Ver. 23.—ot ἀπόστ. καὶ ot πρεσβ. καὶ οἱ ἀδελ., but in R.V. “the Apostles and the elder brethren,’’ see critical notes. The phrase as it stands in R.V. has been called meaningless (Page), but Hort, Ecclesia, p. 71, while admitting that the phrase is unusual, defends it as indicat- ing that they who held the office of elder were to be regarded as bearing the char- acteristic from which the title itself had arisen, and that they were but elder brethren at the head of a great family of brethren (cf. Knabenbauer in loco). It is of course quite possible that ἀδελ. is merely to be taken as in apposition to- ἀπόστ. and πρεσβ., meaning that as brethren they sent a message to brethren (Wendt, Felten, Page).—rots κατὰ τὴν "A. κ.τ.λ., see below.—xalpew : amongst the Epistles of the N.T. only that of St. James thus commences, as has been often pointed out by Bengel and others. The
327 χαίρει». 24. ἐπειδὴ ἠκούσαμεν ὅτι τινὲς ἐξ ἡμῶν 1 ἐξελθόντες ἐτάραξαν ὑμᾶς λόγοις, ἀνασκευάζοντες τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν.” λέγοντες περιτέµνεσθαι καὶ τηρεῖν τὸν νόµον, ols οὗ διεστειλάµεθα: 25. ἔδοξεν ἡμῖν yevo- μένοις ὁμοθυμαδόν,Σ ἐκλεξαμένους ἄνδρας πέµψαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, σὺν τοῖς
1 εξελθοντες om. 3 Β, Arm., Aethro., Const., Ath., Chrys., so W.H., R.V. πιατρ., Weiss, Wendt; but retained ΝΕΑΟΡΕΡ, Vulg., Syrr. P. and H., Sah., Boh., Aethpp., Iren., so Tisch., Blass, Hilg. It might have been introduced (cf. ver. 1, κατελ.) to guard against the appearances that τινες εξ ημων belonged to the senders of the letter
(see Wendt’s note, 1888).
2 dey. . . « Tov νοµον om. NABD 13, 61, Vulg., Sah., Boh., Aethro., Or., Const., Ath., so Tisch., W.H., Blass., R.V., Weiss, Wendt; but Blass retains in B, following
CEHLP, Gig., Iren. (Chrys.), so Hilg.
* εκλεξαμενους SNCDEHP, Const., Iren., Chrys., so Tisch., W.H. marg., Blass, Weiss and Hilg.; -οις ABL 61, Lach., W.H. text. Wendt unable to decide whether acc. after ver. 22 or dat. for gram. was the later reading.
coincidence may be a chance one, but it
is the more remarkable, since the letter.
may well have been written and dictated by St. James in his authoritative position. On the phrase in letters see Mayor’s in- teresting note on jamesi.1. It occurs again in Acts xxiii. 26, but nowhere else in N.T.
Ver. 24. On the similarity of this verse in phraseology to St. Luke’s pre- face, Luke i. 1, Schwegler, Zeller, Weiss, Friedrich, Hilgenfeld, and others have commented, But, after all, in what does the likeness consist? Simply in the fact that here as there we have ἐπειδή intro- ducing the antecedent clause, and ἔδοξεν the subsequent clause. Friedrich (p. 46) considers this as too striking to be a matter of chance, but strangely he writes each of the two passages as if they commenced with the same word, see below on ver. 28 --ἐπειδήπερ. This word is acurious one, and is only found in Luke i. 1 (not in LXX), but there is no authority for reading it in the passage before us in Acts. Nosgen, Afosielgeschichte, Ῥ. 45, refers to instances of a similar formula and phraseology as in use in Jewish writings, cf. Jost, μα. Gesch., i., 284.—r1wes ἐξ ἡμῶν, cf. for the expression Gal. ii. 12.— ἐξελ.., see critical ποίες.---ἑτάραξαν ἡμᾶς, cf. Gal. i. 7, ν. ΙΟ. λόγοις may mean with words only, words without true doc- trine.—avacxevafovtes, “subverting,” A. and R.V.; not in LXX, and only here in N.T.,inclassical Greek, primarily colligere vasa, to pack up, and so to carry away: or to dismantle a place; to destroy, over- throw, and so trop. as in text—of break- ing treaties (Polyb.), of destroying an opponent’s arguments (Arist.). Nosgen and Felten note it amongst the non-
Lucan words in the decree, so βάρος, τὸ ἐπάναγκες, διὰ λόγον, ἀπαγγέλλειν, εὖ πράττειν, ἔῤῥωσθε, ἀγαπητός.- οἷς οὐ διεστειλάµεθα: “to whom we gave no commandment,” R.V., omitting “such,” not in text, and weakens; in Tyndale, Cramner, and Genevan Version; cf. Gal. ii. 12, and Acts xxi. 20; only used once in passive in N.T., Heb. xii. 20, often in LXX in middle voice, meaning to warn, cf. also its meaning in Judith xi. 12 with Mark v. 43, etc.