τὴν 3 ἐνέργειαν τῆς “δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ.
τη -
8. ἐμοὶ τῷ "ἐλαχιστοτέρῳ !
ch.irg πάντων ᾿ ἁγίων" ἐδόθη ἡ χάρις αὕτη, τοῖς" ἔθνεσιν "εὐαγγελίσασθαι
reff. ε Here only ; μειζότερος, 3 John 4.
f Ch. i. 1 reff.
g Ch. ii. 17 reff.
}ελαχιστω FG 49. Insert των before παντων P, al., mss., Goth., Cyr., Thdrt., Theophyl. ; omit των SACDEFGKL, most mss., Orig., Dial., Did.
2 Insert αποστολων Archel. 8 After αντη insert του θεον FG.
* Before τοις εθν. insert ev with DEFGKL, mss., nearly It., Vulg., Goth., Syrr.,
al., Chr., Thdrt., Dam., al., Lat. Fathers ;
ii. 5,9). Here it has the general sense of minister, as Paul designates himself again in 2 Cor. iii. 6; Col. i, 23. Once he calls himself ὑπηρέτης (1 Cor. iv. 1); but with no tangible difference in idea, except that ὑπηρέτης may suggest a still greater degree of subordination than διά- κονος. The distinction drawn by some Harless) between the two terms, as if τάκονος expressed activity in relation to the service and ὑπηρέτης activity in re- lation to the master, cannot be made good. τῆς χάριτος is probably the gen. of apposition or identity (as the χάρις in ver. 8 indicates), = the gift consisting in the grace; and the particular οὐ rash in view is the office of the apostleship or the ministry to the Gentiles (as vv. 2, 8 sug- gest), not the gift of tongues (Grot.) or the gift of the Holy Ghost (Flatt, etc.). That “grace,” too, was God's gift (rot Θεοῦ).---τὴν δοθεῖσάν μοι κατὰ τὴν ἐνέρ- γειαν τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ : which was given to me according to the working of His power. For the τὴν δοθεῖσαν, quali- fying the δωρεάν, of the TR (with CD°KL, etc.) the better reading is τῆς δοθε qualifying the χάριτος (with ΒΝΑΡ)Ε, 17, etc.; so LTTrWHRV). As the former sentence affirmed the gift of the grace, this one states the manner of the bestowal. The standard or pro- portion of the giving was the efficiency, the efficacious working --- of God’s own power. The change in Paul when God made him an Apostle of Christ to the Gentiles was so great that he saw in it-nothing less than the result of the Divine omnipotence.
Ver. 8. ἐμοὶ τῷ ἐλαχιστοτέρῳ πάντων τῶν ἁγίων ἐδόθη ἡ χάρις αὕτη : to me, who am less than the least of all saints, was given this grace. The τῶν inserted by the TR, on slender documentary evi- dence, before ἁγίων must be omitted as wanting in ΒΝΑΟΡΕΚΙ, etc. The thought of the dignity of the office he had received at the cost of such grace and power at once evokes the sense of
omit ΝΑΒΟ 23, 31, 61, Copt.
his own utter unworthiness, to which he gives stronger expression here than even in 1 Cor. xv. 9, or 2 Cor. xii. 11. The form ἐλαχιστότερος, a comparative of the superlative ἔλαχιστος, is found only here. It belongs to a class of double comparisons which had a place pro- bably in the popular modes of speech, but of which a considerable number are found in later literature, especially in poetry. The only other example in the NT 1 the double comparative μειζό- τερος in 3 John 4; cf. Buttm., Gram, of NT Greek, Ρ. 28.—dv τοῖς ἔθνεσιν εὐαγ- γελίσασθαι τὸν ἀνεξιχνίαστον πλοῦτον τοῦ Χριστοῦ: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. The TR inserts ἐν before τοῖς ἔθνεσιν with) DFKL, εἰς); but it is not found in BSAC, etc., and is best omitted. The former reading would define the sphere assigned to Paul in his ministry; the latter, the subjects of that ministry. For τὸν πλοῦτον the better accredited form is τὸ πλοῦτος, The τοῦ Χριστοῦ is prob. the gen. of possess., = the riches that Christ Aas, or that are in Him. The πλοῦτος thus contained in Christ is the whole wealth of the salvation He be- stows; and this is “‘ unsearchable,”’ i.e., not in the sense of inexhaustible, but rather in that of unfathomable, “ past finding out,” such as cannot be filly comprehended by man; cf. Rom. xi. 33, the only other NT occurrence of ἀνεξιχ- γίαστον ; also Job ν. ο, ix. 10, xxxiv. 24, the only occurrences in the LXX. It is a picturesque and suggestive word, meaning literally such as cannot be traced owt by footprints. Ver. καὶ φωτίσαι πάντας τίς ἡ τοῦ μυστηρίου τοῦ ἀποκεκρυμ- μένου ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων : and to make all see what is the fellowship rr hei of the mystery ret ab: all ages hat. been hidden. The πάντας which the TR inserts after φωτίσαι is omitted by some MSS. (including ΝΑ) and certain Fathers (Hil., Jer., Aug., etc.). It is rejected by