14 Macc. i. 26, ii. 15 (9), cf. 2 Tim. iii. 2. p Rom. ix. 2 only, N.T.
γι,
το. ῥίζα γὰρ πάντων τῶν κακῶν ἐστὶν ἡ ᾿ φιλαργυρία : = ν Mics: , Ὦ 2 , x a / Ἀν te ‘ ἧς τινὲς ™ ὀρεγόμενοι " ἀπεπλανήθησαν ἀπὸ τῆς πίστεως καὶ ἑαυτοὺς
Ir. Σὺ “δέ, ὦ ἄνθρωπε ! Θεοῦ,
m See 1 Tim. iii. 1. n Mark. q Rom. xi. 17, 20, xiv. 10,
1 Ins. τοῦ all except ἡ ΓΑ, 17.
multa incidimus’’ (Ep. 87). Cf. also Jas. i. 2, πειρασμοῖς περιπέσητε ποικίλοις. πειρασμόν refers rather to the consequencess of one’s money-grub- bing spirit on others, παγίδα to its disastrous effect on one’s own character.
ἀνοήτους καὶ βλαβεράς: The desires in question are foolish, because they can- not be logically defended; they are hurt- ful, because they hinder true happiness. See Prov. xxiii. 4, ‘‘ Weary not thyself to be rich”.
αἵτινες: qualitative, such as.
βυθίζουσιν: The word is found in its literal signification in Luke v. 7. Moul- ton and Milligan (Expositor, vii., vi. 381) illustrate its use here from a papyrus of cent. I B.C., συνεχέσι πολέμοις κατα- βυθισθεῖ[σαν] τὴν πόλιν. Bengel notes on ἐμπίπτ. βυθίζ., “incidunt: mergunt. Tristis gradatio.”” We must not lose sight of eis. Destruction and perdition are not, strictly speaking, the gulf in which the men are drowned. The lusts, etc., over- whelm them; and the tssue is destruction, etc. See reff. on ἀπώλειαν.
Ver. το. ῥίζα, κ.τ.λ.: The root of all evils. The R.V., a root of all kinds of evtl is not satisfactory. The position of ῥίζα in the sentence shows that it is em- phatic. Field (im loc.) cites similar ex- amples of the absence of the article collected by Wetstein from Athenzus, vil. p. 280 A (ἀρχὴ καὶ pila παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ ἡ τῆς γαστρὸς ἡδονή), and Diog. Lert. vi. 50; and adds five others from his own observation. It is, besides, un- reasonable in the highest degree to expect that, on the ground of his inspiration, St. Paul’s ethical statements in a letter should be expressed with the precision of a text book, When one is dealing with a de- grading vice of any kind, the interests of virtue are not served by qualified asser- tions.
φιλαργυρία: avaritia (τ) rather than cupiditas (d, m, Vulg.). The use of this word supports the exposition given above of ver. 9. Love of money, meanness and covert dishonesty where money is concerned, is the basest species of the genus πλεονεξία.
passive subject of temptation.
ἧς: In sense the relative refers to ἀργύριον, understood out of φιλαργυρία, with which it agrees in grammar. The meaning is clear enough; but the expres- sion of it is inaccurate. This occurs when a man’s power of grammatical ex- pression cannot keep pace with his thought. Alf. cites as parallels, Rom. viii. 24, ἐλπὶς βλεπομένη, and Acts xxiv. 15, ἐλπίδα .. . ἣν καὶ αὐτοὶ οὗτοι προσδέχονται.
τινες: See note on ch. i. 3.
ὀρεγόμενοι : reaching after (R.V.) ex- presses the most defensible aspect of coveting (A.V.).
ἀπεπλανήθησαν: peregrinati sunt (τ) erraverunt (ἃ, Vulg.). The faith is a very practical matter. Have been led astray (R.V.) continues the description of the man who allows himself to be the Chrys. illustrates the use of this word here from an absent-minded man’s passing his des- tination without knowing it.
περιέπειραν: inseruerunt se. The force of wept in this compound is inten. Sive, aS in περιάπτω, περικαλύπτω, πε ρικρατής, περικρύπτω, περίλυπος.
ὀδύναις πολλαῖς : There is a touch of pity in this clause, so poignantly descrip- tive of a worldling’s disillusionment.
Vv. 11-16 are a digression into a per- sonal appeal. Cf. 2 Tim. ii. τ, iii. το, 14, iv. 5.
Ver. 11. ὦ ἄνθρωπε θεοῦ: It argues a very inadequate appreciation of the fervour of the writer to suppose, as Theod. does, that this is an official title. The apostrophe is a personal appeal, arising out of the topic of other-worldliness which begins in ver. 5. Timothy, as a Christian man, had been called to a heavenly citizenship. He was a man of God, t.e., a man belonging to the spiritual order of things with which that which is merely temporal, transitory and perishing can have no permanent relationship.