word (WT, in the only other place
in which it occurs, Lam. iii. 56, may have the sense of “relief” (see Dr. Payne Smith, in loco, Speaker’s Com- meniary, vol. ν.). In Strabo ἀνάψυξις is found in the sense of recreation, refresh- ment, x., p. 459 ; see also Philo, De Abr., 29, and cf. the verb ἀναψύχω in 2 Tim. i. 16 (cf. Rom. xv. 32, ἀναψύξω μεθ ὑμῶν, DE, refrigerer vobiscum, Vulgate, and Nosgen on Acts iii. το). Rendall would render it here ‘‘ respite,” as-if St. Peter urged the need of repentance that the people might obtain a respite from the terrible visitation of the Lord. But the καιροὶ ἀναψ. are identified by most com- mentators with the ἄποκατα. πάντων, and avay. need by no means be rendered “respite”. N6ésgen, connecting the words with the thought of ἀνάπαυσις (cf. the various renderings in Rom. xv. 32), would see here a fulfilment of Christ’s promise, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ἡμᾶς, Matt. xi. 28, to those who turned to Hii in true re-
30-21.
115
ὅπως ἂν ἔλθωσι καιροὶ ἀναψύξεως ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ Κυρίου, 20. καὶ
ἀποστείλῃ τὸν προκεκηρυγµένον ὑμῖν
pentance, and so in his view the expres- sion applies to the seasons of spiritual refreshment which may be enjoyed by the truly penitent here and now, which may occur again and again as men repent (Isaiah lvii. 16); so J. Lightfoot, Hor. Heb., interprets the word of the present re- freshing of the Gospel, and God’s present sending of Christ in His ministry and power, and in the same manner ἄποσ- τείλῃ, {.ε., not at the end of the world, when Christ shall come as Judge, but in the Gospel, which is His voice. But the context certainly conceives of Christ as enthroned in Heaven, where He must remain until His Second Advent, al- though we may readily admit that there is a spiritual presence of the enthroned Jesus which believers enjoy as a fore- taste of the visible and glorious Presence at the Parousia, Briggs, Messiah of the Apostles, p. 31 ff.—amws προσώπου τοῦ Κ. πρόσωπ., lit., face, often used as here for ‘the presence”; cf. Hebrew,
"15, frequently in LXX, and see above
on ii. 28, here of the refreshment which comes from the bright and smiling pre- sence of God to one seeking comfort (so ‘Grimm). The phrase occurs three times in Acts v. 41, vil. 45, elsewhere in 2 Thess. i. 9, and three times in Apoc. On St. Luke’s fondness for phrases with πρόσωπον (ἀπό, πρό, κατά), see Friedrich (Das Lucasevangelium, pp. 8,9, 89). The Lord is evidently God the Father, the καιροί are represented as present before God, already decreed and determined, and as coming down from His presence to earth (Weiss, Wendt). Christ speaks, i. 6, of the seasons which the Father hath set in His own power, and so St. Chrysostom speaks of God as -αἴτιος of the seasons of refreshment. Ver. 20. καὶ ἀποστείλῃ, {.ε., at His Parousia. The construction is still ὅπως ἄν with the verb. ἀποστ. is here used as in Luke iv. 18, 43, expressing that the person sent is the envoy or representative of the sender (πέµπω is also used of the mission of our Lord).—rév προκεκηρυγ- µένον, T.R., see on νετ. 18; but W.H., Blass, Weiss, τὸν προκεχειρισµένον ὑμῖν Χριστόν, ᾿Ιησοῦν: “the Christ who hath been appointed for you, even Jesus”. So R.V. This verb is found with accusative of the person in the sense ot choosing, appointing, in Acts xxii. 14, xxvi. 16, and nowhere else in the N.T.; cf. Josh.
‘Ingoby Χριστόν, 21. ὃν δεῖ
iii. 12, 2 Macc. iii. 7, viii. 9, Exod. vi. 13 (cf. its use also in Dem., Polyb., Plut., and instances in Wetstein) ; Latin eligere, destinare. The expression here refers not only to the fact that Jesus was the appointed Christ, inasmuch as the covenant with Abraham was fulfilled in Him, ver. 25, but also to the return of Jesus as the Christ, the Messianic King, at His Parousia, in accordance with the voices of the Prophets. This is more natural than to suppose that the expres- sion means foreordained, 1.6., from eter- nity, although St. Peter’s words elsewhere may well be considered in connection with the present passage, 1 Pet. i. 20. Ver 21. μὲν: no answering δέεχ- pressed, but the antithesis is found in the ἄχρι χρόνων ἀποκ., “ quasi dicat : ubi illud tempus venerit, ex coelo in terras redibit,” Grotius (so Weiss, Blass).—év δεῖ οὐρανὸν δέξασθαι: the words have been rendered in three ways: (1) ‘* whom the heaven must receive,” z.e., as the place assigned to Him by God until the Parousia, Phil. iii. 20, Col. iii. 4. In this case δεῖ is not used for ἔδει, as if St. Luke were referring to the past historical fact of the Ascension only, but Christ’s ex- altation to heaven is represented as a fact continually present until His coming again ; or (2) the words have been taken as if ὃν were the subject, “who must possess the heaven”. But the former seems the more natural rendering, so in A.V. and R.V., as more in accordance with the use of δέχεσθαι, and κατέχειν would be rather the word in the second rendering (see Wendt’s note). Zéckler takes the words to mean ‘who must receive heaven,” i.e., from the Father. Here St. Peter corrects the popular view that the Messiah should remain on earth, John xii. 34, and if we compare the words with the question asked in i. 6, they show how his views had changed of his Master’s kingdom (see Hackett’s note).— ἄχρι χρόνων ἀποκαταστάσεως: the latter noun is not found either in LXX or else- where in N.T., but it is used by Polybius, Diodorus, Plutarch. In Josephus, Ant., xi., 3, 8, g, it is used of the restoration’ of the Jews to their own land from the captivity, and also in Philo., Decal., 30, of the restoration of inheritances at the Jubilee. The key to its meaning here is found not in the question of the disciples in i, 6, but in our Lord’s own saying, Matt. xvii. 11, Mark ix, 12, “ Elias truly