118
τε µεγάλη ἦν ἐπὶ πάντας αὐτούς.
Iv.
34. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐνδεής τις ὑπῆρχεν |
a“ εἰ ών - - nm ἐν αὐτοῖς: ὅσοι γὰρ κτήτορες χωρίων ἢ οἰκιῶν ὑπῆρχον, πωλοῦντες ἔφερον τὰς τιμὰς τῶν πιπρασκοµένων, 35. καὶ ἐτίθουν παρὰ τοὺς
πόδας τῶν ἀποστόλων: διεδίδοτο” δὲ ἑκάστῳ καθότι ἄν τις χρείαν
εἶχεν.
1 τις υπηρχεν DEP, Chrys.; τις ην NAF* 15, 69, so Tisch., W.H., R.V., Weiss; qv tts Β. D reads οσοι κτητορες ησαν οικ. η χωρ. υπηρχον πωλουντες και φεροντες. combination, so Hilg.; Harris thinks evant Lat. brought in ησαν out of place, while
Chase refers to fusion of true Greek text with Syr. trans.
Whatever theory we adopt
it seems that both ησαν and υπηρχον got into the text, and that alteration was made so as to include them both, Blass’s theory seems difficult to accept although St. Luke, with whom νπαρχειν is such a favourite word, might conceivably have written υπηρχον πωλοντες Kat Φεροντες in a rough draft.
2 διεδιδοτο B°P; διεδιδετο B8AB!DE, so Tisch., W.H., Weiss, Winer-Schmiedel, p. 121; Blass, Grammatik, p. 48; Kennedy, Sources of N. T. Greek, p. 159.
χάρις, as Bengel maintains, may include grace, favour with God and man, as in our Lord Himself, Gratia Dei et favor populi.
Ver. 34. οὐδὲ yap ἐνδεής: cf. Deut. xv. 4, where the same adjective occurs ; Cf: EN. τι τα, xive πα, Isa.) xii. τη No contradiction with vi. 1, as Holtzmann supposes; here there is no ideal immunity from poverty and want, but distribution was made as each fitting case presented itself: ‘their feeling was just as if they were under the paternal roof, all for a while sharing alike,” Chrys., Hom., xi.— ὅσοι yap « . « ὑπῆρχον, “non dicitur: omnes hoc fecerunt [aorist] ut jam nemo vel fundum vel domum propriam haberet, sed: vulgo [saepe] hoc fiebat [imperfect] ad supplendum fiscum,communem pau- peribus destinatum; itaque nunquam deerat quod daretur,’”’ Blass, in loco, aif remarks on ii. 47.—Tas τιμὰς τῶν πιπρασ- κοµένων, “the prices of the things which were being sold”. The language shows that we are not meant to infer that the men sold all that they had (¢f. Wetstein, especially Appian, B. Civ., v., p. 1088, τυμὰς τῶν ἔτι πιπρασκ.). πωλοῦντες et πιπρασκ. both imperfect (Blass), and see also Burton, N. T. Moods and Tenses, p. 58.--«κτήτορες in N.T. only here, rarely elsewhere, see instances in Wetstein; not in LXX, but cf. Symmachus, Joel ri gta
Ver. 35. The statement marks, it is true, an advance upon the former nar- rative, ii. 44, but one which was perfectly natural and intelligible. Here for the first time we read that the money is brought and laid at the Apostles’ feet. As the community grew, the responsi- bilities of distribution increased, and to
whom could the administration of the common fund be more fittingly committed than to the Apostles? The narrative indicates that this commital of trust was voluntary on the part of the Ecclesia, although it was marked by an act of reverence for the Apostles’ authority. The fact that Barnabas is expressly mentioned as laying the value of his field at the Apostles’ feet, may be an indica- tion that the other members of the com- munity were acting upon his suggestion ; if so, it would be in accordance with what we know of his character and forethought, cf. ix. 27, xi. 22-24, Hort, Ecclesia, pp. 47,48. There is no reason to reject this narrative as a mere repetition of il. 44, 45. The same spirit prevails in both accounts, but in the one case we have the immediate result of the Pentecostal gift, in the case before us we have the permanence and not only the vitality of the gift marked—the Christian com- munity is now organised under Apostolic direction, and stress is laid upon the continuance«of the ‘first love,” whilst the contrast is marked between the self- sacrifice of Barnabas and the greed of Ananias and Sapphira, see Rendall, Acts, p- 196, andalso Zéckler, Apostelgeschichte, Ρ. 198, in answer to recent criticisms.— παρὰ τοὺς πόδας: the Apostles are repre- sented as sitting, perhaps as teachers, xxli. 3, cf. Luke ii. 46, and also as an indication of their authority: the expres- sion in the Greek conveys the thought of committal to the care and au- thority of any one, cf. v. 2, vil. 58, xxii. 20, so Matt. xv. 30, or that of τε- verence and thankfulness. Oecumenius sees in the words an indication of the great honour of the Apostles, and the