Vv. 12-16. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE TO BE LED IN A SPIRIT OF AWE AND WATCH- FULNESS, AS IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD’S WORKING. On vv. 12-13 see two im- portant discussions, Schaeder, Greifs-
440
d See chap. i. 27.
ει Cor. ii. 3: 3 Cor. Vil. 15; Eph. vi. 5; Exod. xv, 16; Isa. xix. 16.
1 Om. Β 3, 17, 38, 48, 72, cop. arm. eth., Chr., Ambrst.
f Rom. v. 3; 2 Cor. vii. 10; cf. Heb. xii. 1, 2.
Il.
12. Ὥστε, ἀγαπητοί µου, καθὼς πάντοτε ὑπηκούσατε, μὴ ds! ἐν τῇ “ παρουσίᾳ μου μόνον, ἀλλὰ νῦν πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐν τῇ “ ἀπουσίᾳ μου, μετὰ φόβου καὶ “τρόμου τὴν ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίαν ᾿κατεργάζεσθε - 13. 6? Θεὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ * ἐνεργῶν ἐν ὑμῖν ὃ καὶ τὸ θέλειν καὶ τὸ
Ε1 Cor. xii. 6; Gal. iii. 5.
W.H. bracket. But, as
Ws. shows (TK., p. 122), ὡς was very liable to omission from carelessness. Prob.
the -ws of καθώς might be the occasion.
2So DbetcEL, Chr., Thdrt, Euth,cod.
° A adds δυναμεις.
walder Studien, pp. 231-260, and Kuhl, SK., 1898, pp. §57-580. Ver. 12. ὥστε. With what does it link the following verses? Paul has returned to practical exhortation. So we should naturally expect him to take up the thread which he dropped at ver. 6 on turning to the example of Jesus Christ. At that point he had been urging them to be of one mind. But with what aim? Especially in order that they might present an un- broken front in their conflict for the faith. But that brings us back to i. 27 ff. And that the connexion of our passage with the earlier paragraph is not arbitrary we may gather from the occurrence of the same idea in both, viz., that of his own presence and absence. Cf. i. 27 ὃ with ii. 12 ὁ. Atthe same time there is also a link between vv. 12-13 and the passage immediately preceding. He in- troduces his admonition with obedience (ὑπηκούσατε. But Christ’s lowliness consisted precisely in His ὑπακοή (ver. 8, ὑπήκοος). Christ has been exalted as the result (διό, ver. 9) of humble obedi- ence. Corresponding to His exaltation will be their σωτηρία. --- ὑπηκούσατε. We believe that this means obedience to God. See on ὥστε supr.—katepyal. Cf. Gal. iv. 18.—pera gd. x. tp. Cf. Eph. vi. 5, οἱ δοῦλοι, ὑπακούετε τοῖς κατὰ σάρκα κυρίοις μετὰ φόβον καὶ τρόμον. In both passages the phrase expresses the solemn responsibility to God which is always felt by those conscious of the Divine Presence, whether they are occu- pied with common tasks or the concerns of their spiritual life. Nihil enim est quod magis ad modestiam et timorem erudire nos debeat quam dum audimus nos sola Dei gratia stare (Calvin). Gun- kel (Wirkungen?, etc., p. 70) well con- trasts the fear with which the Jew looked upon the Divine Presence with the calm
Edd. om. ο with RABCD*FGKP 17, Eus.,
joy which the Christian feels in such an εχρετίεηςε.---τὴν faut. σωτ. Such a use of ἑαντῶν for ὑμῶν αὐτῶν is much more common in N.T. than in classical Greek. But cf. Demos., Olynth., i., § 2, εἴπερ σωτηρίας αὑτῶν φροντίζετε. The em- phasis is on ἑαυτῶν. Each of them is responsible for his own salvation before God. They must not lean on the Apostle. His absence must make no difference. “For the race is run by one and one and never by two and two” (R. Kipling). —owt. This is the end and aim of their faith. See 1 Pet. i. 9, τὸ τέλος τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν σωτηρίαν ψυχῶν.---κατεργ. The best comment on the distinctive force of κατεργ. is 2 Cor. vii. το, ἡ yap κατὰ Θεὸν λύπη μετάνοιαν els σωτηρίαν «+» ἐργάζεται " ἡ δὲ τοῦ κόσμον λύ θάνατον κατεργάζεται, where ἐργ. refers to a process in its mediate workings, while κατεργ. looks solely at the final result. So here almost = ‘‘make sure of your salvation,” “ carry it into effect’. Cf. 2 Pet. i. το. As Kihl (of. cit., p. 560 ff.) points out, the Apostle does not think here so much of the moral effort, their deliberate conduct as such (so Schaeder). This, as the presupposition of salvation, would be alien to the Pauline point of view. Lowliness and obedience non ὑπακοὴ πίστεως) are needful, that they may look away from themselves to Jesus Christ, who is the “ author and finisher of their faith”.