8—17.
ὑμᾶς. αὐτοῦ 'θῇ ὑπὲρ τῶν Φίλων αὐτοῦ. ποιῆτε ὅσα eyo ἐντέλλομαι ὑμῖν.
831
13. petLova ταύτης ἀγάπην οὐδεὶς ἔχει, ἵνα τις τὴν ψυχὴν 14. ὑμεῖς ) φίλοι µου ἐστὲ, ἐὰν i x. tt reff
Mt. xii. 5ο,
15. οὐκέτι ὑμᾶς λέγω δούλους,
ὅτι ὁ δοῦλος οὐκ olde τί ποιεῖὶ αὐτοῦ ὁ κύριος: ὑμᾶς δὲ εἴρηκα Φίλους, ὅτι πάντα ἃ ἤκουσα * παρὰ τοῦ πατρός µου, ἐγνώρισα ὑμῖν. k viii. 26,
etc.
16. οὐχ ὑμεῖς µε ἐξελέξασθε, ἀλλ᾽ ἐγὼ ἐξελεξάμην ὑμᾶς, καὶ ' έθηκα | Acts xx.
28. 1 Cor.
ε ~ o ε a“ ς . A 4 [4 A c a“ ee ὑμᾶς, ἵνα ὑμεῖς ὑπάγητε καὶ Ικαρπὸν Φέρητε, καὶ ὁ καρπὸς ὑμῶν xii. 23. 1
Tim. i. 12.
s ov a a ee a , τι 3 ροκ 2 , ο 5 peevy ° ινα ο τι αν αιτήησητε τον πατερα "εν τῷ OVOLLATL µου, θῷ m xiv. 14.
Pie υμιν.
the same relation to Him as He to the Father.—Ver. 12. And that they might know definitely what His commandment (ver. το) is, He says, αὕτη . . . ὑμᾶς. “This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you.” Perhaps they expected minute, detailed instructions such as they had received when first sent out (Matt. x.). Instead of this, love was to be their sufficient guide. καθὼς ἠγάπησα tyas.—His love was at once the source and the measure of theirs. In His love for them fey were to find the spring of love to one another, and were to become trans- parencies through which His love would shine.—Ver. 13. And that they might not underrate the measure of this exemplary love, He says, peiLova ταύτης ἀγάπην .. . αὐτο. Tairns is ex- plained by ἵνα . . . αὐτοῦ as in ver. 8; and does not directly mean ‘than this which I have shown and still show,” as understood by Westcott and White- law. ' It is a general statement, the application of which is suggested in ver. 14. Self-sacrifice is the high water mark of love. Friends can demand nothing more: there is no more that love can do to exhibit devotedness to friends, cf. Rom. v. 6, 8,-10.—Ver, 14. Then comes the application: ἡμεῖς . . . ὑμῖν. “Ye are my friends, if ye do what 1 command you.” You may expect of me this greatest demonstration of love, and therefore every minor demonstration of it which your circumstances may re- quire, “if ye do,” etc. This condition was added not to chill and daunt, but to encourage: when you find how much suffering the completion of my work entails upon you, assure yourselves of my love. It is copartnery in work that will give you assurance that you are my friends.—Ver. 15. ‘‘ Friends’? who may expect all the good offices of their Friend, not “slaves,” is the character in which alone you can carry on my work:
17. ταῦτα ἐντέλλομαι ὑμῖν, ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους.
οὐκέτι ἡμᾶς λέγω δούλους . . . ὑμῖν. The designation “slave” is no longer (οὐκέτι) appropriate, cf. xiii. 16 and Jas. i. I, Phil. i. 1, etc. Itis not appropriate, because 6 δοῦλος οὐκ olde τί ποιεῖ αὐτοῦ ὁ κύριος ‘“ the slave knows not what his lord is doing,” he receives his allotted task but is not made acquainted with the ends his master wishes to serve by his toil (‘‘servus tractatur ut Spyavov”’. Bengel), He is animated by no sym- pathy with his master’s purpose nor by any personal interest in what he is doing. Therefore ‘‘ friends” is the appropriate designation, ὑμᾶς δὲ εἴρηκα φίλους, ‘ but I have called you friends”. Schoettgen quotes from Jalkut Rubeni, 164, ‘“‘ Deus Israelitas prae nimio amore primo vocat servos, deinde filios, Deut. xiv. 1”’. Other remarkable passages on God’s call- ing the Israelites “' friends” are also cited by him in loc. For the peculiar use of εἴρηκα, cf. x. 35 and τ Cor. xii. 3; and for parallels in the classics, see Rose’s Park- hurst’s Lexicon. ὅτι πάντα ἃ ἤκουσα παρὰ τοῦ πατρός µου, ἐγνώρισα ὑμῖν. Jesus had opened to them the mind of the Father in sending Him to the world, and as this purpose of the Father had commended itself to Jesus, and fired Him with the desire to fulfil it, so does He expect that the disciples will intelli- gently enter into His purposes, make them their own, and spend themselves on their fulfilment.—Ver. 16. οὐχ ὑμεῖς . .. ὑμῖν. This is added to encourage them in taking up and prosecuting the work of Jesus. Euthymius says it is ἄλλο τεκµ.ήριον τοῦ ἔχειν αὐτοὺς φίλους ἑαυτοῦ; but it is more. They are invited to de- pend on His will, not on their own. They had not discovered Him, and attached themselves to Him, as likely to suit their purposes. ‘It is not ye who chose me.” But “1 chose you,” as a king selects his officers, to fulfil my purposes. καὶ ἔθηκα ὑμᾶς, “and I set (or, appointed) you,” cf. I Cor. xii. 28, Acts xx. 28, etc., see Con-