est d'une netteté parfaite,” M. Goguel, p. 87). The well-known λόγος Κυρίου of iv. 16 f. cannot be adduced in this connection without hesi- tation (see note). But no possible doubt attaches to the evidence of v. 1-3. The saying of Jesus which is echoed here has been preserved in Luke xii. 99 (6 κλέπτης Epxetar)! and xxi. 34 (μή ποτε. . . ἐπιστῇ ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς ἐφνίδιος ἡ ἡμέρα ἐκείνη ὡς παγίς), but the common original seems to have been in Aramaic or Hebrew (so Prof. Marshall, Exp.4 ii. 73 f.), since Paul’s ὥσπερ ἡ ὡδίν and Luke’s ὡς παγίς must reflect a
phrase like ban(s), which might be rendered either as ban (snare)
or as 7AM (travail), the latter echoing the well-known conception of ἀρχὴ ὠδινῶν (cf. Mark xiii. 8). A further echo of the primitive evan- gelic tradition is to be heard possibly in v. 6 (Matt. xxiv. 42), cer- tainly in v. 13 (cf. Mark ix, 50). But the connection of v. 21 with the agraphon, γίνεσθε δόκιμοι τραπεζῖται, is curious rather than vital.
In the second epistle, apart from coincidences like i. 5 ( = Luke xx. 35) and iii. 3 ( = Matt. vi. 13), the allusions to the teaching of Jesus are less numerous, although Resch hears the echo of a logion in iii. 10 (Paulinismus, 409 f.), on most inadequate grounds. The apocalyptic passage, ii. 1-10, contains several striking parallels to the language of Matt. xxiv. (ε/. H. A. A. Kennedy, St. Paul’s Conception of the Last Things, 55 f., 96 f.), but no literary relationship can be assumed.
(d) Finally, before Paul left, he arranged for a kind of informal organisation. An ordination of πρεσβύτεροι is not to be thought of, but probably the earliest converts, or at any rate those who had natural gifts, assumed an unofficial superintendence of the com- munity, arranged for its worship and internal management, and were careful that the sick and poor and young were looked after. Otherwise, the movement might have been dissipated. Wesley, in his journal (Aug., 1763), writes: ‘‘ 1 was more convinced than ever that the preaching like an apostle, without joining together those that are awakened, and training them up in the ways of God, is only begetting children for the murderer. How much preaching has there been for these twenty years all over Pembrokeshire! but no regular societies, no discipline, no order or connection ; and the consequence is, that nine in ten of the once-awakened are now faster asleep than ever.” Paul was alive to the same need. He was a practical missionary,
‘With Luke’s πίνειν καὶ μεθύσκεσθαι (45) and μέθῃ (xxi. 34) compare the οἱ μεθυσκόμενοι of τ Thess. v. 7. Contrast also the ἐκφυγεῖν of xxi. 36 with Paul’s οὐ μὴ ἐκφύγωσιν (v. 3). The phrase sons of light may well have been common among the early Christians (cf. Abbott’s ¥ohannine Vocabulary, 1782-1783).