4 εἰς NCDKL.
of God our Father should brace us up to exhibit moral courage, as being His “true children τ τὶ
Vv. 14-26. Discourage the new false teaching by precept and example. There is no need, however, that you should despair of the Church. It is founded upon a rock, in spite of appearances. Take a broad view of the case: the Church is not the special apartment of the Master from which things unseemly are banished; it is a great House with places and utensils for every need of life. This great House differs from those of earth in that provision is made for the promotion of the utensils from the basest use to the Master’s personal service.
Ver. 14. tavrahas special reference to the issues of life and death set out in vv. 11-13. There is no such prophylactic against striving about words as a serious endeavour to realise the relative import- ance of time and of eternity. ‘ He to whom the eternal Word speaks is set at liberty from a multitude of opinions ”’ (De Imitatione Christt, i. 3). ὑπομίμνησκε: sc. αὐτούς, as in Tit. Lion. διαμαρτυρόμενος: See on 1 Tim. ν. 21.
ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ : It is an argument in favour of this reading that ἐνώπιον Κυρίου only occurs once in Paul (in a quotation), in 2 Cor. viii. 21.
λογομαχεῖν: See on Tim. vi. 4.
ἐπ᾽ οὐδὲν χρήσιμον and ἐπὶ καταστ- ροφῇ τῶν ἀκουόντων are coordinate, and describe the negative and the positive results of λογομαχία. The subject of this λογομαχία is probably identical with that of the μάχαι νοµικαί of Tit. iii. 9, which were ‘unprofitable and vain”.
ἐπὶ καταστροφῇ, κ.τ.λ.: contrast λόγος νον ἀγαθὸς προς οἰκοδομὴν τῆς χρείας, Eph. iv. 29; and compare the antithesis
r13—16.
ἀκουόντων.
Θεῷ, ἐργάτην °a ίσχυντον, Ῥ ὀρθ ῦ ὃν λό ῆς ἀληθεί ἢ, ἐργάτην ° ἀνεπαίσχ ,” ὀρθοτομοῦντα τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας. 16. τὰς δὲ “ βεβήλους “ κενοφωνίας 1 ᾿ περιίστασο " ** ἐπὶ "" πλεῖον
(1), Heb. (1), 2 Pet. (3).