ἁγίων κοινωνοῦντες, τὴν Φιλοξενίαν διώκοντες. διώκοντας Spas εὐλογεῖτε, καὶ μὴ ! καταρᾶσθε. Χαιρόντων, Kal? κλαίειν μετὰ κλαιόντων.
693
14. εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς 15. Χαίρειν μετὰ 1 dhe > 3 2 16. τὸ αὐτὸ eis ἀλλήλους
φρονούντες ' μὴ τὰ ὑψηλὰ φρονοῦύντες, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ταπεινοῖς συναπαγό-
μενοι. κακοῦ ἀποδιδόντες.
1 και before κλαιειν om. ΔΒΡΙΕ; ins. AD*LP 47.
” ‘ μὴ γίνεσθε Φφρόνιµοι παρ ἑαυτοῖς: 17. μηδενὶ κακὸν ἀντὶ
προνοούµενοι καλὰ ἐνώπιον πάντων ἀνθρώπων *
W. and H. put in marg. ;
Weiss in text, regarding its omission as merely accidental.
and certainly active. τὴν Φιλοξενίαν διώκοντες: to devote oneself to enter- taining them when they were strangers was one chief way of distributing to the needs of the saints. Hospitality, in the sense of the N.T. (Heb. xiii. 2, 1 Pet. iv. 9), is not akin to “keeping company,” or ‘open house’’; it is a form of charity much needed by travelling, exiled, or persecuted Christians, The terms in which it is spoken of in Clem. Rom. (quoted in S. and H.: διὰ πίστιν καὶ Φιλοξενίαν ἐδόθη αὐτῷ-- -ἴ.ε., Abraham— vids ἐν γήρα: or, διὰ Φιλοξενίαν καὶ εὐσέβειαν Λὼτ ἐσώθη) may seem εχ- travagant; but the key to them, and to all the apostolic emphasis on the subject, is to be found in Matt. xxv. 34-36.
Ver. 14. εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς διώκοντας, εὐλ. κ. μὴ καταρᾶσθε: not a quotation of Mt. v. 44, but probably a reminiscence of the same saying of Jesus. The change in construction from participle to impera- tive, the participle being resumed in the next sentence, suggests that the form of the sentence was given to Paul—z.e., he was consciously using borrowed words without modifying them to suit the sentence he had begun on his own account. It may be that when Paul said διώκοντες in ver. 13, the other sense of the word passed through his mind and prompted ver. 14; but even if we could be sure of this (which we cannot) we should not understand either verse a whit better.
Ver. 15. Χχαίρεν pera Χχαιρόντων κ.τ.λ. The infinites give the expression the character of a watchword (see Hof- mann in Weiss). For the grammar see Winer, 397, η. 6. To weep with those that weep is easier than to rejoice with those who rejoice. Those who rejoice neither need, expect, nor feel grateful for sym- pathy in the same degree as those who weep.
Ver. 16. τὸ αὐτὸ eis ἀλλήλους Φφρονοῦντες: here the Apostle returns to his own grammar (or disregard of
grammar), and holds to it till ver. 19, when he changes to the imperative (μὴ δότε) with which he concludes (ver. 21 μὴ νικῶ, νίκα). τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν, xv. 5, is a favourite expression, best explained by reference to Phil. ii. 2, iv. 2, 2 Cor. xiii. 11. The idea is that of loving un- animity, and the εἰς ἀλλήλους points to the active manifestation of this temper in all the mutual relations of Christians. ‘Let each so enter into the feelings and desires of the other as to be of one mind with him” (Gifford). It is a more abstract expression of the Golden Rule, Mt. vii. 12. The negatives which follow introduce explanatory clauses: they for- bid what would destroy the unanimity of love. μὴ τὰ ὑψηλὰ φρονοῦντες: see on νετ, 3 above and xi. 21. Selfish am- bition in the Church is fatal to perfect mutual consideration. τοῖς ταπεινοῖς συναπαγόµενοι. Elsewhere in the N.T. (seven times) ταπεινὸς is only found in the masculine, and so some would render it here: condescend to men of low estate; let yourself be carried along in the line of their interests, not counting such people beneath you. Cf. Gal. ii. 13, 2 Pet. iii. 17. The bad connotation of σνναπάγεσθαι in both these places is due not to itself, but to the context. The contrast with τὰ ὑψηλὰ leads others to take τοῖς ταπεινοῖς as neuter: and so the 8.V. has it, con- descend to things that are lowly. Cer- tainty on such points must always be personal rather than scientific; the first of the two alternatives impresses me as much more in harmony with the nature of the words used than the other. For the idea cf. Wordsworth’s sonnet addressed to Milton... “and yet thy heart the lowliest duties on herself did lay”. μὴ γίνεσθε φρόνιµοι κ.τ.λ. Prov. iii. 7. Be not men of mind in your own conceit. It is difficult to put our judgment into a common stock, and estimate another’s as impartially as our own; but love re- quires it, and without it there is no such thing as τὸ αὐτὸ εἰς ἀλλήλους φρονεῖν.