Ver. 12. This parenthetical thanks- giving, which is quite in St. Paul’s manner, is suggested by ὃ ἐπιστεύθην ἐγώ. Cf. 1 Cor. xv. 9 sqq., Eph. iii. ὃ.
χάριν ἔχω: see note on 2 Tim. i. 3. ἐνδυναμώσαντι: The aor. is used be- cause the writer’s thoughts pass back to the particular time when he received inward strength increasingly, Acts ix. 22. In Phil. iv. 13 the present participle is appropriate, because he is describing his present state. The word ἐν- δυναμοῦσθαι is only found in N.T. in Paul and Acts ix. 22. Is it fanciful to suppose that Luke’s use of it in Acts was suggested by his master’s account of that crisis ? ὅτι: because.
πιστόν : trustworthy, as a steward is expected to be, 1 Cor. iv. 2. See ref. There is, as Bengel remarks, a touch of ἀνθρωποπάθεια, of anthropomorphism or accommodation, in πιστόν με ἡγήσατο.
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Rom. i. 30 only (Ν.Τ.). Rev. Xi. 15. d 2 Tim. i. 13.
iii. 8, cf. Tit. i. 9, Rev. xxi. 5, XXii. 6.
b Here only, not LXX.
: ᾿Ιησοῦ.
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c 2 Tim. i. 8, Heb. vii. 14, ο Pet. iii. 15,
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e Col. i. 4,1 Thess. iii. 6, v. 8, 1 Tim. il. 15, Vi. 11,2 Tim. ii. 22, Tit. aii 2, cf. Gal. v. 6, Eph. vi. 23,1 Tim. iv. 12, Rev. ii. 19.
fx Tim. iii. I, iv. 9,2 Tim. ii. 11, Tit.
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2 Ins. pe A, 73, 6.
3 Humanus τ, Latin MSS. known to Jerome, Ambrst., Julian pel., Aug.
The Divine Master knew that His steward Paul would be trustworthy. Paul, not unnaturally, speaks as if God’s apprehension of him were of the same relative nature as his own hofe of final perseverance.
θέμενος εἰς διακονίαν: The fact that Christ employed Paul in His service was a sufficient proof of His estimate of him. διάκονος and διακονία are used in a gen- eral sense of St. Paul’s ministry also in Rom, xi, 13, τ Cor. iii. 5, 2 Cor. 111. 6, tv. τὴν 181 νι 8, pile τη πι, Col. 1,029, 55. Gea) Vim. ο 6 Tim. iv. 5, τα The nature of it is exactly defined in Acts xx. 24, ‘‘to testify the gospel of the grace of God”.
Ver. 13. ὄντα: concessive: ‘‘ though I was,” etc. βλάσφημον: a blasphemer. The context alone can decide whether βλασφημεῖν is to be rendered rail or blaspheme. It was against Jesus per- sonally that Paul had acted (Acts ix. 5, xxii. 7, xxvi. 14). This brings into stronger relief the kindness of Jesus to Paul. ὑβριστής, rendered insolent (R.V.), Rom. i. 30, covers both words and deeds of despitefulness. Injurious is sufficiently comprehensive, but, in modern English, is not sufficiently vigorous.
ἀλλὰ ἠλεήθην: Obtaining mercy does not in this case mean the pardon which implies merely exemption from punish- ment; no self-respecting man would value such a relationship with God. Rather St. Paul has in his mind what he has ex- pressed elsewhere as the issue of having received mercy, viz., to have been granted an opportunity of serving Him whom he had injured. Cf. 1 Cor. vii. 25, xv. 10, 2 σου αντ,
ἀγνοῶν ἐποίησα: A possible echo of the Saying from the Cross recorded in Luke xxiii. 34, οὐ yap οἴδασιν τί ποιοῦσιν. See also John xv. 21, xvi. 3, Acts iii. 17, xiii, 27, I Cor. ii. 8. There is a remark- able parallel in The Testaments of the