0---τ2.
γὰρ 1 * ἄρτι δι Ὁ ἐσόπτρου ἐν " αἰνίγματι, "τότε δὲ “ πρόσωπον " πρὸς 3
ἁπρόσωπον" 3 ἄρτι γινώσκω "ἐκ " μέρους, "τότε δὲ "ἐπιγγώσομαι
καθὼς καὶ ’ ἐπεγνώσθην.
N , A g , se , ο . Αρ τα τρια ταυτα 3 μείζων νε τουτων Ἡ αγοτη.
below. 8 3 Jo.14; Numb. xii.8; also 2 Cor. iii, 18.
ς«Ν.Τ. ἡμ].; Numb. xii. 8; Sir. xxxix. 3.
See iv. 13 αρτι.., τοτε, 3
το ας σε
, : = 13. ‘vuvi *Sé µένει πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη, > Jas: 1 23;
isd. vii 26; Sir. Xin rk, See note
da Ν.Τ. 4.1.; Gen. xxxii. 30. Cf. 2 Jo. 12;
ε xiv. 37, xvi. 18; 8 times more in P,; 2 Pet. ii. 21; many times in Syn. GG. and Acts. For the antith., cf. viii. 2 f.; Gal. iv. 9.
f See xii. 18
g See xii. 31. For compar. with παντων, xv. 19; Mt. xiii. 32; Lk. ix. 46.
1DG, latt. vg., Latt. Ff. om. γαρ.
sum vir. Hiems non affert ver; sed ver pellit hiemem: sic est in anima et ec- clesia” (Bg.).—yéyova and κατήργηκα, in pf. of abiding result; for καταργέω, cf. i. 28 and parls.
Ver. 12 figures in another way the contrast between the present partial and the coming perfect Christian state, in respect particularly of knowledge: it is the diff. between discernment by broken reflexion and by immediate intuition. ‘‘For we see now through a mirror, in (the fashion of) a riddle; but then face to face.” —BdXérw, as distinguished from ὁράω, points to the fact and manner of seeing rather than the object seen (see parls.). On ἄρτι, see note to iv, 11; it fastens on the immediate present.—8v’ ἐσόπτρου, “by means of a mirror”: ancient mirrors made of burnished metal —a specialty of Cor.—were poor re- flectors ; the art of silvering glass was discovered in the 13th century.—éoor- τρον = κάτοπτρον (2 Cor. ill. 18), or ἔνοπτρον (cl. Gr.); not διόπτρα, specu- lare, the semi-transparent window of tale (the lapis speculavis of the ancients), as some have explainedtheterm. Cf. Philo, De Decal., § 21, ‘‘As by a mirror, the reason discerns images of God acting and making the world and administering the universe’’; also Plato’s celebrated representation (Repub., vii., 514) of the world of sense as a train of shadows imaging the real. Mr., Hf., Gd., Al., El. adopt the local sense of διά, '' through a mirror,” in allusion to the appearance of the imaged object as behind the reflector: but it is the dimness, not the displace- ment, of the image that P. is thinking of. —Such a sight of the Divine realities, in blurred reflexions, presents them ἐν αἰνίγματι, enigmatically— in (the shape of) a riddle” rather than a full intelligible view. Divine revelation opens up fresh mysteries; advanced knowledge raises vaster problems. With our defective earthly powers, this is inevitable.—mpéa- wmrov πρὸς πρόσωπον, Heb. panim ’el- panim (see parls.), with a reminiscence of
Num. xii. 8, στόμα κατὰ στόµα.... καὶ ov δι αἰνιγμάτων (referring to the converse of God with Moses): the ‘‘ face’ to which ours will be turned, is God’s. God is the tacit obj. of ver. 126, which interprets the above figure: ‘‘ Now I know (γινώσκω, a learner’s knowledge: see i. 21, etc.; contrast οἶδα, 2 above and ii. 11) par- tially; but then I shall know-well (ἐπι- γνώσοµαι), as also I was well-known”, God has formed a perfect apprehension of the believing soul (viii. 3); He pos- sesses an immediate, full, and interested discernment of its conditions (Rom. viii. 27, etc.); its future knowledge will match, in some sense, His present knowledge of it, the searching effect of which it has realised (Gal. iv. 9, etc.).
Ver. 13. vuvi δὲ µένει «.7.A.—final conclusion of the matter, µένει being antithetical to πίπτει κ.τ.λ. of the fore- going: ‘‘ But as it is (nunc autem), there abides faith, hope, love—these three!”’ they stay; the others pass (8 ff.). Faith and Hope are elements of the perfect and permanent state; new objects of trust and desire will come into sight in the widening visions of the life eternal. But Love, both now and then, surpasses its companions, being the character of God (viii. 3, 1 John iv. 8, 16); in Love is the fruition of Faith’s efforts (Gal. v. 6) and Hope’s anticipations; it alone gives worth to every human power (1-3). The popular interpretation, since Cm., has read vuvi as temporal instead of logical, identifying it with the ἄρτι of ver. 12, as though the Ap. meant that for the present Faith and Hope ‘‘abide” with Love, but Love alone ‘‘abides”’ for ever. But P. puts the three on the same footing in respect of enduringness—‘ these three” in com parison with the other three of ver. 8— pointedly adding Faith and Hope to share and support the ‘abiding’ of Love; ‘“‘ love is greater among these,” not more lasting.—For μείζων with partitive gen., cf. Matt. xxiii. 11, and see Wr., p. 303. For the pregnant, absolute μένει, cf. iii. 14,1 John ii. 6, 2 John 2,