Ver. 56. Laying aside sarcasm, the Ap. asks most gravely: ‘(Is it) so (that) there is no wise man found amongst you, who will be able to decide between his
816
w Job ix. 3 (or dat.).
x Rom. xiii 11; Eph ii. 8; Phil. 1.28; 3Jo.
dw
‘ κρίνεται,
5. y Vii. 12 Π., X. 27, Xiv. 22 fi.; 2 Cor. vi. 14 f.; 1 Tim. v. 8. z See v. 1. bN.T. kL; Ex. xviii. 22.
7. Ἠδη μὲν οὖν] ” ὅλως "ἤττημα ev? ὑμῖν ἐστιν ὅτι
a Rom. xi. 12; I c 2 Cor. xi. 11; Rom. ix. 32; Rev. xvii. 7; Acts v. 3; oftener in Gospp.
Vik
"μέσον τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ; 6. ἀλλὰ ἀδελφὸς “peta ἀδελφοῦ
- 7 . , Σκαὶ "τοῦτο "ἐπὶ * ἀπίστων.
b , κρίµατα
ἔχετε pel ἑαυτῶν: "διατί” οὐχὶ μᾶλλον " ἀδικεῖσθε; ° Stari > οὐχὶ μᾶλλον “ ἀποστερεῖσθε; 8. ἀλλὰ ὑμεῖς " ἀδικεῖτε καὶ ° ἀποστερεῖτε,
Isa. xxxi. 8; -αομαι, 2 Cor. xii. 13; 2 Pet. ii. 19 f.
d Pass. (or mid.), 2 Cor. vii. 12; 2 Pet. ii. 12; Acts vii. 24; Rev. ii. 1τ. For act., 2 Cor. vii. 2; Gal. iv.
12; Col. iii. 25; Phm. 18, etc.
e Vii. 5; 1 Tim. vi. 5; Mk. x. το.
1 Om. ουν ${*D* 17, latt. vg. cop. So Tisch.; not W.H. 2 Om. εν all uncc.; all critical edd. ἄδια τι: critical edd., except Tisch.
brothers?’’ οὕτως intensifies the ques- tion (cf. Gal. iii. 3)--τοσαύτη σπάνις (Cm.)—‘‘so utter a lack of men of sense amongst you Cor., with all your talent and pretensions?” (i. 5, iii. 18, iv. 10). ἐνί, prp. with ellipsis of ἐστίν (Wr., p. 06)—there exists, is found (see parls.). —ava péoov (Hebraistic prpl. phrase) τοῦ ἀθελφοῦ avrov—lit. “between his brother’””— a defective expression, as though due to confusion of τῶν ἀδελφῶν with the more Hebraistic ἀδελφοῦ καὶ ἀδελφοῦ: an example of the laxity of Paul’s conversational Gr.; unless, as Sm. conjectures, there is a “ primitive error,” and τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ should be cor- rected to τῶν ἀδελφῶν.
Ver. 6. ‘Nay, but brother goes to Jaw with brother—this too before un- believers!’? This is an answer to the question of ver. 5, not a continuation of it. The litigation shows that there is no man in the Church wise enough to settle such matters privately; or he would surely have been called in. The ἄδικοι of ver. r here figure as ἄπιστοι; see paris; contrast with ot πιστεύοντες (i. 21).
§ 18. WARNING TO IMMORAL CHRIS- TIANS, Vi. 7-11. Behind the scandal of the law-suits there lay a deeper mischief in their cause. They were immediately due to unchristian resentment on the part of the aggrieved; but the chief guilt lay with the aggressors. The de- frauders of their brethren, and all doers of wrong, are warned that they forfeit their place in God’s kingdom (g f.), and reminded that the sins they thus commit belong to their unregenerate state (11).
Ver. 7. “H8n μὲν οὖν, “Indeed then, to begin with”: on ἤδη (already, 12.6. before litigation), see note to iv. 8. μὲν here, otherwise than in ver. 4. sug- gests a suppressed δέ: “but ye aggra-
vate matters by going before the heathen ’” (Lt.).—6Aws (see v. τ) ἥττημα (cl. ἥττα) : “it is absolutely a failure on your part” —not a mere defect, nor a loss (sc. of the Messianic glory: so Mr., in view of ο), but a moral defeat (see parls.). "Ἠττάομαι (see Lidd., s. v., I. 3) signifies to be worsted, beaten in a suit (Lat. causa cadere); this sense excellently suits the context and Paul’s epigrammatic style: “Indeed then it is already an unmis- takable defeat for you that you have law-suits”—you are beaten before you enter court, by the mere fact that such quarrels arise and reach this pitch.—kpipa is the πρᾶγμα (1) ripened into an actual case at law. μεθ ἑαυτῶν, for per’ ἀλλήλων, implies intestine strife; the 3rd _ pl. reflexive pron. frequently serves all three persons (Jelfs Gr. Gram., § 654, 2 ).--ἀδικεῖσθε, ἀποστερεῖσθε, mid. voice: ‘‘injuriam accipitis, fraudem patimini’” (Vg.)—‘‘ Why do you not rather submit to wrong, to robbery?” (see Wr., p. 218). Paul reproduces the teaching of Jesus in Luke vi. 27 Π., etc., which applies more strictly as the rela- tionships of life are closer; cf. His own example (1 Pet. ii. 23), and that of the Ap. (iv. 12 f., 16). οὐχὶ μᾶλλον, as in ν. 2.