2—4.
3. τότε νηστεύσαντες καὶ προσευξάµενοι, καὶ ἐπιθέντες τὰς χεῖρας
αὐτοῖς, ἀπέλυσαν.ὶ 4. Οὗτοι μὲν οὖν ἐκπεμφθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματος
1 απελνυσαν D omits, Blass retains, so Hilg.; its omission ruins the construction.
(τον B. και) τον Σ., om. τον
S2ABCDE, Tisch., W.H., Blass, Weiss, Hilg.; cf.
Ramsay, ‘‘ Forms of Classif. in Acts,” Expositor, July, 1895.
ministry of public worship. In the N.T. the whole group of words, λειτουργέω, λειτουργία, λειτουργός, λειτουργικός, is found only in St. Luke, St. Paul, and Hebrews. See further on the classical and Biblical usage Westcott, Hebrews, additional note on viii. 2. Deissmann, Bibelstudien, p. 137, from pre-Christian papyri points out that λειτουργία and λειτουργέω were used by the Egyptians of the sacred service of the priests, and sometimes of a wider religious service. -- αὐτῶν: not the whole Ecclesia, but the prophets and teachers: ‘“ prophetarum doctorumque qui quasi arctius sunt con- cilium,” Blass.—vynorevévrey, cf. x. 30, xiv. 23, xxvii. 9, and in O.T. 1 Sam. vii. 5, 6, Dan. ix. 3, on the union of fasting and prayer. In Didaché, viii., 1, while the fasts of the “hypocrites”? are con- demned, fastipg is enjoined on the fourth day of the week, and on Friday, 1.e., the day of the Betrayal and the Crucifixion. But Didaché, vii. 4, lays it down that before baptism the baptiser and the candidate should fast. The conduct therefore of the prophets and teachers at Antioch before the solemn mission of Barnabas and Saul to their work is exactly what might have been expected, cf. Edersheim, Temple and its Services, p. 66.--εἶπε τὸ Π.: we may reasonably infer by one of the prophets; it may have been at a solemn meeting of the whole Ecclesia held expressly with reference to a project for carrying the Gospel to the heathen (Hort, Felten, Hackett). Felten sees in δή an indication of an answer toa special prayer. But it does not follow that the “liturgical” functions should be assigned to the whole Ecclesia. --᾽Αφορίσατε, cf. the same word used by St. Paul of himself, Rom. i. 1, Gal. i. 15, LXX, Lev. xx. 26, Numb. vili. 11. pou Such words and acts indicate the per- sonality of the Holy Ghost, cf. δή em- phatic, signifying the urgency of the command (cf. use of the word in classical Greek). A. and R.V. omit altogether in translation. In Luke ii. 15 both render it ‘now,’ in Matt. xiii. 23, R.V. ‘ verily,” Act xv. 36, “now,” 1 Cor. vi. 20, A. and R.V. ‘“ therefore,” to emphasise a demand as here. With this force the word is
thus peculiar to Luke and Paul (in other passages, reading contested). The translation of the word may have been omitted here, since the rendering “now” would have been taken in a temporal sense which δή need not suggest.—é for eis 5, ας, ἱ. 31, Luke i. 25, χἩ, 46. Grimm-Thayer, Winer-Moulton, Ἱ., 7 ὃ, so in Greek writers generally.—rpooxé- κλημαι, cf. ii, 39, xvi. 10. Grimm- Thayer, sub v. 6. Winer- Moulton, XXXEN-
Ver. 3. τότε probably indicating a πέν; and special act of fasting and prayer. But is the subject of the sentence the whole Ecclesia, or only the prophets and teachers mentioned before? Ram- say maintains that it cannot be the offi- cials just mentioned, because they cannot be said to lay hands on two of themselves, so that he considers some awkward change of subject takes place, and that the simplest interpretation is that the Church as a whole held a meeting for this solemn purpose (cf. πάντες in D). But if the whole Church was present, it does not follow that they took part in every detail of the service, just as they may have been present in the public ser- vice of worship in ver. 2 (see above) with- out λειτουργ. τῷ K. equally with the prophets and teachers (cf. Felten and also Wendt). There is therefore no reason to assume that the laying on of hands was performed by the whole Church, or that St. Luke could have been ignorant that this function was one which belonged specifically to the officers of the Church. The change of subject is not more awkward than in vi. 6. Dr. Hort is evidently conscious of the diffi- culty, see especially Ecclesia, p. 64. No doubt, en the return of the two mission- aries, they report their doings to the whole Church, xiv. 27, but this is no proof that the laying on of hands for their consecration to their mission was the act of the whole Church. That prophets and teachers should thus perform what is represented in Acts as an Apostolic function need not surprise us, see Gore, μ. S., ῬΡ. 241, 260, 261. A further ques- tion arises as to whether this passage conflicts with the fact that St. Paul