636
δοῦλοι τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ὑπηκούσατε δὲ ἐκ καρδίας εἰς ὃν παρεδόθητε
τύπον διδαχῆς. 18. ἐλευθερωθέντες δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἐδουλώθητε
, τῇ δικαιοσύνη.
k Matt * Gpav. Xxvi. 41. E 3 1 ir Thess, δοῦλα τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ εἲς ἁγιασμόν.
νι νο ε ’ 2) 27 ον = / v3.7) ἁμαρτίας, ἐλεύθεροι ἦτε τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ.
14.
19. ᾽Ανθρώπινον λέγω διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τῆς σαρκὸς ὥσπερ γὰρ παρεστήσατε τὰ µέλη ὑμῶν δοῦλα τῇ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ καὶ τῇ ἀνομίᾳ eis τὴν ἀνομίαν, οὕτω νῦν παραστήσατε τὰ µέλη ὑμῶν
20. ὅτε γὰρ δοῦλοι ἦτε τῆς 21. τίνα οὖν καρπὸν εἴχετε
τότε, ἐφ᾽ ois viv ἐπαισχύνεσθε; τὸ γὰρ τέλος ] ἐκείνων θάνατος. 22.
νυνὶ δὲ ἐλευθερωθέντες ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, δουλωθέντες δὲ τῷ Θεῷ,
m Luke iii. » 5
a“ 3 4A 4 7 14; 1 Cor. ἔχετε τὸν καρπὸν ὑμῶν Eis ἁγιασμὸν, τὸ δὲ τέλος ζωὴν αἰώνιον.
ἀχ. 7. 2 Cor. xi. 8.
23. τὰ γὰρ "' ὀψώνια τῆς ἁμαρτίας θάνατος" τὸ δὲ χάρισμα τοῦ
1 το γαρ τελος NACD°KLP; το µεν yap τελος NBD'F, Syr. As the reasons for omitting are obvious—the art. is already separated from the substantive, and there is really nothing to balance it—the µεν is probably original, and is retained by Lachmann, Weiss, and Tregelles (marg.), though omitted by W. and H.
it is teaching, of course in a definite form, but regarded chiefly in its ethical requirements; when received, or when men were handed over to it, it became a moral authority. Cf. Hort, Romans and Ephesians, p. 32 f. What is the time referred to in the aorists ὑπηκούσατε and παρεδόθητεὺ It is the time when they became Christians, a time really fixed by their acceptance of the Gospel in faith, and outwardly marked by bap- tism. Baptism is the visible point of separation between the two servitudes— to sin and to God.
Ver. 18. There is no absolute inde- pendence for man; our nature requires us to serve some master.
Ver. 19. ἀνθρώπινον λέγω διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν. Cf. ili. 5, Gal. iii. 15. Paul apologises for using
this human figure of the relation of slave to master to convey spiritual truths. But what is ‘‘ the weakness of the flesh ” which makes him have recourse to such figures? Weiss makes it moral. The Apostle speaks with this unmistakable plainness and emphasis because he is writing to morally weak persons whose nature and past life really made them liable to temptations to libertinism. This seems to me confirmed by the reference, which immediately follows, to the char- acter of their pre-Christian life. Others make the weakness rather intellectual than ethical, as if Paul said: ‘‘I conde- scend to your want of spiritual intelli- gence in using such figures”. But this is not a natural meaning for ‘‘ the weak- ness of your flesh,” and does not yield 50 good a connection with what follows.
δοῦλα τῇ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ καὶ τῇ ἀνομίᾳ: ἀκαθαρσία defiling the sinner, ἀνομία disregarding the will of God. If εἰς τὴν ἀνομίαν should remain in the text, it may suggest that this bad life never gets be- yond itself. On the other hand, to pre- sent the members as slaves to righteous- ness has ἁγιασμός in view, which is a higher thing. ἁγιασμὸς is sanctification, primarily as an act or process, eventually as aresult. It is unreal to ask whether the process or the result is meant here: they have no meaning apart.
Ver. 20. In every state in which man lives, there is a bondage and a liberty. In the old state, it was bondage to sin, and liberty in relation to righteousness. For τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ see Winer, 263.
Ver. 21 f. To decide which of the two lives, or of the two freedoms, is the true, Paul appeals to their fruits. The marked contrast between τότε and νῦν is in favour of those who put the mark of interroga- tion after τότε. ‘‘ What fruit therefore had you then? ‘Things of which you are now ashamed.” The construction ἐφ᾽ els ἐπαισχύνεσθε is found also in Isa, i. 29: ἠσχύνθησαν ἐπὶ τοῖς κήποις. If the point of interrogation is put after ἐπαισχύνεσθε, the answer ‘“‘none” must be interpolated: and ἐκείνων supplied as antecedent to ἐφ᾽ ols. νυνὶ δέ: But now, now that the situation is reversed, and you have been freed from sin and made slaves to God, you have your fruit eis ἁγιασμόν. He does not say what the fruit is, but we know what the things are which contribute to and result in ἁγιασμός: see ver. 10.