69
καρδία.” 13, etre (1
oat ς Thess. ii. alae. ᾿ἀγάπη
17 and on chap. 1.11,
'kptvavtas τοῦτο, ὅτι εἰ" εἷς ὑπὲρ g acre only
n Paul;
πάντων ἀπέθανεν, ἄρα οἱ πάντες ἀπέθανον: καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀπέ- cf: Mk.
ili. 21.
θανεν; ἵνα ot ζῶντες μηκέτι ἑαυτοῖς ζῶσιν, ἀλλὰ τῷ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν h Rom. xii.
11, 6.
i Rom. viii. 35; Eph. iii. 19. XViii. 5.
1 Cf. Acts xv. 1ο.
3 Tit.
k Phil. i. 23 only in Paul; cf. Lk. viii. 37, xii. 50; Acts
1 CDcEKLP have ov (D*G have ουκ); better µη with NB 17. 2 CDcEKLP give καρδιᾳ ; better ev καρδ. with RBD*G 17, 3 CP 17 and the Harclean have Θεου for Χριστου.
4 ΦΟΝ, f and the Bohairic insert ει;
om. &*BC2DEGKLP, ἃ, e, g and the Syriac
vss. (it may have been dropped through inadvertence before ets).
δα, f, g, etc. give απεθανεν Χριστος.
The phrase προσώπῳ οὐ καρδίᾳ occurs in 1 Thess. ii. 17 in the sense of eee ov σώματι (cf. τ Cor. v. 3, Col. ii. 5); but a better parallel for the present passage is 1 Sam. xvi. 7, where Samuel is told that while man looks εἰς πρόσωπον, God looks εἰς καρδίαν. So St. Paul here refers to teachers who lay stress on the outward appearance and the ‘‘face”’ (see note i. 11) of things, such asa man’s enthusiasms and visions (xii. 1 and ver. 13), or his eloquence (chap. x. 10), or his letters of commendation (iii. 1), or his Jewish birth (xi. 22), or his personal in- timacy in the flesh with Christ (ver. 16) —rather than on the inward motive and “heart” of his message.
Ver. 13. εἴτε γὰρ ἐξέστημεν «.T.A.: for whether (see on i. 6 for constr.) we are beside ourselves, it is unto God; or whether we are of sober mind, it is unto you (note the dat. com- modi). At a later period Festus told Paul that he-was mad (Acts xxvi. 24), so impressed was he with the Apostle’s enthusiasm; and it is probable that the anti-Pauline party at Corinth were not slow to point to the ‘visions and re- velations of the Lord” which St. Paul claimed for himself (chap. xii. 1-6), and to the facility with which he spoke “with tongues” (1 Cor. xiv. 18), as proofs of his madness. A similar accusa- tion was made against his Master (Mark iii. 21). But St. Paul bids them (ver. 12) look a little deeper, and not judge by mere outward phenomena such as these. He repeatedly asks them to bear with his seeming foolishness (chap. xi. I, 16, 17, xii. 6, 11). It is possible that a charge of a contrary nature had been also made by his opponents, and that
his regard for other men’s prejudices (τ Cor. ix. 20), and the ‘‘craftiness”’ with which he caught the Corinthians “ with guile’”’ (chap. xii. 16), were urged as savouring more of worldly wisdom than of true piety. His answer to both charges is contained in this verse. If he has ex- ceeded the bounds of moderation, it is in his moods of highest devotion, when he is pouring out his soul to God and not to man; if he has exercised a sober prudence in his dealings with his con- verts, it is all for their sakes, and not for selfish ends.
Vv. 14-16. IT Is NoT THE KNnow- LEDGE OF CHRIST IN His EARTHLY LIFE, BUT THE LOVE WHICH CHRIST HAS FOR MAN THAT IS THE CONSTRAINING POWER OF Ῥαυν) 5 PREACHING.—Ver. 14. ἢ γὰρ ἀγάπη τοῦ Χρ. κ.τ.λ.: for the Love of Christ constraineth us, sc., within the limits laid down in ver. 13. The words are often quoted as meaning that the love which Christians bear to Christ is the supreme motive of the Christian life; but however true this is in itself, it is not the meaning of the Apostle here. The genitive of the person after ἀγάπη is in St, Paul’s Epistles always subjective (cf. η ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ, Rom. v. 5, viii. 39, chap. xili. 13, 2 Thess. iii. 5, and cf, also Rom. ἂν. 30, Eph. ii. 4, Col. i, 13, and for 4 ay. τοῦ Xp. reff. above); z.e., “the Love of God” and ‘‘ the Love of Christ "ἢ signify with him the love which God and Christ bear towards (εἰς) man, (St. Paul often uses the verb ἀγαπάω to express man’s love to God, but never the sub- stantive ἀγάπη). St. John’s usage varies, the genitive sometimes being objective and sometimes subjective (cf. John v. 42 and i John ii, 5, 15, iii. 17, iv. 9, Υ. 33