11.:-Υὕ2.
believers with an ethical, ideal meaning. We are disposed to believe (with Ws. and others) that Paul is thinking only of the resurrection of believers (cf. Ps. Sol. iii, 13-16 for Jewish thought on this sub- ject, the thought which had been Paul’s mental atmosphere). This is his usual standpoint. In the famous passage I Cor. xv. 12 ff. it is exclusively of Chris- tians he speaks. We have no informa- tion as to what he taught regarding a general resurrection. But considering that it is with spontaneous, artless letters we have to do, and not with theoretical discussions, it would be hazardous to say that he ignored or denied a general resurrection. For him the resurrection of Christians depends on and is con- formed to the resurrection of their Lord. Teichmann (Auferstehung u. Gericht, p. 67), comparing chap. i. 23 with this passage, holds that Paul, although he has replaced the idea of resurrection by that of a continuous existence after death, occasionally (as here) uses the traditional termini technici. This may be so. More probably at one time he would give pro- minence to the thought of uninterrupted fellowship with Christ after death, while at another his longings would centre round the great crisis when Christ should acknowledge all His faithful servants and make them full sharers in His glory. It is not to be doubted that Paul, like the rest of the early Christians, expected that crisis soon to come,
Vv. 12-16. THE MARK OF THE MATURE CHRISTIAN,—TO PRESS FORWARD.—Ver. 12. οὐχ ὅτι. There is a curious differ- ence (see W-M., p. 746) between the use of this phrase in classical and in N.T. Greek. λέγω is understood in both cases, but in the classical language the usage is rhetorical = “not only, but”. InN.T. its purpose is to guard against misunder- standing, ‘(I do not mean that,” etc.— ἔλαβον. The aorist sums up the Apostle’s experiences as far as the point he has reached, looking at it (with the usual force of the aorist) as a single fact. In English, of course, we must translate, ‘Not that I have already attained” (so R.V.). In Greek a sharper distinction is made between past and present. Cf. John xvii. 4, ἐγώ σε ἐδόξασα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς; τὸ ἔργον τελειώσας. It is needless to ask what is the object of ἔλαβον. None is required, just as we speak of “attaining”. He has in view all that is involved in winning Christ and knowing Him. Probably the remaining verses of this paragraph are a caution to some at