, ἐὰν οὖν .. . ἔσεσθε. This implies that they were all born slaves and needed emancipation, and that only One, Himself the Son, could give them true liberty.—évrTws ἐλεύθεροι in contrast to the liberty they boasted of in ver. 33. How the Son emancipates is shown in Gal. iv. 1-7. The superficial character of the liberty they enjoyed by their birth as Jews is further emphasised in νετ. 37.—Ver. 37. ol8a... ὑμῖν. ‘I know that you are Abraham’s seed; it is your moral descent which is in question, and your conduct shows that my word, which gives true liberty (vv. 31, 32), does not find place in you.” —ov χωρεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν. The Greek Fathers all understand these words in the sense of A.V., “hath no place in you”. Cyril has διὰ τὴν ἐνοικήσασαν ἐν ὑμῖν ἁμαρτίαν δηλαδὴ, καὶ τόπον ὥσπερ οὐκ ἑῶσαν, etc. So Euthymius and Theo- phylact. Beza renders “non _ habet locum,” citing a passage from Aristotle, which Meyer disallows, because in it the verb is used impersonally. But Field has found another instance in Alciphron, Epist., iii. 7, in which χωρεῖν is used in the sense of ‘locum habere” (Otium Norvic., p. 67). The common meaning of χωρεῖν, “to advance,” is also quite relevant and indeed not materially different. It is frequently used for prosperous, successful progress. See Aristoph., Pax, 694, and other passages