τις “Soxet ‘ ciddvar}
ἔτι, οὐδέπω” οὐδὲν ὃ ἔγνωκε" ’ καθὼς {δεῖ FS
839
e See iii. 18. vw
~ , > γνῶναι: 3. εἰ δέ τις " ἀγαπᾷ τὸν "Θεόν, οὗτος ᾿ ἔγνωσται Sm’? Keres see
viii. 26; Eph. vi. 20; Col. iv. 4, 6; 1 ΤΗ. iv. 1; 2 Th. iii. 7; 1 Tim. iii. 15. xxii. 37; Lk. x. 27 (Deut. vi. 5); 1 Jo. iv. 20 1., v. 2.
Vii. 23, XXV. 12.
6 ο]. Rom. bh Rom. viii. 28; Mt. i Gal. iv. 9; 2 Tim. ii. 19 (Nu. xvi. 5); Mt.
leyvwkevat, all pre-Syrian uncc., 17, 46, many Ff.
ἔουπω, NABP 17, 46, 73.
ovdSerw, Western and Syrian.
5 Om. ουδεν all pre-Syrian uncc.—T.R. a grammatical emendation.
βεγνω, all pre-Sytian uncc. 5 Om. va’ αντου ἂν 17, Clem.
course with unconverted kindred and neighbours. In theory Paul is for freedom, but in practice for great restrictions upon the use of idolothyta. (x) He admits that the question is decided in principle by the fundamental truth of religion, v7z., that God is one, from which it follows
that the sacrifice to the idol is an invalid”
transaction (viii. 1 ff. ; κ. το, 26). But (2) many have not grasped this inference, being still in some sense under the spell of the idol; for them to eat would be sin, and for their sake stronger-minded brethren should abstain (viii. 7-13; x. 23-30). To this effect (3) P. sets forth his own example, (a) in the abridgment of his personal liberty for the good of others (ix. I-22; x. 33-xi. 1), and (6) in the jealous discipline of bodily appetite (ix. 23 ff.). The last consideration leads (4) toa solemn warning against contamina- tion by idolatry, drawn (a) from the early history of Israel, and further (b) from the communion of the Lord’s Table, which utterly forbids participation in ‘the table of demons” (x. 1-22). These instances show in a manner evident to the good sense of the readers (x. 15), that to take part in a heathen sacrificial feast is in effect a recognition of idolatry and an apostasy from Christ.
§ 25. KNOWLEDGE OF THE ONE GoD AND ONE LorD, viii. 1-6. In inquiring from their Ap. ‘about the ei8wAd0ura,”’ the Cor. had intimated their ‘‘ know- ledge” of the falsity of the entire system ofidolatry. Here Paul checks them at the outset. The pretension betrays their one-sided intellectualism. Such matters are never settled by knowledge; love is the true arbiter (2 f.). After this caution, he takes up the statement of the Cor. creed made in the Church Letter, with its implications respecting idolatry (4 fi.).
Ver. 1a. Περὶ δὲ τῶν εἰθωλοθύτων: another topic of the Church Letter, to which the Apostle continues his reply
The -κε a doubling of the following κα-.
(see note on vii. 1; also Introd., chap. ii.). The word εἰδωλόθυτον (see parls.), ‘*the idol-sacrifice,” substituted for the ἱερόθυτον (x. 28) of the heathen vocabu- lary, conveys an implicit judgment on the question in hand; see note on εἴδωλον, ver. 4, and on x. 19 f.; also Acts xv. 20, τὰ ἀλισγήματα τών εἰδώλωγ. --- οἴδαμεν ---ὅτι πάντες γνῶσιν ἔχομεν : the common rendering, ‘‘ We know that we all have knowledge ”’ yields a weak tautology, and misses the irony of the passage; other- wise than in οἴδαμεν ὅτι of ver. 4, this is the causal ὅτι (so Bg., Hn., Ed.). The Cor. in making their inquiry virtually answered it themselves ; they wrote Οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὐδὲν εἴδωλον ἐν τῷ κόσµω (4); and P. takes them up at the first word with his arresting comment: “Νε know’ (say you?) because ‘we all have know- ledge’ !— Knowledge puffs up,” etc. —For γνῶσιν ἔχομεν, cf. ver. 10 ; the phrase breathes the pride of the Cor. il- luminati; in γνῶσις this Church felt itself rich (i. 5, iv. 10); its wealth was its peril.
Ver. τὸ. The Ap. gives to Cor. vanity a sudden, sharp rebuke by his epigram, Ἡ γνῶσις φυσιοῖ, ἡ δὲ ἀγάπη οἰκοδομεῖ: ‘Knowledge puffs up, but Love builds up”. Hn. aptly compares Aristotle’s axiom, Τὸ τέλος οὐ γνῶσις, ἀλλὰ πρᾶξις (Nic. Eth.,i., 1). For φυσιόω, to inflate, see note on iv. 6. The appeal of the Church to Knowledge as decisive in the controversy about ‘‘ meats”’ disclosed the great flaw in its character—its poverty of love (xiii. τ ff.). The tacit obj. of οἰκοδομεῖ is the Church, the Θεοῦ οἰκοδομή (iii. 9, 16); Eph. iv. 15 f. describes the edifying power of love; see also Matt. xxii. 37-40, 1 John iv. 16-21. For the Biblical use of ἀγάπτη, see note to xiii. 1. The divisive question at issue Love would turn into a means of strengthening the bonds of Church life; Knowledge operating alone makes it an engine of destruction (11 f.).