718
- > , 4 ἐμοῦ. 3. Ασπάσασθε Πρίσκιλλαν 1 και ᾽Ακύλαν τοὺς συνεργούς μου ἐν τα. mn 9 ec 8 a a a. he a Χριστῷ Ιησοῦ, 4. (οἵτινες ὑπὲρ τῆς ψυχῆς µου τὸν ἑαυτῶν τράχηλον / ~ A ὑπέθηκαν : ots οὐκ ἐγὼ µόνος εὐχαριστῶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ ἐκκλη- ’ aA > ~ 4 A > ο > A > , 3 σίαι τῶν ἐθνῶν ') καὶ τὴν κατ οἶκον αὐτῶν ἐκκλησίαν. 5. ἀσπάσασθε
᾿Επαίνετον τὸν ἀγαπητόν µου, ὃς ἐστιν ἀπαρχὴ τῆς Αχαΐας” εἰς Χρι-
1 For Πρισκιλλαν (corrected by Acts xviii. 2) read Πρισκαν ΝΑΒΟΡΕΙ.. 2 For της Αχαιας LP, read της Ασιας with ΝΑΒΟΡΙΕ, The wrong reading is
due to 1 Cor. xvi. 15.
is, a life of habitual charity and hospi- tality, quite apart from any official position, would justify the name διάκονος. On the other hand it must be remem- bered that the growth of the Church, under the conditions of ancient society, soon produced “' deaconesses ” in the official sense, and Phoebe may have had some recognised function of διακονία assigned to her. Cenchrez was on the Saronic gulf, nine miles E. of Corinth: as the port for Asia and the East, many Christians would pass through it, and a Christian woman who gave herself to hospitality (xii. 13) might have her hands full. ἐν Κνρίφ: no mere reception of Phoebe into their houses satisfies this —their Christian life was to be open for her to share in it; she was no alien to be debarred from spiritual intimacy. ἀξίως τῶν ἁγίων: with such kindness as it be- comes Christians to show. καὶ παρα- στῆτε αὐτῇ (Jer. xv. 11): after the Chris- tian welcome is assured, Paul bespeaks their help for Phoebe in whatever affair she may require it. He speaks indefinitely, but his language suggests that she was going to Rome on business in which they could assist her. καὶ γὰρ αὐτὴ: in complying with this request they will only be doing for Phoebe what she has done for others, and especially for Paul himself. προστάτις (feminine of προστάτης) is suggested by παρα- στῆτε. Paul might have said παραστά- τις, but uses the more honourable word. προστάτης (patronus) was the title of a citizen in Athens who took charge of the interests of µέτοικοι and persons without civic rights; the corresponding feminine here may suggest that Phoebe was a woman of good position who could render valuable services to such a community as a primitive Christian Church usually was. When she helped Paul we cannot tell. Dr. Gifford suggests the occasion of Acts xviii. 18. Paul’s vow ‘‘ seems to point to a deliverance from danger or sickness,”’ in which she may have minis-
tered to him. It is generally assumed that Phoebe was the bearer of this epistle, and many even of those who regard vers. 3-16 as addressed to Ephesus still hold that vers. 1 and 2 were meant for Rome.
Ver. 3 f. Greeting to Prisca and Aquila, ἀσπάσασθε: only here does Paul commission the whole Church to greet individual members of it (Weiss). For the persons here named see Acts xviii. 2. Paul met them first in Corinth, and according to Meyer converted them there. Here as in Acts xviii. 18, 26 and 1 Tim, iv. 1g the wife is put first, pro- bably as the more distinguished in Christian character and service; in I Cor. xvi. 19, where they send greetings, the husband naturally gets his preced- ence. τοὺς συνεργούς µου ἐν Χριστῷ Ιησοῦ: on first acquaintance they had been fellow-workers, not in Christ Jesus, but in tent-making: they were ὁμότεχνοι, Acts xviii. 3. οἵτινες: quippe qui. τὸν ἑαντῶν τράχηλον: the singular (as Gifford points out) shows that the expression is figurative. To save Paul’s life Prisca and Aquila incurred some great danger themselves; what, we cannot tell. They were in his company both in Corinth and Ephesus, at times when he was in ex- treme peril (Acts xviii. 12, xix. 30 f.), and the recipients of the letter would under- stand the allusion. The technical sense of ὑποθεῖναι, to give as a pledge, cannot be pressed here, as though Prisca and Aquila had given their personal security (though it involved the hazard of their lives) for Paul’s good behaviour. οἷς οὐκ ἐγὼ pdévos εὐχαριστῶ κ.τ.λ. The language implies that the incident re- ferred to had occurred long enough ago for all the Gentile Churches to be aware of it, but yet so recently that both they and the Apostle himself retained a lively feeling of gratitude to his brave friends. καὶ τὴν Kat’ οἶκον αὐτῶν ἐκκλησίαν : these-words do not mean “their Christian household,” nor do they imply that the