92 ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ B ΙΧ, a Rom εἶναι, οὕτως ὡς εὐλογίαν, καὶ] μὴ ὥσπερ” “ πλεονεξίαν. 6. τοῦτο Col τίς; δὲ,” 6 "σπείρων "φειδομένως φειδομένως καὶ "θερίσει: καὶ ὁ σπείρων 1 Thess. ἐπ᾽ 4 εὐλογίαις ἐπ᾽ “ εὐλογίαις καὶ " θερίσει. 7. ἕκαστος καθὼς
ii. 5
τὰ Cor. ix. “προαιρεῖται ὃ τῇ καρδίᾳ: μὴ ἐκ λύπης ἢ "ἐξ " ἀνάγκης - "ἱλαρὸν
1;G vi. 7. 5 Here only; cf. i. 13. t Here only. u Heb. vii. 12.
γὰρ * δότην ἀγαπᾷ ὁ “Θεός.
v Prov. xxii. 8. w Reff. iv. 8,
8. δυνατὸς ἴ δὲ 8 ὁ Θεὸς πᾶσαν χάριν
περισσεῦσαι εἰς ὑμᾶς, ἵνα "ἐν “ παντὶ πάντοτε πᾶσαν * αὐτάρκειαν
x1 Tim. vi. 6 only; οὐ. Phil. iv. 11.
ΔΝ "6, d, e, f, g, πι, vg. and Peshitto om. και after ενλογ.; ins. NcBCDEKLP,
the Harclean and Bohairic.
* ws is the true reading; ωσπερ is found in a few cursives only. 3 f, m, vg. and the Bohairic supply λεγω after δε.
* D*G, d, e, g, πὶ and the Bohairic give ev ενλογίᾳ for the first επ. ενλ., and for the second D*, ἆ, ε have εξ ενλογιας, and G has em’ ενλογιφ.
5 D*E om. και.
°DEKL support προαιρειται; G 17 have προειρηται; better προῃρηται with
7 C®?DbcEKLP support δυνατος ; better Suvare with NBC*DG*.
8. Ὁ" and the Peshitto give yap for δε.
(we must supply ὥστε as at Col. iv. 6) the same might be ready as a bounty (οὕτως ὡς marks the exact mode in which the thank-offering is desired; cf. 1 Cor. iii. 15, iv. I, ix. 26), and not as an extor- tion, sc., a matter of covetous grasping on my part (cf. xii. 17). The A.V. rendering of πλεονεξίαν = “"᾿ covetousness,”” seems to mean “ niggardliness, such as a covet- ous man would exhibit,” and this would fall in well with the verses which follow ; but it is not agreeable to the general meaning of the word or to St. Paul’s usage elsewhere (see reff.).
Vv. 6-11. LIBERAL GIVING IS BLESSED or Gop.—Ver. 6. τοῦτο δὲ, ὁ σπείρων κ.τελ.: but (sc., although I am not press- ing you to give, cf. ver. 1) this I say (understanding φημι; cf. 1 Cor. vii. 29, xv. 50), He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he that soweth bountifully (lit., ‘‘on the principle of bounties ἢ; cf. 1 Cor. ix. 10, ἐπ᾿ ἐλπίδι, for a similar dative of condition) shall also reap bountifully. A similar principle of spiritual husbandry is laid down in Prov. xi. 24, 25, where its application is plainly to the rity of the “liberal soul’; cf. also Luke vi. 38. Here, too, this is, no doubt, the main thought (cf. viii. 14); but St. Paul else- where extends the principle to the fiature
st which each soul shall reap accord- = to its sowing (Gal. vi. 7; cf. chap. v. 10).
Ver. 7. ἕκαστος καθὼς κ.τ.λ.: {εί
each man give (understanding διδότω)
-
according as he hath purposed (note the perf.; he implies that they had already made up their minds to give. προαίρεσις is Aristotle's formal word in Nic. Eth., iii. 3-19, for a free act of moral choice) in his heart (cf. Exod. xxv. 2, “of every man whose heart maketh him willing, ye shall take my offering"); not grudgingly or of necessity, κω “God loveth a cheerful giver". In this quotation from Prov. xxii. 8, St. Paul substitutes (perhaps to avoid the cognate of εὐλογία) ἀγαπᾷ for εὐλογεῖ, the LXX reading as it has come down to us, but the sense is not altered. The duty of almsgiving played a lar art in Ἑξῶνον ethics, and that it should carried out ungrudgingly is often in- sisted on in the O.T. and Ap ha, a point specially to be peat in the case of a people who have always had the repute of being over-fond of money— e.g., ‘* Thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him” (Deut. xv. 10); ‘Let not thine eye be envious” (Tobit iv. 7); “In every gift show a cheerful countenance "’ (Ecclus: xxxv. 9). These precepts St. Paul commends to the Corinthians (cf. Rom. xii. 8). (Note that the practice of having ‘all things com- mon," which was initiated by the enthu- siasm of the first converts (Acts iv. 32 ff.), did not last long; it was a noble attempt to express in outward deed the brother- hood of men as revealed in the Incarna- tion, but was, in fact, impracticable). Ver. 8. δυνατεῖ δὲ ὁ Θεὸς κ.τ.λ.: and God is powerful (sce reff. xiii. 3) to make