6—14.
169
γὰρ ἐξ ἔργων νόμου εἰσὶν, ὑπὸ κατάραν εἰσί γέγραπται γὰρ dri! Ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὃς οὐκ ἐμμένει ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς γεγραμ-
μένοις ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τοῦ νόμου, τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτά.
II, ὅτι
δὲ ἐν νόμῳ οὐδεὶς δικαιοῦται παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ, δῆλον - ὅτι Ὁ δίκαιος μα τ +?
ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται: 12. 6 δὲ νόμος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ πίστεως, ἀλλ᾽
Ὁ ποιήσας αὐτὰ” ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς.
13. Χριστὸς ἡμᾶς
ἐξηγόρασεν ἐκ τῆς κατάρας τοῦ νόμου, γενόμενος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κα-
τάρα (γέγραπται γὰρ, Ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὁ κρεμάμενος
ἐπὶ ξύλου") 14. ἵνα εἰς τὰ ἔθνη ἡ εὐλογία τοῦ ᾿Αβραὰμ γένηται
1οτι NABCDEFGP 17, etc. ;
om. KL,
Ξανθρωπος after aura D9EKL; om. SABCD!FGP 17, etc.
Law are adduced in support of the argument. The imprecation here given is not a verbal quotation, but reproduces in substance the series of curses pro- nounced from Mount Ebal (Deut. xxvil. 15-26), summing them up in a single sentence.
Vv. 11,12. The failure of the Law to justify is further established by a com- parison of Habakkuk ii. 4 with Lev. xvill. 5: the latter embodies the spirit of the Law: for it demands obedience as a necessary condition antecedent to the gift of life from God (cf. Rom. x. 5). The prophet on the contrary makes life dependent upon faith. By thus substi- tuting faith for obedience he virtually supersedes the existing Law, and estab- lishes a new criterion, which takes account of the state of heart instead of the outward life (cf. Rom. i. 17). The same passage is adduced in Heb. x. 38 in proof of the vital importance of faith. All three writers agree in basing true religion upon heartfelt trust in God: but whereas the Epistle to the Hebrews tegards faith from the same standpoint as the Hebrew prophet, and identifies it with the steadfast loyalty to an unseen God which supports the believer under manifold trials, Paul here limits his view to the faith which prompts the convert to embrace Christ. Regarding it there- fore from a purely Christian standpoint, he embodies in his conception the new revelation of the Father’s character made in Christ. The faith which he has in mind is justifying faith, the faith in God’s pitying love which assures a repentant sinner of forgiveness and merciful accept- ance in spite of a guilty past.
Ver. 13. The Law pronounced a blessing and a curse; but since it made no allowance for human infirmity, the blessing proved barren in result; while
the curse, which invoked the just wrath of an offended God for the punishment of the guilty, proved, on the contrary, fruitful in condemnation.
From this hopeless state of just con- demnation Christ delivered us by reveal- ing the infinite mercy of an Almighty Father, and so reviving hope and thank- ful love in the heart of the condemned sinner by faith in His Ίονε.-- ἐξηγόρασεν. The figure of a ransom, which this word conveys, is doubly appropriate in this connection. Men needed a ransom, for the Law had left them prisoners under sentence of death, and Christ had Him- self to pay the price. He had to become a man like His brethren save in sin, and to endure the penalty denounced on male- factors and hang on the accursed cross, as if He had been guilty like them.—yevé- μενος κατάρα. Hebrew thought tended to identify the man on whom a curse was laid with the curse, ας it identified the sin-offering with the sin, calling it ἁμαρτία (Lev. iv. 21-25). Hence the scapegoat was regarded as utterly un- clean by reason of the sins laid upon it. - Ἐπικατάρατος. .. This passage is quoted from Deut. xxi. 23 with one significant alteration. In the original the criminal executed under sentence of the Law is pronounced kexatapapévos ὑπὸ Θεοῦ, so that the Law is affirmed to be the voice of God, carrying with it the fulness of divine sanction. But here the words ὑπὸ Θεοῦ are omitted, inasmuch as the new revelation of God’s mercy in Christ has superseded for Christians the previous condemnation of the Law.