48—I9g.
ὅσα
᾿Ακύλας,! κειράµενος τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐν Κεγχρεαῖς: εἶχε γὰρ εὐχήν. , 2 Spee é , aN > a. οι δὲ 19. κατήντησε” δὲ eis Ἔφεσον, κἀκείνους κατέλιπεν αὐτοῦ: αὐτὸς δὲ
1 After Ακυλας Blass in β reads ος ευχην εχων εν Κεγχρεαις την κεφαλην εκειρατο, following Flor.; see Belser, pp. 89-92, who strongly opposes Blass, and cf. Ramsay,
St. Paul, p. 263, and comment.
2 katnvrnoav, plur. in SABE 13, 49, d, tol., Sah., Boh., Syrr., Arm., Tisch.,
‘W.H., R.V., Weiss, Wendt.
Blass omits κακεινους κατελιπεν αντον, so Flor., which ends “cum venisset Ephesum in se”’,
Blass, with D, Flor., reads καταντησας
δεεις Σ., and continues with D 137, Syr. H. mg., Sah., τῳ επιοντι σαββατῳ εισελθων. διελεχθη EHLP; διελεξατο NAB 13, 68, 69, 105, Tisch., Weiss, Wendt, W.H.;
Φιελεγετο D, Gig., Vulg., so Blass in β.
Nazirite vow in a foreign land was allowed to poll or cut his hair shorter {κείρω), provided that the hair so polled was taken to the Temple and burnt there as an offering together with the hair shorn off at the completion of the vow. That the Jews took upon themselves a modified form of the Nazirite vow is proved from Josephus, B. F., ii., 15, 1, when they were afflicted by disease or any other distress. Possibly therefore the vow followed upon St. Paul’s de- liverance from an attack of sickness, and the warm praise bestowed upon Pheebe, the deaconess of the Church at Cenchreae (Rom, xvi. 1), for her personal aid to him- self may be taken as some confirmation of this. But if we thus place St. Paul’s vow here under the category of the vows mentioned by Josephus, the journey to Jerusalem must be immediately con- nected with it, as the description given by the Jewish historian plainly shows that the vows in question were modified forms of the regular Nazirite vow. It is a very reasonable conjecture that the vow may be connected with St. Paul’s danger at Corinth, and with his safe deliverance from it. As one consecrated to the service of the Lord, he would allow his hair to grow until the promise of his safety had been fulfilled and his embarkation from Corinth was assured. The vow was thus analogous to the Nazirite vow, inasmuch as the same idea of consecration lay at the root of each; but it was rather a private vow (Hort, Fudaistic Christianity, p. 91, and Weiss, in loco), and in this case the journey of the Apostle to Jerusalem would not be conditioned by the vow, but by his desire to be present at some great festival, be- yond doubt that of the Passover. On the custom amongst other nations to cut off the hair, and to let it grow in votive offer- ing to the gods, see Holtzmann, Afostel- geschichte, p. 395, and Page, in loco. Hilgenfeld ascribes the narrative of the
incident to his ‘author to Theophilus,” whether the vow refers to Paul or Aquila, and considers that the story is intended to connect St. Paul as much as possible with Judaism. One of the most curious instances of perverse interpretation is that of Krenkel, who thinks that the κειρ. may be referred to Paul, who shaved his head to counteract the epileptic fits with which he was afflicted, 2 Cor. xiii. 7, see Zéckler’s note.—Keyxpeats, see notices of the place in Renan, Saint Paul, p. 218, and Hastings’ B.D., modern Kala- niki (in Thuc. Keyypevat): the eastern harbour of Corinth, about nine miles distant, connecting the trade with Asia; Lechzum, the other port (‘‘ bimaris Co- rinthi,” Horace, Odes, i., 7, 2), connec- ting it with Italy and the West. Τούτῳ μὲν οὖν χρῶνται πρὸς τοὺς ἐκ τῆς Ασίας, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἐκ τῆς Ἰταλίας τῷ Λεχαίῳ, Strabo, viii., 6, p. 38ο.
Ver. ΙΟ. κατήντησε, see critical note. —eis Ἔφεσον: a voyage of two or three days with unfavourable wind. Cicero mentions two occasions when the voyage from Ephesus to Athens took two weeks, Ad Attic., vi., 8, 9; iii., 9, but in both in- stances extraordinary delays were the cause of the lengthy voyage ; on Ephesus see xix. Ι. --- κἀκείνους κατέλ. αὐτοῦ : Ephesus, famous for its commerce, where they might carry on their trade, although it is perhaps somewhat hazardous to re- gard the city as the centre of the par- ticular trade in which they were engaged. Lewin quotes two passages in support of this, but they both refer to one event, the presentation of a tent by the Ephesians to Alcibiades, ‘* Ephesus” B.D.2.—airés δὲ: this does not mean that Paul for his part (in contradiction to Aquila and Pris- cilla) went into the synagogue; such an interpretation seems unnatural. Others explain that Aquila and Priscilla were left in the town, and that the synagogue was outside the town (so Alford), but this does not seem satisfactory as a full explanation,