Ver. 29. τίς ἀσθενεῖ κ.τ.λ.: who is weak, sc., in prejudice (as at Rom. xiv. 1, 1 Cor. viii. 11), and Iam not weak, 1.6., in Christian sympathy (cf. 1 Cor. ix. 22 ἐγενόμην τοῖς ἀσθενέσιν ἀσθενής) ; who is made to stumble, and I burn not ? 1.6., with the fire of righteous indignation (cf. πυρωθείς = “inflamed” at 2 Macc. iv. 38). The word ἀσθενῶ now suggests to him a new thought, that it is in his weak- ness as supported by God’s grace rather than in any strength of his own that his real boast may be made.
Ver. 30. εἰ καυχᾶσθαι κιτ.λ.: if 1 must needs glory, I will glory of the things that concern my weakness (cf. chap. ΧΙ. 5, g), such as are the perils and indignities which he has recounted in the preceding verses.
Ver. 31. ὁ Θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ κ.τ.λ.: the God and Father of the Lord Fesus, who is blessed for evermore (see on i. 3, and for 6 ὤν as applied to God, ‘the self-existent one,” cf. Exod, ili. 14, Wisd. xiii. 1, Rev. i. 8), knoweth that I lie not (cf. xii. 6). This solemn assevera- tion belongs (see reff.) to what follows, and not to the statements which precede
108
x1 Cor. vii. * πυροῦμαι ; 30. εἰ καυχᾶσθαι δεῖ, τὰ τῆς ” ἀσθενείας pou! καυχή-
9; Eph. vi. 16.
y 1 Cor. ii. ere
31. ‘07 "Θεὸς καὶ "πατὴρ τοῦ "Κυρίου ἡμῶν ὃ *"Inood
3: chaps. Χριστοῦ 4 οἶδεν, ὁ ὧν " εὐλογητὸς “eis τοὺς " αἰῶνας, ὅτι ἢ οὐ " ψεύδο-
xii. 5, 9, 10, ΧΙ, 4. μαι. z Reff. i. 3. μ a Rom. 1.2 ix. 5; Ps
32. ἐν Δαμασκῷ ὁ ἐθνάρχης ᾿Αρέτα τοῦ βασιλέως " ἐφρούρει 5, τὴν Δαμασκηνῶν ὃ πόλιν, πιάσαι με θέλων 5: 33. καὶ διὰ “ θυρίδος ἐν
lxxxviii. “σαργάνῃ ᾿ἐχαλάσθην διὰ τοῦ τείχους, καὶ ἐξέφυγον τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ.
3. b ξεν χ. 1; Gal.i.20; 1 Tim. ii. 7. only. f Acts ix. 25, xxvii. 17.
' B om. pov.
ς Gal. iii. 23; Phil. iv. 7.
dActsxx.gonly. ο Here
2 D*E, d, e have ο Θεος τον Ἰσραηλ.
* SBGKL, g and the Harclean omit ηµων; ins. DEMP, d, e, f, vg. the Peshitto
and Bohairic.
4 DEKLMP, d, e, f, vg. the Peshitto and Bohairic support Χριστον; on. NBG
17, 37, g and the Harclean.
5 DbKLM support Aap. πολιν; the preferable order is πολιν Aap. with QBD*EGP
17, 37 and the Latins.
5 BD*, d, e, f, vg. and the Peshitto omit θέλων ; ins, ΝΕ«ΕΚΙ ΜΡ and (before πιασαι pe) G, g, the Bohairic and Harclean.
it. If the text is not corrupt, it would seem that the Apostle intended now to illustrate in detail the providence which overruled his life, the ‘strength which was perfected in weakness,” and that, be- ginning with one of the earliest and least dignified perils of his career as a Christian missionary, he then is led off through some train of ideas which we cannot trace into the quite different subject of his “visions” and “revelations,” which diverts him from his original intention. If, on the other hand, we might suppose νν. 32, 33 to be a marginal gloss (founded on Acts ix. 23-25, and perhaps introduced in reference to the κίνδυνοι ἐκ γένους of ver. 26) which was not part of the original text—though possibly an auto- graph addition made after the letter was
nished—the argument would be quite consecutive. He feels the remarkable account in xii. 2-4 to be so incredible that he thinks it right to prefix the strong asseveration of ver. 31 that he is telling the truth. But there is no MS. authority for thus treating vv. 32, 33.
Ver. 32. ἐν Δαμασκῷ ὁ ἐθν. κ.τ.λ. : in Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king guarded the city of the Dama- scenes, sc., by placing a watch at the gates, to take me ; and through a window (i.e., an aperture in the city wall, or the window of a house overhanging the wall) was I let down ina basket (σαργάνη is anything twisted, and so here probably a rope basket; σφυρίς is the word used in Acts ix. 25) by the wall, and escaped his hands, The incident took place on St. Paul’s return to Damascus from Arabia