22—28.
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26. εὐδόκησαν γὰρ Μακεδονία καὶ ᾿Αχαΐα ” κοινωνίαν p Heb. xiii.
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27. εὐδόκησαν γὰρ, καὶ ὀφειλέται αὐτῶν εἶσιν.
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Δλειτουργῆσαι αὐτοῖς. 28. τοῦτο οὖν ἐπιτελέσας, καὶ σφραγισάµενος 4 2 Cor. ix, 12.
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for fellowship with the Romans, but it would be at least a partial satisfaction of it.
Ver. 25. νυνὶ δὲ is not a resumption of νυνὶ δὲ in ver. 23: there is an entire break in the construction, and Paul be- gins again, returning from the Spanish journey, which lies in a remote and un- certain future, to the present moment. ‘“But at this moment I am on the way to Jerusalem, ministering to the saints.” διακονῶν does not represent this journey as part of his apostolic ministry, which might legitimately defer his visit once more (Weiss); it refers to the service rendered to the poor by the money he brought (see 2 Cor. viii. 4). For what- ever reason, Paul seems to have used ‘‘the saints’’ (a name applicable to all Christians) with a certain predilection to describe the Jerusalem Church. Cf. ver. Zi pw Corexvis st, SaCor. Viti..45 ix. 1, 1x. 12: all in this connection.
Ver. 26. εὐδόκησαν yap Μακεδονία καὶ ᾿Αχαία: Macedonia and Achaia would include all the Pauline Churches in Europe, and we know from 1 Cor. xvi. 1 that a similar contribution was being made in Galatia. εὐδόκησαν expresses the formal resolution of the churches in question, but here as in many places with the idea that it was a spontaneous and cordial resolution (though it had been suggested by Paul): see chap. x. 1 (Fritzsche’s note there), Luke xii. 32, Gal. i. 15, 1 Cor. i. 21, 1 Thess, ii. 8, iii. I. Kotvwvlav τινὰ: τινὰ marks the in- definiteness of the collection. It was no assessment to raise a prescribed amount, but ‘“‘some contribution,” more or less according to will and circumstances. For κοινωνίαν in this sense see 2 Cor. viii. 4, ix. 13: where the whole subject is dis- cussed, eis τοὺς πτωχοὺς τῶν ἁγίων: from the partitive genitive it is clear that not all the saints in Jerusalem were poor. But Gal. ii, 10, Acts vi. show that the community at least included many poor, towards whom it assumed a responsibility so burdensome that it was unable to dis- charge it unaided.
Ver. 27. εὐδόκησαν γάρ: they have resolved, I say. Paul felt bound to let
this resolution affect his own conduct even to the extent of delaying his journey westward. Indeed he explains in 2 Cor., chaps. viii. and ix., that he expected great spiritual results, in the way of a better understanding between Jewish and Gen- tile Christianity, trom this notable act of Gentile charity; hence his desire to see it accomplished, and the necessity laid on him to go once more to Jerusalem. ὀφειλέται: cf. i. 14, viii. 12. The resolve of the Gentile Churches to help the poor Jewish Christians, though generous, was not unmotived; in a sense it was the payment of a debt. τοῖς πνευματικοῖς αὐτῶν: the spiritual things belonging to. the Jews in which the Gentiles shared are the Gospel and all its blessings— ‘‘salvation is of the Jews’. All the gifts of Christianity are gifts of the Holy Spirit. ἐν τοῖς σαρκικοῖς: the carnal things of the Gentiles, in which they minister to the Jews, are those which belong to the natural life of man, as a creature of flesh—the universal symbol of these is money. There is the same idea in a similar connection (the support of the Gospel ministry) in 1 Cor. ix. 11. In neither place has σαρκικὰ any ethical connotation. λειτουργῆσαι is simply “to minister to”’: no official, much less sacerdotal association. Cf. Phil. ii. 30. Ver. 28. τοῦτο οὖν ἐπιτελέσας: hav- ing brought this business to a close. It is a mistake to find in Paul’s use of ἐπιτελεῖν any reference to the perform- ance of a religious rite: see 2 Cor. viii. 6, 11, Gal. iii. 3, Phil. 1.6. σφραγισά- µενος αὐτοῖς TOV καρπὸν τοῦτον. ‘ This fruit”’ is, of course, the collection; it is one of the gracious results of the recep- tion of the Gospel by the Gentiles, and Paul loves to conceive and to speak of it spiritually rather than materially. Thus in 2 Cor. viii. and ix. he calls it a χάρις, a διακονία, a κοινωνία, a aSpdérns, a εὐλογία: never money. The point of the figure in σφραγισάµενος cannot be said to be clear. It may possibly suggest that Paul, in handing over the money to the saints, authenticates it to them as the fruit of their πνευματικά, which have been sown among the Gentiles (so S..