Ver. 18.
διὰ πάσης προσευχῆς καὶ
17—18,
489
- ‘ a 5 ενοι ᾿ ἐν παντὶ καιρῶ 5 ἐν πνεύματι, καὶ “ εἰς αὐτὸ 1 ᾿ ἀγρυπνοῦντες 2 ο Luke xxi. t
36 only.
ἐν πάσῃ "προσκαρτερήσει καὶ ὃ " δεήσει περὶ ὁ πάντων τῶν * ἁγίων p Ch. ii. 22 ἢ ff.
qt Pet. iv. 7; Jude 20; (Rom. ix. 17, xiii. 6; 2 Cor. ν. 5, but all w. τοῦτο). s Here only.
xxi. 36; Heb. xiii. 17 only; Cant. v. 2.
reff. τ Mark xiii. 33; Luke t Ch. i. 1 reff.
1 After αὐτὸ insert τουτο D°EKLP, etc., Chrys.-text., Thdrt., Dam.-text., al.; om. $ABD*FG (αντον D*FG) It., Vulg., Lat. Fathers, Copt., etc.
? After ayp. insert παντοτε DEFG, It., Syr., Ar.-erp., Bas. ὃ arpook. kat om. D* (ev π. τη δ.) FG, It., Victorin., etc. 4 For περι, υπερ D*E*FG 37, 47, 73, 80, Syr. (with περι in marg.), Thdrt.
δεήσεως προσευχόμενοι: with all prayer and supplication praying. This clause is a further explanation of the manner in which the injunction στῆτε οὖν is to be carried. It is connected by some with the preceding δέξασθε; but it is not appropriate to the δέξασθε, which repre- sents a single, definite act, while it is entirely suitable to the continuous atti- tude expressed by στῆτε. This great requirement of standing ready for the combat can be made good only when prayer, constant, earnest, spiritual prayer, is added to the careful equipment with all the parts of the panoply. Meyer would Separate προσευχόμενοι from the διὰ πάσης, etc., and make it the beginning of a new, independent clause. His reason is that it is i.upossible to pray with every kind of prayer on every occasion. But the absoluteness of the statement is only of the kind that is often seen in Paul, as, e.g., when he charges us to pray ἀδιαλείπ- τως (1 Thess. ν. 17). διά has the familiar sense of ‘by means of,” in the particular aspect of formal cause, the manner in which a thing is done (cf. εἶπε διὰ παρα- βολῆς, Luke viii. 4; εἶπε διὰ ὁράματος, Acts xviii. 9;. τῷ λόγῳ δι’ ἐπιστολῶν, 2 Cor. v. 11, etc.; Grimm-Thayer, Lezx., p. 133). The πάσης has the force of “ every kind of”. The distinction attempted tobe
drawn between προσευχή (= npn)
and8énats ( = Tr), as between prayer
for blessing and prayer for the withhoid- ing or removing of evil, cannot be made good. The only difference between the two terms appears to be that προσευχή means prayer in general, precatio, and δέησις, a special form of prayer, petition, rogatio.—év παντὶ καιρῷ : in every season. Not merely in the crisis of the conflict or on special occasions, but habitually, in all kinds of times.—év πνεύματι : in the Spirit. The reference is not to our spirit, as if = with inward devoutness or with heartfelt pleading (Erasm., Grot., etc.),
nor as opposed to βαττολογεῖν (Chrys.), but “in the Holy Spirit,” the Holy Spirit being the sphere or element in which alone true prayer of all different kinds can proceed and from which it draws its inspiration ; cf. the great statement on the intercession of the Spirit (Rom. viii. 26, 27); also Gal. iv. 6, and especially Jude 20, ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ προσευχό- μενοι. Thus the praying is defined in respect of its variety and earnestness (διὰ πάσης, etc.), its constancy (ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ), and its spiritual reality or its “holy sphere” (cf. Ell.).—kai εἰς αὐτὸ [τοῦτο] ἀγρυπνοῦντες: and thereunto watching. The τοῦτο of the TR in- serted after αὐτό has the support only of such MSS. as D®JK, etc. ; it is omitted in BAW, etc., while αὐτόν alone occurs in D*G. τοῦτο, therefore, is to be de- leted, as is done by LTTrWHRYV. The els τοῦτο refers not to what is to follow, as, @g., to the ἵνα μοι δοθῇ (Holzh.), but to what immediately precedes. The clause, therefore, attaches (by the καί) a more particular requirement to the general statement just made, speci- fying something that is to be done with a view (eis τοῦτο) to the fulfilment of the large injunction as to praying. That is watchfulness, readiness, and, as the next words state, watchfulness in intercession, ἀγρυπνεῖν = to keep awake or to keep watch, and then to be attentive, vigilant (Mark xiii. 33 ; Luke xxi. 36), is much the same as γρηγορεῖν ἀπά νήφειν. So far as any distinction is made between them it may be that ἀγρυπνεῖν expresses alert- ness as opposed to listlessness, γρηγορεῖν watchfulness as the result of effort, and νήφειν wariness, the wakefulness that is safe against drowsiness (Sheldon Green, Crit. Notes on the N. T., sub Mark xiii. 33). —ty πάσῃ προσκαρτερήσει καὶ δεήσει: in all perseverance and supplication. The only occurrence of the noun προσκαρτέ- ρησις. The verb, however, is found a number of times, both in profane Greek and in the NT, especially in Acts (Mark iii.