22. Διὸ καὶ ἐνεκοπτόμην τὰ πολλὰ 1 τοῦ ἐλθεῖν πρὸς Spas, 23. νυνὶ δὲ
cal , ~ µηκέτι τόπον ἔχων ἐν τοῖς κλίµασι τούτοις, ἐπιποθίαν δὲ έχων τοῦ
m Luke viii. ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς '' ἀπὸ πολλῶν 2 ἐτῶν, 24. ὡς ἐὰν
43.
3 πορεύωμαι εἰς τὴν
Σπανίαν, ἐλεύσομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς' ἐλπίζω γὰρ διαπορευόµενος θεάσα-
n Ver. 15. σθαι ὑμᾶς, καὶ ip ὑμῶν προπεμφθῆναι ἐκεῖ, ἐὰν ὑμῶν πρῶτον ἀπὸ
o Lukei. 533 n Vi. 25.
Ἱτα πολλα ΝΑΟΙ,Ρ; πολλακις BDF.
µέρους ᾿ἐμπλησθῶ. 25. Nuvi δὲ πορεύομαι eis Ἱερουσαλὴμ, διακονῶν
2 For πολλων ΝΑΓΡΕΙ, read ικανων with BCP, Weiss, W. and H., Alford. 3 For ως εαν read ws αν with NABC. Om. edevoopar προς υµας ΝΑΒΟΡΕ and
all edd.
Apostle was with the foundation, not the superstructure. 1 Cor. iii. ro. The same confidence in his vocation, and the same pride in limiting that confidence, and not boasting of what Christ had done through others, or intruding his operations into their sphere, pervades the tenth chapter of 2 Cor.
Ver. 21. ἀλλὰ καθὼς yéypamrar: Paul’s actual procedure corresponded with, and indeed led to the fulfilment of, a famous Ο.Τ. prophecy. Isa. hii. 11 exactly as in LXX. It is absurd to argue with Fritzsche that Paul found a prediction of his own personal ministry (and of the principles on which he dis- charged it), in Isaiah, and equally beside the mark to argue that his use of the passage is ‘‘ quite in accordance with the spirit of the original”. The LXX is quite different from the Hebrew, and Paul quotes it because he liked to be able to express his own opinion or prac- tice in Scripture language. It seemed to him to get a Divine confirmation in this way; but an examination of various passages shows that he cared very little for the original meaning or application.
Vv. 22-33. The Apostle’s programme. He is at present on his way to Jerusalem with the gifts which his Gentile churches have made for the relief of the poor Christians there. The issue of this visit is dubious, and he begs their prayers for its success. After it is over, he means to proceed to Spain, and on the way he hopes to pay his long deferred visit to Rome.
Ver. 22. 8d καὶ ἐνεκοπτόμην: the work which detained the Apostle in the East also hindered him from visiting Rome. For another ἐγκόπτειν see 1 Thess. ii. 18. τὰ πολλὰ is more than πολλάκις in i. 13: it is distinguished in Greek writers both from éviore (some- times) and ἀεὶ (always) and is rightly rendered in Vulg. plerumque. Asa trule,
it was his work which kept Paul from visiting Rome, but he may have had the desire to do so (e¢.g., when he was in Corinth) and have been prevented by some other cause. The rendering ot R.V. “these many times” (apparently, all the definite times included in πολλά- κις i. 13) is unsupported by examples. Ver. 23. νυνὶ δὲ: but now — the sentence thus begun is interrupted by ἐλπίζω yap and never finished, for the words ἐλεύσομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς in T.R. are an interpolation. eer τόπον ἔχων: not that every soul was converted, but that the Apostolic function of laying foundations had been sufficiently dis- charged over the area in question. κλίµα is only found in the plural in N.T. 2 Cor. xi. 10, Gal. i. 21. ἐπιπόθειαν: here only in N.T. ἀπὸ ἱκανῶν érov: the desire dated ‘‘from a good many years
back”. Cf. ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμον, i. 20, Acts xv. 7. Ver. 24. Os Gv mopevwpar eis τὴν
Σπανίαν: it is here the apodosis begins, which being broken in on by ἐλπίζω is never formally resumed, though the sense is taken up again in ver. 28 f. ὡς ἂν is temporal = simulatque: cf. 1 Cor. xi. 34, Phil. ii. 23: Buttmann, p. 232. The principle which Paul has just laid down as regulating his Apostolic work (ver. 20) forbids him to think of Rome as a proper sphere for it; great as is his interest in the capital of the world, he can only pay it a passing visit on the way to another field. ὑφ᾽ ὑμῶν προπεμφθῆναι ἐκεῖ: it has been said that Paul expected or claimed “quasi pro jure suo’ to be escorted all the way to Spain (by sea) by members of the Roman Church; but this is not included in προπεμφθῆναι. Practical illustrations are seen in Acts xx. 35, xxl. 5: similar anticipations in 1 Cor. xvi. 6, 11. For πρῶτον see Mt. vii. 5, ΥΠ. 21. ἀπὸ µέρους indicates that no such stay would be equal te the Apostle’s longing.