tongues, etc., dealt with in 1 Cor. xii., etc. This latter supposition is refuted by the inclusive πάσῃ. The expression is a large one, covering all the good that comes to us by grace—whether the assur- ance of immortality, the promise of the resurrection, the inheritance of the king- dom of heaven, the privilege of adoption, etc., as Theodoret puts it; or all that belongs to the fruit of the Spirit, the graces of love, joy, etc. (Gal. v. 22, 23), as Abbott explains it; or the peculiar a of peace of conscience, assur- ance of God's love, joy in God, the hope of glory, etc., as it is understood by others. The blessing with which God blessed us is the τν order of blessing, not of material kind or changeful nature, but of heavenly quality and enduring satisfac- tion, and such blessing He bestowed upon us in its every form and manifes- tation, — ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις : in the heavenly places. Further definition of the blessing in respect of its sphere —tin the heavenlies”. In the NT the adjective ἐπουράνιος occurs both in the literal sense and in the metaphorical, and in a variety of applications—existing in heaven (6 πατήρ pov ὁ ἐπ., Matt. xviii. 35, ν. lL. οὐράνιος); of heavenly order or descent (the Second Adam, ὃ ἐπουράνιος, 1 Cor. xv. 48); originating in heaven, be- longing to heaven, heavenly in contrast with ey (κλῆσις ἐπ., Heb. iii. 1; δωρέα ἐπ., Heb. vi. 4; πατρίς ἐπ., Heb. xi. 16; Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπ., Που, xii, 22;
cla ἐπ., 2 Tim. iv. 18). It is not easy to determine the precise shade of meaning in each case. The plural ra ἐπουράνια is used of the eternal decrees or purposes of grace as contrasted with the operations of grace accomplished and experienced on earth (John iii. 12); of the celestial bodies, sun, moon and stars (1 Cor. xv. 40); of things or beings in heaven as contrasted with those on earth or under earth (Phil. ii. 10); of the heavenly types and realities of religious services of which earthly ordinances and ministries are the shadow (Heb. viii. 5). The particular phrase ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις, however, has this pecu- liarity, that it occurs five times in this Epistle and nowhere else in the NT. It is a singular fact that even in the writings bearing Paul’s name it is con- fined to this one letter, and is not found even in the companion Epistle to the Colossians which belongs to the same time, has so much in common, and in point of fact presents more than one opportunity, as Meyer observes, for the introduction of such a phrase (i. 5, 16, 20).