4. " συνεπιμαρτυροῦντος τοῦ Θεοῦ
ny AY x 9 lol ῃ μερισμοῖς, κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ θέλησιν.
has been conveyed to us in a trustworthy manner. To their testimony was added the all-convincing witness borne by God, συνεπιμαρτυροῦντος τοῦ θεοῦ. The word is found in Aristotle, Philo and Polybius, xxvi. 9, 4, παρόντων δὲ τῶν Θεττάλων καὶ συνεπιμαρτυρούντων τοῖς Δαρδανίοις. Also in Clement, Εῤ., c. XXill., συνεπιμαρτυρούσης τῆς γραφῆς ; but only here in N.T., cf. 1 Pet. v. 12; Rom. ii. 15, viii. 16, ix. 1. The sense is- found in Mark xvi. 20, ἐκήρυξαν παντα- χοῦ, τοῦ Κυρίου συνεργοῦντος καὶ τὸν λόγον βεβαιοῦντος διὰ τῶν ἐπακολουθ- ούντων σημείων. This witness was borne σημείοις τε καὶ τέρασιν “by signs and wonders,’’ the two words re- ferring to the same manifestations (τε καὶ closely uniting the words), which in one aspect were “‘signs”’ suggesting a Divine presence or a spirtual truth, and in another aspect ‘‘ wonders’”’ calculated to arrest attention. [The words are
‘similarly conjoined in Polybius, Plut-
arch, lian, Philo and Josephus.] καὶ ποικίλαις δυνάμεσιν “and various miracles,” lit. powers, as in Matt. xi. 21, καὶ οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἐκεῖ δυνάμεις πολλάς. Bleek thinks it is not the outward mani- festations but the powers themselves that are here meant. This, he thinks, is sug- gested by the connexion of the word with πνεύματος ἁγίου μερισμοῖς, “' distribu- tions of the Holy Spirit”. The genitive is genitive objective, “' distributions con- sisting of the Holy Spirit”. The remark- able character of the Charismata and the testimony they bore to a Divine presence and power are frequently alluded to in the N.T. and are enlarged upon in 1 Cor. xii.14. Paul uses the same argument as this writer in Gal. iii. 1-4. The article is wanting before πνεύματος in accord- ance with the usage noted by Vaughan, that it is generally omitted when the communication of the Spirit is spoken of, cf. Luke ii. 25, John vii. 39, with John xiv. 26, Acts xix. 2 with 6. μερισμός only here and in a different sense in iv. 12; the verb is common. St. Paul uses it in connection with the distribution of spiritual gifts in Rom. xii. 3, 1 Cor. vii. 17. No one thought himself possessed of the fulness of the Spirit, only a µέρος. These distributions or apportionings, being of the Spirit of God, are necessarily