περιερχόμεναι τὰς οἰκίας: These last words may possibly refer to the house to house visitation, going about (R.V.), which might be part of the necessary duty of the Church widows; but which would be a source of temptation to young women, and would degenerate into wandering (A.V.).
οὐ μόνον δὲ .. . ἀλλὰ καί is a Pauline use of constant occurrence. See Rom. Vi 3,021 y να. 28, 1X.) το 2) Corn νι" ἢν viii. το: Phil. ii. 27 [οὐ . . . δὲ µόνον]; 2 dim; iv. 8. )Also in Acts ΧΙΣ. 27, 5 Macc. iii, 23.
ἀργαί, φλύαροι, περίεργοι: A Series of natural causes and consequences. The social intercourse of idle people is naturally characterised by silly chatter which does not merely affect the under- standing of those who indulge in it, but leads them on to mischievous interfer- ence in other people’s affairs.
φλύαροι: φλυαρεῖν is found in 3 John το, prating. φλύαρος is an epithet ot φιλοσοφία in 4 Macc. ν. το; and in Prov. xxiii. 29 (Ne) φλυαρίαι ὁμιλίαι ἐνφιλόνικοι are among the consequences of excessive wine-drinking.
περίεργοι: See 2 Thess. iii. 11, μηδὲν ἐργαζομένους ἀλλὰ περιεργαζομένους. In Acts xix. Ig τὰ περίεργα, curious arts, means the arts of those who are curious about, and pry into, matters concealed from human knowledge, impertinent te man’s lawful needs.
r2—16.
Put δέοντα.
* οἰκοδεσποτεῖν, μηδεμίαν ἡ"
133
14. ἃ βούλομαι οὖν νεωτέρας γαμεῖν, " τεκνογονεῖν, 4 Sect Tim.
ἀφορμὴν " διδόναι τῷ ᾿ ἀντικειμένῳ ™ λοι- τ Here only,
not LXX,
δορίας "χάριν: 15. ἤδη γάρ τινες 7 ἐξετράπησαν | ὀπίσω τοῦ Σατανᾶ: cf. τ Tim.
3 il. 15.
16. εἴ τις” πιστὴ ἔχει χήρας * ἐπαρκείτω ὃ αὐταῖς, καὶ μὴ * βαρείσθω s Here only,
ΓᾺΡ] ΄ τ a bh Ft ῃ , ἡ ἐκκλησία, ἵνα ταῖς " ὄντως χήραις ἐπαρκέσῃ.
2 Cor. xi. 12, Gal. v. 13. u 2 Cor. v. 12. ο, Phil. i. 28, w 1 Pet. iii. ϱ only, N.T. 5, 11, 1 John iii. 12, Jude 16.
y See 1 Tim. i. 6.
not LXX. t Luke xi.
54, Rom.
vii. 8, 11,
να Thess: ii. 4, cf. Luke xiii. 17, xxi. 15, 1 Cor. xvi. x Luke vii. 47, Gal. iii. 19, Eph
αμα, ΤΑ, Vat ids
z See ver. 1Ο. a See note. b See ver. 3.
1 ἐξετράπ. τινες AFerG, g. 2 Ins. πιστὸς ἢ DKL, d, fuld., syrr. 3So CDKLP; ἐπαρκείσθω SA[FG], 17.
λαλοῦσαι τὰ μὴ δέοντα expresses the positively mischievous activity of the φλύαροι, 45 περίεργοι. Compare Tit. i. 11, διδάσκοντες ἃ μὴ δεῖ. [π΄ both passages μή is expressive of the impro- priety, in the writer’s opinion, of whatever might conceivably be spoken and taught; whereas ta ov δέοντα would express the notion that certain specific improper things had, as a matter of fact, been spoken. See Winer-Moulton, Gram. p. 603.
Ver. 14. βούλομαι οὖν: See note on τὸ Tim. ii. 8.
νεωτέρας: The insertion of χήρας be- fore νεωτέρας in about 30 cursives, Chrys. Theodoret, John Damasc., Jerome, is a correct gloss (so R.V.). The whole context deals with widows, not with women in general, as A.V. and von Soden.
γαμεῖν: There is nothing really incon- sistent between this deliberate injunc- tion that young widows should marry again, and the counsel in 1 Cor. vii. 8, that widows should remain unmarried. The widows here spoken of would come under the class of those who ‘have not continency’’; not to mention that the whole world-position of the Church had altered considerably since St. Paul had written r Cor.
οἰκοδεσποτεῖν: well rendered in Vulg., matres-familias esse. The verb is only found here in the Greek Bible, but οἶκο- δεσπότης frequently occurs in the Synop- tists. It is the equivalent of οἰκουργούς, κ πο,
τῷ ἀντικειμένῳ: The singular (see ref.) does not refer to Satan, but is used gene- rically for human adversaries. The plural is more usual, as in the other reff. Cf. 6 ἐξ ἐναντίας, Tit. ii. 8.