ὙΠῸ s λος: οὐκ soe ene "οὐδὲ σκότους. 6 - "οὖν μὴ ον 153 Gf. εύδωμεν ὡς οἱ "λοιποί ἀλλὰ “ γρηγορῶμεν καὶ "νήφωμεν. 7. οἱ 18, εἰς. γὰρ καθεύδοντες νυκτὸς καθεύδουσι - καὶ οἱ 7 μεθυσκόμενοι νυκτὸς
oan μεθύουσιν- 8. “ἡμεῖς δὲ “ἡμέρας ὄντες νήφωμεν, " ἐνδυσάμενοι
chron τ “θώρακα πίστεως καὶ ἀγάπης καὶ περικεφαλαίαν ἐλπίδα σωτηρίας: ca Ee 9. ὅτι οὐκ “ ἔθετο "ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς εἰς ' ὀργήν ἀλλ᾽ εἰς © περιποίησιν
x Sceonr σωτηρίας διὰ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, το. τοῦ ἀποθαν-
: Wing” όντος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, iva " εἴτε γρηγορῶμεν, εἴτε καθευδῶμεν, ᾿ἅμα σὺν
2 Eph. vi, αὐτῷ ζήσωμεν. τι. διὸ " παρακαλεῖ-; ἀλλήλους καὶ οἰκοδομεῖτε Rom ‘iii, εἷς τὸν ἕνα, καθὼς καὶ ποιεῖτε.
a ας,
cf. Win. § 30, 11, b. b Isa. lix. 17. e Emphatic, as opposed to οἱ λοιποί.
as in 11. ii. 14. Heb. x. 39. k iv. 18.
ἡμέρας is a stronger and Semitic way of expressing the thought of ‘‘ belonging Ἐν [ο ver. 8).
Ver. 6. To be alert, in one’s sober senses (νήφειν), is more than to be merely awake. Here, as in verse 8, the Christians are summoned to live up to their privileges and position towards the Lord. ‘There are few of us who are not rather ashamed of our sins and follies as we look out on the blessed morning sunlight, which comes to us like a bright- winged angel beckoning us to quit the old path of vanity that stretches its dreary length behind us” (George Eliot). In one of the Zoroastrian scriptures (Vendidad, xviii. 23-25) the cock, as the bird of the dawn, is inspired to cry, ‘‘ Arise, Omen! ... Lo here is Bushyasta com- ing down upon you, who lulls to sleep again the whole living world as soon as it has awoke, saying, ‘Sleep, sleep on, O man [and live in sin, Yasht, xxii. 41]! The time is not yet come.’ ”’
Mero 72) ΟἿ euutarch,, De Ίσα, νι.. Οἶνον δὲ οἱ μὲν ἐν Ἥλιου πόλει θερα- πεύοντες τὸν θεὸν οὐκ εἰσφέρουσιν τοπα- ράπαν εἰς τὸ ἱερόν, ὡς οὐ προσῆκον ἡμέ- ρας πίνειν, τοῦ κυρίον καὶ βασιλέως ἐφορῶντος.
Ver. 8. ἐνδυσάμενοι θώρακα κ.τ.λ., the thought of ii. 12. 13 ; the mutual love of Christians, which forms the practical expression of their faith in God, is their true fitness and equipment for the second adyent. Faith and love are a unity; where the one goes the other follows. They are also not merely their own coat of mail, requiring no extraneous protec- tion, but the sole protection of life against indolence, indifference and indulgence. They need simply to be used. If they
fe Cf. on Eph. vi. 14=“ coat of mail”. i. το. h Cf. for syntax, Rom. xiv. 8; Burton, M.T., 252-253. 1 unclassical, Blass, ὃ 45, 2; cf. 1 Cor. v. 6.
ἃ x Pet. ii. 8. g Cf. on Eph. i. 14; here active (= possess.) i iv. 17.
are not used, they are lost, and with them the Christian himself. The transition to the military metaphor is mediated (as in Rom. xiii. 12, 13) by the idea of the. sentry’s typical vigilance.
Ver. 9. The mention of the future σωτηρία starts Paul off, for a moment, on what it involves (ο, το).
Ver. το. Life or death makes πο dif- ference to the Christian’s union and fellowship with Jesus Christ, whose death was in our eternal interests (cf. Rom. xiv. 7-9). For this metaphorical use of ypny. εἴτε καθ. (different from that in 6), Wohi, cites Plato, Symp., 203a : διὰ τούτου (1.6. Eros) πᾶσα ἐστιν ἡ ὁμιλία καὶ ἡ διά- λεκτος θεοῖς πρὸς ἀνθρώπους, καὶ ἐγρη- γορόσι καὶ καθεύδουσιν, as a possible basis. .
Ver. 11. The modification in the primitive attitude of Christians to the Parousia of Jesus is significant. Instead of all expecting to be alive at that blessed crisis, the inroads of death had now forced men to the higher consolation that ‘it did not make the least difference whether one became partaker of the blessings of that event in the ranks of the dead or of the living. The question whether the Parousia was to happen sooner or later was no longer of paramount importance. The important thing was to cultivate that attitude of mind which the writer of this epistle recommended” (Baur).— οἰκοδομεῖτε, the term sums up all the support and guidance that a Christian receives from the fellowship of the church (cf. Beyschlag’s N.T. Theology, ii. 232). --καθὼς καὶ ποιεῖτε, another instance (cf. iv. 1, το) of Paul’s fine courtesy and tact. He is careful to recog- nise -the Thessalonians’ attainments,