3-9.
στόν.
749
6. ἀσπάσασθε Μαριάµμ,! ἦτις πολλὰ 3 ἐκοπίασεν εἰς ἡμᾶς. d Ver. 12.
- > , 3 > 5 , A > [ή a a ‘ 7: ἀσπάσασθε ᾿Ανθρόνικον και louviay τοὺς συγγενεις µου καὶ
“«συναιχμαλώτους µου, οἵτινές εἶσιν ἵ ἐπίσημοι ἐν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις, ε Col. ἴν.ο,
a ‘ ee A , 4 οι και προ εµου Ὕγεγονασιν
‘ > / > , τὸν ἀγαπητόν µου ἐν Kuptw.
ἐν Χριστῷ.
A Philemon 8. ἀσπάσασθε “Aumdiav® 23.
> , > 9 a ‘ Matt. ο. ἀσπάσασθε Οὐρβανὸν τον συνεργΟον = xxvii. 16.
1 Μαριαμ. NDEL; Μαριαν ABCP, and so most edd. For npas read uypas NABC!P. 2 For γεγονασιν read γεγοναν with RAB. 3 For Αμπλιαν read Αμπλιατον with ABP,
whole Christian community (in Rome or in Ephesus) met in the house of Prisca and Aquila. They signity the body of believers meeting for worship there, a body which would only be part of the local Christian community. Cf. 1 Cor. xvi. 19, Col. iv. 15, Philemon 2, Acts xii. 12. ‘* There is no clear example of a separate building set apart for Christian worship within the limits of the Roman Empire before the third century, though apartments in private houses might be specially devoted to this purpose ”’ (Light- foot on Col. iv. 15). ἀσπάσασθε Ἐπαί- νετον τὸν ἄγαπητόν pov: after Priscilla and Aquila, not a single person is known of all those to whom Paul sends greetings in vv. 3-16. ἀπαρχὴ τῆς Ασίας: Έρα- netus was the first convert in Asia (the Roman province of that name). Cf. 1 Cor. xvi. 15. There is no difficulty in supposing that the first Christian of Asia was at this time—temporarily or per- manently—in Rome: but the discovery of an Ephesian Epznetus on a Roman inscription (quoted by Sanday and Head- lam) is very interesting.
Ver. 6. It is not certain whether Μαριάμ (which is Jewish) or Μαρίαν (Roman) is the true reading. rts πολλὰ ἐκοπίασεν: the much labour she had bestowed is made the ground (ἥτις) of a special greeting. εἰς ὑμᾶς is much better supported than εἰς ἡμᾶς: there is something finer in Paul’s appreciation of services rendered to others than if they had been rendered to himself. Cf. Gal. iv. 11.
Ver. 7. Andronicus is a Greek name, which, like most names in this chapter, can be illustrated from inscriptions. *tovviay may be masculine (from Ἰουνίας, or *lovwias contraction of Junianus), or feminine (from Ἰοννία): probably the former. τοὺς ovyyeveis pov: {.ο., Jews. Cf. ix. 3. It is hardly possible that so many people in the Church addressed (see vv. 11, 21) should be more closely connected with Paul than by the bond of
nationality. But it was natural for him, in writing to a mainly Gentile Church, to distinguish those with whom he had this point of contact. Cf. Col. iv. 11. συναιχ- µαλώτους pov: this naturally means that on some occasion they had shared Paul’s imprisonment: it is doubtful whether it would be satisfied by the idea that they, like him, had also been imprisoned for Christ’s sake. The αἰχμάλωτος is a prisoner of war: Paul and his friends were all Salvation Army men. The phrase ἐπίσημοι év τοῖς ἀποστόλοις, men of mark among the Apostles, has the same ambiguity in Greek as in Eng- lish. It might mean, well-known to the apostolic circle, or distinguished as Apostles, The latter sense is that in which it is taken by “all patristic com- mentators”’ (Sanday and Headlam), whose instinct for what words meant in a case of this kind must have been surer than that of a modern reader. It implies, of course, a wide sense of the word Apostle: for justi- fication of which reference may be made to Lightfoot’s essay on the name and office of an Apostle (Galatians, 92 ff.) and Harnack, Lehre der zswolf Apostel, S. 111-118. On the other hand, Paul’s use of the word Apostle is not such as to make it easy to believe that he thought of a large class of persons who might be so designated, a class so large that two otherwise unknown persons like Androni- cus and Junias might be conspicuous in it. Hence scholars like Weiss and Gif- ford hold that what is meant here is that Andronicus and Junias were honourably known to the Twelve. οἱ καὶ πρὸ ἐμοῦ γέγοναν ἐν Χριστῷ: they had evidently been converted very early, and, like Mnason the Cypriot, were ἀρχαῖοι µαθηταί, Acts xxi. 16. On yéyovay see Burton, Moods and Tenses, § 82. The English idiom does not allow of a perfect translation, but ‘‘ were” is more idiomatic than “have been”’,