406
τὰ πονηρὰ 1 ἐξέρχεσθαι ἀπ᾿ αὐτῶν.
13. ᾿Ἐπεχείρησαν δέ τινεΒ’ ἀπὸ
ᾱ 3 ,
τῶν περιερχοµένων ᾿Ιουδαίων ἐξορκιστῶν ὀνομάζειν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἔχοντας Ελ A A
τὰ πνεύματα τὰ πονηρὰ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Κυρίου ᾿Ιησοῦ, λέγοντες,
1 Instead of εξερ. am’ αυτων, (HLP (Sah.), Chrys.), ΝΑΒΡΕ, Tisch., Weiss, Wendt, R.V., W.H., Blass in a and B have one word εκπορευεσθαι.
2 After τινες SABE add και and omit απο, so Tisch., Weiss, Wendt, W.H.,
R.V., Blass in B. HP have και απο, D 43 ex, so Hilg.
ορκιζω ΝΑΒΡΕ, Vulg.,
Boh., Arm., Tisch., W.H., Weiss, Wendt, R.V., Blass, Hilg.
It should also be noted that here as else- where St. Luke distinguishes between natural diseases and the diseases of the demonised, and that he does so more frequently than the other Evangelists, Hobart, pp. 12, 13, so ‘‘ Demon,” Hast- ings’ B.D., i., p. 593, cf. especially Luke vi. 17, Vill. 2, xiii. 32, which have no parallels in the other Gospels.—rovnpa : is applied to evil spirits by St. Luke three times in his Gospel and four times in this passage, and only once elsewhere, St. Matt. xii. 45, altheugh the word is very frequent in St. Matthew’s Gospel and in the Epistles; the word was constantly used by medical writers in connection with disease, Hobart, u.s. Blass quotes as a parallel to the present passage εἰ αἱ νόσοι ἀπαλλαγείησαν ἐκ τῶν σωμάτων (Plat.) Eryx, 401 ο.--τά τε πνεύματα . . « Were the aprons brought for the healing of the diseases and the banishing of the demons equally? The τε seems to indicate that this was the case (Weiss, Wendt); Blass on the other hand holds that it is not said that the demons were driven out by the sudaria. According to some interpretations of the verse the carrying of the aprons to the sick is only to be regarded as a result of the wonder- ful impression made by St. Paul’s miracu- lous power; the writer says nothing of the effect of these aprons, although he places both the healing of the diseases and the expulsion of the demons amongst the δυνάµεις of St. Paul. From this point of view the carrying of the σουδάρια would only illustrate the superstitious practices which showed how often, in the homes of culture, quackery was also found, and the Evangelist gives them no word of commendation, see also note on v. 15. On the other hand we must remember that the miracles are distinctly spoken of as οὐ τὰς τυχ., and even in the means employed we may perhaps see a possible appeal to the populace, who would recognise that these charms and amulets in which they put such confidence had not the same potency as the handkerchiefs and aprons of the
Apostle. But in this accommodation to special forms of ignorance we are never allowed to forget that God is the source of all power and might.
Ver. 13. If we read καὶ after ἀπὸ (see critical note), it contrasts the Jewish exorcists who endeavoured to gain this power with those like St. Paul who really possessed it.—epiepy.: ‘‘ vagabond,” A.V., the word as it is now used collo- quially does not express the Greek; R.V. “strolling,” Vulgate, circumeuntibus ; Blass renders circumvagantes. ‘The word “vagabond”’ is used only here in N.T.: in the O.T. we have it in Gen. iv. 12, 14, R.V. ‘‘ wanderer,” and in Ps. cix. το, R.V. ‘“vagabonds,” cf. Milton, Paradise Lost, xi., 16.---ἐξορκιστῶν: the word points to a class of Jews who practised exorcisms as a profession, cf. Jos., Ant., Vili., 2, 5. The usual method of exorcism was the recitation of some special name or spell, and these Jewish exorcists hav- ing seen the power which Paul wielded by his appeal to the name of Jesus en- deavoured to avail themselves of the same efficacy. It would be difficult to say how far these Jewish exorcists would employ the incantations so widely in vogue in a place like Ephesus, but there is a notable passage in Justin Martyr in which, whilst admitting that a Jew might exorcise an evil spirit by the God of Abraham, he complains that as a class the Jewish exorcists had adopted the same superstitions and magical aids as the heathen, ‘‘ Exorcist,’”’ B.D.?, i., 1028. In the Didaché, ΠΠ., 4, the use of charms and sorceries is expressly for- bidden since they led to idolatry.— ὁρκίζομεν: with double accusative = ofthe one adjured and of the one by whom he is adjured, cf. Mark v. 7 (1 Thess. v. 27), see Grimm-Thayer, sub v., cf. Deissmann, Bibelstudien, p. 25 ff., for the constant use of the verb in inscriptions in formule of adjuration as here, see further ‘“ De- mon” and “Exorcist” for examples of such formule, Hastings’ B.D., i., pp. 503, 812, and for the absurdities involved in them.