Ver. I. πᾶσα Wuyy is a Hebraism;
696
- > / Θεού τεταγµέναι Elo.
a Acts vii.
ος λήψονται.
a a5 , - 2. ὥστε 6 ἀντιτασσόμενος τή ἐξουσίᾳα, τῇ
- a - 3 ε a a τοῦ Θεοῦ "διαταγή ἀνθέστηκεν ' οἱ δὲ ἀνθεστηκότες, ἑαυτοῖς κρῖμα
3- οἱ γὰρ ἄρχοντες οὐκ εἰσὶ φόβος τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων,
ἀλλὰ τῶν κακῶν.ὶ θέλεις δὲ μὴ φοβεῖσθαι τὴν ἐξουσίαν; τὸ ἀγαθὸν , 47 @ ” 3 ή . lel a , , > ΔΝ ποίει, καὶ ἕξεις ἔπαινον ἐξ αὐτῆς 4. Θεοῦ γὰρ διάκονός ἐστι σοὶ
3 8 > , εἰς τὸ ἀγαθόν.
ἐὰν δὲ τὸ κακὸν ποιῇς, φοβοῦ ' οὗ γὰρ εἰκῆ τὴν
µάχαιραν φορεῖ᾽ Θεοῦ γὰρ διάκονός ἐστιν, ἔκδικος eis ὀργὴν τῷ τὸ
'twv αγαθων εργων αλλα των κακων D® gr. L, etc.; τω αγαθω εργω a. Tw κακω SABD'F. The vulg. and lat. fathers have non sunt timori boni operis, from which
\V. and H. deduce another reading του αγαθου εργου.
They suspect a primitive
error, and Hort favours the correction tw αγαθοεργῳ, comparing 1 Tim. vi. 18.
cf. Acts il. 43, iii. 23, and chap. ii. 9. For ἐξουσίαις cf. Luke xii. 11: it is exactly like ‘‘ authorities” in English— abstract for concrete. ὑπερεχούσαις de- scribes the authorities as being actually in a position of superiority. Cf. 1 P. li. 13, and 2 Macc. iii. 11 (ἀνδρὸς ἐν ὑπεροχῇ κειµένου). οὐ yap ἔστιν ἐξουσία εἰ μὴ ὑπὸ θεοῦ: ὑπὸ is the correct read- ing (NAB), not ἀπό. Weiss compares Bar. iv. 27. ἔσται yap ὑμῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐπάγοντος μνεία. It is by God’s act and will alone that there is such a thing as an authority, or magistrate; and those that actually exist have been appointed—set in their place—by Him. With at δὲ οὖσαι the Apostle passes from the abstract to the concrete; the persons and institutions in which for the time authority had its seat, are before his mind—in other words, the Empire with all its grades of officials from the Emperor down. In itself, and quite apart from its relation to the Church, this system had a Divine right to be. It did not need to be legitimated by any special relation to the Church; quite as truly as the Church it existed Dei gratia.
Ver. 2. Gore cf. vii. 4, 12. The conclusion is that he who sets himself against the authorities withstands what has been instituted by God: διαταγῇ (Acts vil. 53) recalls τεταγµέναι, ver. I. The κρίµα, z.e., the judgment or con- demnation which those who offer such resistance shall receive, is of course a Divine one—that is the nerve of the whole passage; but most commentators seem to regard it as coming through the human authority resisted. This is by no means clear; even a successful defiance of authority, which involved no human κρίµα, would according to Paul ensure punishment from God. For λήψονται kpipa cf. Mark xii. 40, Jas. iii, 1: where also God’s judgment alone is in
view. But to say that it is God’s judg- ment only is not to say that it is eternal damnation. There are many ways in which God’s condemnation of sin is expressed and executed.
Ver. 3. ot γὰρ ἄρχοντες κ.τ.λ. The yap can only be connected in a forced and artificial way with the clause which immediately precedes: it really intro- duces the reason for a frank and un- reserved acceptance of that view of ‘authorities’ which the Apostle is lay- ing down. It is as if he said: Recognise the Divine right of the State, for its tepresentatives are not a terror—an ob- ject of dread—to the good work, but to the bad. Φόβος as in Isa. viii. 13. It is implied that those to whom he speaks will always be identified with the good work, and so have the authorities on their side: it is taken for granted also that the State will not act in violation of its own idea, and identify itself with the bad. θέλεις δὲ μὴ φοβεῖσθαι κ.τ.λ. This is most expressive when read as an in- terrogation, though somé prefer to take it as an assertion: that is, to regard Paul as assuming that the reader does not want to be afraid of the magistrate, rather than as inquiring whether he does or not. To escape fear, τὸ ἀγαθὸν moter: do what is (legally and morally) good.