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18. καλὸν δὲ τὸ ζηλοῦσθαι ἐν καλῷ πάντοτε, καὶ μὴ μόνον ἐν τῷ παρεῖναί με πρὸς ὑμᾶς, 19. τεκνία] μου, οὓς πάλιν ὠδίνω, μεχρις οὗ μορφωθῇ Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν: 20. ἤθελον δὲ παρεῖναι πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἄρτι, καὶ ἀλλάξαι τὴν φωνήν μου, ὅτι ἀποροῦμαι ἐν ὑμῖν.
21. Λέγετέ μοι, οἱ ὑπὸ νόμον θέλοντες εἶναι, τὸν νόμον οὐκ ἀκούετε;
1 τεκνια ΜΕΑΟΡΙΕΚΙ.Ρ; τεκνα ΝΜ ΒΗ ΕΘ.
Christ, that they might reduce them to dependence on their own Law. Paul also courted them, not for his own glory, but that he might join them to Christ, and he was glad that they should be courted at all times, even by others in his absence, if it was done in a right spirit. They affect you (he writes, i.¢., court you) not honourably, but are minded to shut you out that you may affect them. But tt is good for you to be affected at all times and not only when I am present with you.—{ndotre. As there are no other instances of ἵνα being followed by an indicative present in Pauline language, it is probable that this and φυσιοῦσθε in 1 Cor. iv. 6 are really forms of the sub- junctive, though ζηλῶτε is the contracted form in general use.
Ver. 19. τεκνία pov. This is an accusative in apposition to ὑμᾶς, not a vocative introducing a fresh appeal. It is clear from the addition of the con- necting particle δέ after ἤθελον that that word begins a new sentence. τεκνία is usually a term of maternal endearment; and though addressed by John in his first Bpistle to his children in Christ, is not used elsewhere by Paul, who prefers to address them as children (τέκνα), rather than as babes. But in this passage he is adopting the figure of a child-bearin mother; he is in travail for the spiritu birth of Christ within them (as he says), and straining all his powers to renew once more the spiritual life which had died in them until he could succeed in shaping their inner man afresh into the image of Christ.
Ver. 20. ἤθελον. This imperfect ex- presses a na wish, qualified by im- plied conditions, like ην in Rom. ix. 3 and ἐβουλόμην yr χχν. 22. He would fain be with them now (ἄρτι) instead of waiting for some future oppor- tunity, were it not that he was unavoid- ably detained by other οἰαίπι».---ἀλλάξαι. This is interpreted by some as a threat of increased severity, by others as a craving for the use of gentler words; but neither interpretation agrees with the regular Greek usage of the word,
The natural meaning of the Greek ex- pression is to exchange the voice for some other means of persuasion, in this case for the pen, and this sense is clearly indicated by the context. Paul longs to comeand speak to them instead of writing, and is confident of his power to clear away doubts and errors by personal intercourse. --ἀποροῦμαι. This middle voice denotes the inward distress of a mind tossed to and fro by conflicting doubts and fears.
Vv. 21-30. PATRIARCHAL HISTORY IS EMPLOYED TO ILLUSTRATE THE PERSE- CUTION OF CHRISTIANS, WHO ARE THE PROMISED SEED OF ABRAHAM, BY JEWS WHO ARE HIS SEED AFTER THE FLESH. HAGAR AND HER SON, SARAH AND HER SON, FURNISH PROPHETIC TYPES OF THE MUTUAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE Two. AS HIS ELDER SON, ΤΗΕ SLAVE- BORN ISHMAEL, WAS CAST OUT FOR MOCKING THE FREEBORN CHILD, 80 THE OLDER ISRAEL UNDER BONDAGE TO THE LAW WILL BRING ON THEMSELVES THE DOOM OF NATIONAL REJECTION BY PER- SECUTING THE TRUE IsRAEL oF Gop WHOM CHRIST HATH ENDOWED WITH THE FREEDOM OF THE Spirit.—The force of this illustration depends on the distinction drawn in iii. 16-22 between the seed of promise and the seed of Abraham after the flesh. The argument of Rom. ἰχ. 6 . . . is likewise based on the successive exclusion of the latter from inheritance of the blessing. John the Baptist and Jesus Himself expressly warned the Jews not to rely on their claim to be sons of Abraham.