Ver. 7. Πίστει χρηματισθεὶς Νῶε. ... “ΒΥ faith Noah, on being divinely warned of things not as yet seen, with reverential heed prepared an ark to save his household.’’ Both here and in Mat. ii. 12, 22 χρηµατ. is translated “warned of God,” although “ divinely instructed” as in viii. 5 is admissible in all the passages. πίστει must be con- strued with εὐλαβηθεὶς κατεσκεύασεν and these words must be kept together, although some join εὐλαβηθεὶς with
5—8.
355
τῶν µηδέπω βλεπομένων, εὐλαβηθεὶς κατεσκεύασε κιβωτὸν εἰς σω-
, A a “ τηρίαν τοῦ οἴκου αὐτοῦ: δι ἧς κατέκρινε τὸν κόσμον, καὶ τῆς κατὰ
, ὃ , 5.2 λ / πιστιν ικαιοσυνης εγενετο κ Ἄρονομος.
8. Πίστει καλούμενος | f Gen. xii. 1,4; Acts
᾿Αβραὰμ ὑπήκουσεν ἐξελθεῖν εἰς τὸν τόπον ὃν ἤμελλε λαμβάνειν εἰς vii. 2.
1 9 καλουμενος in AD* 17, Arm., ἃ reading which Calvin censures as “ nimio dilutum
ac frigidum”’.
the preceding words. τῶν μηδέπω βλεπ., 1.ε., the flood; cf. Gen vi. 14. εὐλαβηθεὶς here used in preference to φοβηθεὶς because it is not a timorous dread of the catastrophe that is signified, but a commendable caution springing from regard to God’s word. In obedi- ence to this feeling he prepared an ark [κιβωτὸν used of the ark of the covenant in ix. 4, and of Noah’s ship in Gen. vi. 15, because it was shaped like a box witha roof. In Wisdom x. 4it is spoken of as ‘‘ worthless timber,” to magnify the salva- tion accomplished by its means. δι᾽ εὖτε- ods ξύλου τὸν δίκαιον (Σοφία) κυβ- ερνήσασα and in Wisdom xiv. 7 it 15 ξύλον δι᾽ οὗ γίνεται δικαιοσύνη.] This ark he built for the saving of his family; as in Gen. vii. 1 God says to Noah, εἴσελθε σὺ καὶ πᾶς ὁ οἶκός σου. By this faith [δι᾽ ἧς] and its manifestation in preparing the ark, ‘““he condemned the world”; of which the most obvious meaning is that Noah’s faith threw into relief the unbelief of those about him Cf. Mat. xii. 41. But to this, Weiss ob- jects that in Hebrews κόσμος is not used to denote the world of men. He there-
fore concludes that what is meant is that, Noah by building the ark for his own)
rescue showed that he considered th world doomed, thus passing judgment upon it. Certainly the former meanin is the more natural and the objection of Weiss has little weight. A second resul of his faith was that “he entered into possession of the righteousness which faith carries with it”. The original signi- ficance of κληρονόμος is here, as often elsewhere, left behind. It means little more than ‘“‘owner”. But no doubt underneath the word there lies the idea, familiar to the Jewish mind, that spiritual blessings are a heritage bestowed by God. ἡ κατὰ πίστιν δικαιοσύνη is rendered by Winer (p. 502) ‘‘the righ- teousness which is in consequence of faith” and he instructively compares Mat. xix. 3, ἀπολῦσαι τὴν γυναῖκα κατὰ πᾶσαν αἰτίαν, and Acts iii. 17, κατ᾽ ἄγνοιαν ἐπράξατε. The first statement in the history of Noah (Gen. vi. 10) is, Νῶε ἄνθρωπος δίκαιος, τέλειος ὧν ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ
αὐτοῦ, τῷ θεῷ εὐηρέστησε Νῶε. Cf. Wisdom x. 4. In Genesis the warning of God is communicated to Noah because he was already righteous; in Hebrews a somewhat diiferent aspect is presented, Noah “became” righteous by building the ark in faith. He was one of those who διὰ πίστεως ἠργάσαντο δικαιοσύ- νην, Ver. 33.
From νετ. 8 to ver. 22 the faith of the patriarchs is exhibited, cf. Ecclus. xliv. 19.
Ver. 8. Πίστει καλούμενος ᾿Αβραὰμ. . . . ‘By faith Abraham on being called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance, obeyed and went out not knowing whither he was going.” καλούμενος, as in Mark i, 20 and Isa. li. 2, ἐμβλέψατε ᾿Αβραὰμ .. . ὅτι εἷς ἦν, καὶ ἐκάλεσα αὐτόν. The present, not κληθεὶς, expresses the idea that no sooner was the call given than it was obeyed [‘‘dass er, so wie der Ruf an ihn ging, gehorsamte” (Bleek)]. The same idea is expressed by the immediate introduction of ὑπήκουσεν, which more naturally would come at the end of the clause, and thus allow ἐξελθεῖν (cf. Gen. xii. 1; Acts vii. 2) to follow καλούμενος. The faith of Abraham appeared in his promptly abandoning his own country on God’s promise of another, and the strength of this faith was illustrated by the cir- cumstance that he had no knowledge where or what that country was. He went out μὴ ἐπιστάμενος ποῦ ἔρχεται. The terms of the call (Gen. xii. I) were ἔξελθε . . . καὶ δεῦρο εἰς τὴν γῆν, ἣν ἄν σοι δείξω. It was, therefore, no attrac- tive account of Canaan which induced him to forsake Mesopotamia, no ordinary emigrant’s motive which moved him, but mere faith in God’s promise. ‘Even still the life of faith must be entered on in ignorance of the way to the inheritance, Οἱ even what the inheritance and rest in each one’s particular case will be, and of the experiences that the way will bring. This is true even of ordinary life” (Davidson). This did not exhaust the faith of Abra- ham. Further πίστει παρῴκησεν. ... ‘“‘ By faith he became a sojourner in a land [his] by the promise as if it belonged to another, dwelling in tents, along with