380
u Acts xvi, παρὰ κυρίου.] εἴτε δοῦλος εἴτε ἐλεύθερος.
26, xxvii.
ΠΡΟΣ E®ESIOYS χ
9. καὶ οἱ κύριοι, τὰ αὐτὰ
40; Heb. ποιεῖτε πρὸς αὐτοὺς, " ἀνιέντες τὴν " ἀπειλήν, εἰδότες ὅτι καὶ αὐτῶν
xiii. only; Deut. xxxi. 6.
v Acts iv. 17, 29, ix. 1 only; Job xxiii. 6
1τον κυρ.» with KL, etc., Fathers; κνριον NABDEFGP, Petr., Euth., Dam., etc.
ὅπου ἐάν, οὗ ἐάν, ὁσάκις ἐάν, etc., with the potential force, appears to occur (making all due allowance for uncertain- ties in the texts) with some frequency both in the LXX and in the NT, and it is found in the papyri; cf. Thayer- Grimm, Lex., p. 168; Buttm., Gram. of N. T. Greek, p. 72; Blass, Gram. of N. T. Greck, pp. 60, 61, 216.---τοῦτο κομιεῖ- ται [κομίσεται] παρὰ [τοῦ] Kuplov: this shall he receiveagain from the Lord. The κομιεῖται of the TR 15 supported by δα Ὁ KL, Bas., Chr., Theodor., etc.; P gives κομίσηται. The best reading is κομί- σεται, which is that of BYy*AD*G, etc. In the NT the verb κομίζειν is used once in the simple sense of carrying or bring- ing to one (Luke vii. 37, of the woman's ἀλάβαστρον) ; oftener in the sense of ob- taining (1 Pet.i. 9; 2 Pet. ii. 13; Heb. x. 36; xi. 39), orin that of receiving back, recover- ing one’s own (Matt. xxv. 27; 2 Cor. v. 10; Col. iii. 25). The word has this last sense also in classical Greek {ε.ρ., τὴν ἀδελφήν, Eurip., Iph. T., 1362; Thuc., i., 113, ee So here the idea is that of receiving bac The “good thing” done is represented as being itself given back to the doer ; the certainty, equity and adequacy of the reward being thus signified (cf. especially 2 Cor. v. 10), Whether the Middle is to be taken as the appropriative Middle, expressing as it were the receiving back of a deposit (Ell.) is doubtful in view of the fact that in every NT occurrence but one (Luke vii. 37) Middle forms are used. The best uncials omit τοῦ before Κνρίον, and so LTTrWHRV.—eire δοῦλος, εἴτε ἐλεύθερος : whether bond or free. The reward in view is that of the Great Day, the Parousia, which will have regard not to social distinctions or external circum- stances, but only to spiritual conditions. Ver. 9. καὶ οἱ Κύριοι, τὰ αὐτὰ ποιεῖτε πρὸς αὐτούς: and ye masters [or lords, RV marg.], do the same things unto them. The καί has the same force as in vi. 4 above. The duty of the masters is a corresponding duty, essentially the same as that of the servants (τὰ αὐτά), and it is stated first in respect of what is to be done and then in respect of what is to be left undone. It is to put a forced sense, however, on the phrase ποιεῖτε τὰ αὐτά if it is made to refer only to the preceding
.
δουλεύοντες (Chrys.), as if the point were that the masters had a service to render to the δοῦλοι as these had a service to render to them. Nor does it seem to look back simply to the more general idea in ποιοῦντες τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Prob- ably the per’ εὐνοίας is more immediately in view, and the meaning is that the masters were to act to their servants in the same Christian way as the servants were Called to act to them—in the same spirit of consideration and goodwill.— ἀνιέντες τὴν ἀπειλήν: giving up your threatening. The τήν, pointing to the too well-known habit of the masters, may be best rendered by “your”. ἀνίημι is used in the NT in the sense of loosening Acts xvi. 26, xxvii. 40), and of leaving Heb. xiii. 5, from LXX). In classical Greek it is used metaphorically both of slackening, releasing (aristoph., Vesp., 574), and giving up (Thuc., iii., το, of ἔχθρα). The latter sense is most in point here. As Ell. rightly observes: “St. Paul singles out the prevailing vice and most customary exhibition of bad feeling on the part of the master, and in forbidding this, naturally includes every similar form of harshness”. This nega- tive side of the master’s duty is not noticed in the parallel passage in Col. iv. 1.--εἰδότες ὅτι καὶ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν [αὐ- τῶν καὶ ὑμῶν] ὃ Κύριός ἐστιν ἐν οὐρανοῖς: knowing as ye do that also your Master (that both their Master and yours) is in heaven. εἰδότες, as in ver. 8, expresses the reason or encouragement for such conduct on the part of masters, viz., the fact that masters themselves have a Master or Lord, whose seat is in heaven, not merely on earth, and who is Lord equally of master and of slave. The reading of the TR, καὶ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν, has the support of most cursives and such uncials as K. Some few MSS. give καὶ αὐτῶν ὑμῶν (D°G). But the best ac- credited reading is καὶ αὐτῶν καὶ ὑμῶν, ‘both theirs and yours,” given by B!AD*, also by Ν΄ (except that αὐτῶν becomes ἑαυτῶν), Syr., Boh., Vulg., Arm., etc., and accepted by LTTrWHRV.—xai προσωποληψία οὔκ ἐστι παρ᾽ αὐτῷ: and respect of persons is not with Him, The form προσωποληψία is preferred by the best critics (LTTrWH). The noun and