Ver. 28. ὁ κλέπτων μηκέτι κλεπτέτω: let the stealer no longer steal. Not ὃ κλέψας, = “he who stole,” but pres. part. with a subst. force (cf. Win.-Moult., Ρ. 444). Stealing was not wholly con- demned by ancient heathen opinion. It was even allowed by the Lacedamonians (Miller, Dor., ii., p. 310). It was a vice into which the recently converted living in the old pagan surroundings, especi- ally when unemployed, might all too readily slip. It has been thought strange,
27—20.
29. πᾶς λόγος " σαπρὸς ἐκ τοῦ
ης ὑμῶν μὴ
347
“ ἐκπορευέσθω, b oe vii.
GAN “el τις ἀγαθὸς πρὸς " οἰκοδομὴν τῆς ‘xpetas,! ἵνα " δῷ 2 χάριν ΣΤῊ
48; ΤΕΣ Hig 43 Only. d=Phil. g= ΞΕ ΤΑ Ια ἵν. si
e= Ver. 12 reff.
c Matt. iv. 4 (from Deut. viii. 3), xv. 11;
, xiii. Rev. passim ; Paul, here only.
Abs., Acts xxviii. 10; ‘see Phil. ii. 25, iv. 16. t Pet. v. 5; see Exod. iii. 21; Ps. Ixxxiv. 12.
1 For χρειας, πιστεως DEFG 46, d, 6, f, 6, Jer., Bas,-oft., Naz., Anton., Max.,
Tert., Cyr,, Hil., Aug., Ambrst., Pel., ‘al. 2 For δω, δοι DFG.
scarcely credible indeed, that professing Christians in these Asiatic Churches could have given way to thieving. But the Epistles bear witness to the existence of grosser offences against morality in the Churches (e.g., τ Cor. ν. 1).---μᾶλλον δὲ κοπιάτω: but rather let him labour. μᾶλλον δέ has a corrective force, = nay vather, but on the contrary rather; cf. Rom. viii. 34; Gal. iv. 9.—épyaldpevos τὸ ἀγαθὸν ταῖς χερσίν: working the thing that is good with his hands. The readings here vary considerably, not- withstanding the simplicity of the state- ment. The TR adopts the reading given by L, many cursives, Slav., Chrys., είς, In B, am., etc., the ταῖς χερσίν precedes τὸ ἀγαθόν. "This latter with ἰδίαις inserted between τὸ ἀγαθόν and ταῖς χερσίν is found in K, some cursives, Syr.-Phil., etc.; while ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσὶν τὸ ἀγαθόν is the reading of AD/EFG, 37, etc., Vulg., Goth., Copt., Sah., Eth., Arm., Jer., Epiph., etc. This last is the best, and is adopted by LTTr and by WH in the marg., though not in the text. τὸ ἀγαθόν as opposed to the κακόν of theft = labour, not idleness; honest work, not stealing ; the use of one’s own hands in toil, not robbing the hands of others. twa ἔχῃ μεταδιδόναι τῷ χρείαν ἔχοντι; that he may have to give to him that has need. It has been thought strange by some that Paul simply forbids stealing and makes no reference to the duty of restitution. In point of fact he does more than that; for he declares the proper object of all Christian labour (cf. Olsh.), viz., to acquire not merely for ourselves and our own need, but with the view of being able to help others. Ver. 29. πᾶς λόγος σαπρὸς ἐκ τοῦ στόματος ὑμῶν μὴ ἐκπορευέσθω : let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, πᾶς . ++ μή, the well-known Hebraistic form, the negative attaching itself to the verb, = “ non-utterance—let that be for every corrupt word”. λόγος = word, in the sense of a saying, speech or utterance. σαπρός, lit. votten or worn out and unfit for use, and then worthless, bad (e.g.,
give grace to the hearers.
qualifying trees, fruit, fish as the opposite of καλός, Matt. vii. 17, xii. 33, xiil. 48; Luke vi. 43, etc.). Here it does not seem to mean filthy, but, as the following clause, ἀγαθός, κ.τ.λ., suggests, bad, profitless, of no good to any one. Some, however, give it the more specific sense, = foul, as including scurrilous and unbecoming utterance (Abb.).—a An’ εἴ τις ἀγαθὸς πρὸς οἰκοδομὴν τῆς χρείας: but such as is good for edification of the need. ἀλλ’ εἴ τις, = but such as, but whatever ; lit. = “but if there is any . . . let it proceed out of your mouth” (Μεγ... ἀγαθός with πρός or εἰς is sufficiently frequent in classical Greek in the sense of suzt- able, serviceable for something (e.g., Plato, Rep., vii., p. 522 A). The phrase οἰκοδομὴν τῆς χρείας is somewhat diffi- cult to construe. Its difficulty probably accounts for the reading πίστεως instead of χρείας in D!F, etc. It cannot be dealt with by inversion as it is put in the AV, “το the use of edifying”; nor as equivalent to ‘‘those who have need” (Riick.); nor as = “as there may be need” (Erasm., qua sit opus). Neither can it be a gen. of quality, as if= ‘“‘seasonable edification ”’ The τῆς must have its full value, especially after the anarthrous οἰκοδομήν ; and the χρείας is best taken either as the gen. obj., = “ edification applied to the need”’ (Mey., Alf., Abb.), or the gen. of remote reference (EIL.; cf. Win.-Moult., p. 235), “edi- fication in reference to the need,”’ z.¢., to the present need. So the Vulg. (am.) gives ad aedificationem opportunitati 5.--- ἵνα δῷ χάριν τοῖς ἀκούουσι: that it may So the RV. The AV also gives ‘‘ minister grace unto the hearers”. The other old English versions likewise render χάριν, grace, except Tynd., who makes it ‘‘that it may have favour,” and Cov., who renders it “that it be gracious to hear”. Nota few (Theod., Luth., Riick., etc.) make it = give pleasure. But χάρις usually means favour or benefit, and the phrase διδόναι χάριν expresses the idea of doing a kindness to one (Soph., Ajax., 1333;