Ver. 8. πρῶτον µέν. Nothing can take precedence of thanksgiving, when Paul thinks of the Romans, or indeed of any Christian Church in normal health. πρῶτον μὲν suggests that something is to follow, but what it is we are not told; Paul’s mind uncon- sciously leaves the track on which it started, at least so far as the linguistic following out of it is concerned. Perhaps the next thing was to be the prayer re- ferred to in ver. 10. (Weiss.) διὰ Ἰ. Χ. Jesus Christ must be conceived here as the mediator through whom all our approaches to God are made (Eph. ii. 18), not as He through whom the blegs- ings come for which Paul gives thanks. περὶ πάντων ὑμῶν: the ‘all’? may have a certain emphasis when we remember the divisions to which reference is made in chap. xiv. 4 πίστις ὑμῶν is ‘ the fact that you are Christians”. The very existence of a Church at Rome was
Αα
g Phil. iil. 39. µάρτυς ydp µου ἐστιν ὁ Θεός, ᾧ τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ τού υἱού αὐτοί, ὡς ἀδιαλείπτως µνείαν ὑμῶν ποιοῦμαι,
κ λ , ΄ - , , : > ατρευω EV TH πγευµατι µου εν
h ΕΡΗ. i.16; πάντοτε ἐπὶ τῶν " προσευχῶν µου δεόµενος, ΙΟ. εἴ πως ἤδη ποτὲ 1 Thess. i. 2.
ix Thess. ἐπιποθῶ γὰρ ἰδεῖν ὑμᾶς, ἵνα τι ‘peradd χάρισμα ὑμῖν * πνευµατικόν,
ii. 8. nts A x ata a , a 2 ¢ - k 1 Cor. xii, εἰς τὸ στηριχθῆναι ὑμᾶς, 12. τοῦτο δέ ἐστι, συμπαρακληθῆναι ἐν ὑμιν TAs
εὐοδωθήσομαι ἐν τῷ θελήματι τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς; IT.
διὰ τῆς ἐν ἀλλήλοις πίστεως ὑμῶν τε καὶ ἐμοῦ. 13. ob θέλω δὲ ὑμᾶς Ιάχρισ.δ. ἀγνοεῖν, ἀδελφοί, ὅτι πολλάκις προεθέµην ἐλθεῖν πρὸς Spas, (καὶ
here only. , πι Phil. i.22, €
something to be thankful for. ἐν ὅλφ τῷ xéop@ is, of course, hyperbole, but a Church in Rome was like ‘‘a city set on α απ.
Ver. 9 Εξ. µάρτυς yap pov ἐστιν ὁ θεός (Phil. i. 8): at a distance the Apostle cannot directly prove his love, but he appeals to God, who hears his ceaseless prayers for the Romans, as a witness of it. λατρεύω in the LXX is always used of religious service—wor- ship, whether of the true God or of idols. ἐν τῷ wvevpatt pov: Paul’s ministry is spiritual and rendered with his spirit— not like that of the ministers in the ἅγιον κοσμικὸν at Jerusalem. ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ: in preaching the glad tidings of His Son. ὡς ἀδιαλείπτως: the ὡς may either be “how” ος ‘‘that””: look- ing to 1 Thess. ii. το, ‘‘how” seems 4 more probable. µγείαν ὑμῶν ποιοῦμαι: I remember you. Cf. Job xiv. 13 (O that Thou wouldst appoint me χρόνον ἐν ᾧ µνείαν pov ποιήσῃ). ἐπὶ τῶν προσ- ενχῶν pov: at my prayers. (Winer, p. 470.) For et πως, see Acts xxvii. 12 and Burton, Moods and Tenses, § 276. ἤδη is “«πον at length,” “ now, after all this waiting’. (S.and H.) The wore, which can hardly be conveyed in English, marks the indefiniteness which even yet attaches in the writer’s mind to the fulfilment of this hope. εὐοδωθήσομαι: the R.V. gives ““Ι may be prospered ”’; the A.V. ‘I might have a prosperous journey”’. The latter brings in the idea of the 688s, which was no doubt present to consciousness when the word evod- οΌσθαι was first used; but it is question- able whether any feeling for the etymol- ogy remained in the current employment of the word. The other N.T. examples (x Cor. xvi. 2, 3 John ver. 2), as well as the LXX, suggest the contrary. Hence the R.V. is probably right. ἐν τῷ θελήµατι τοῦ θεοῦ: his long cherished and often disappointed hope had taught Paul te say, ‘if the Lord will’ (Jas. tv. 15).
κωλύθην ἄχρι τοῦ | δεύρο,) ἵνα ™ καρπόν τινα σχῶ καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν, καθὼς
Ver. 11. ἵνα τι μεταδῶ χάρισμα πνεν- µατικόν. The χαρ. my. may be under- stood by reference to 1 Cor. chaps. xii.- xiv. or Rom. chap. xii. No doubt, in substance, Paul imparts his spiritual gift through this epistle: what he wished to do for the Romans was to further their comprehension of the purpose of God in Jesus Christ—a purpose the breadth and bearings of which were yet but imper- fectly understood.