.
356
κληρονομίαν, καὶ ἐξῆλθε μὴ ἐπιστάμενος ποῦ ἔρχεται.
9. Πίστει
παρῴκησεν εἷς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ὡς ἀλλοτρίαν, ἐν σκηναῖς.
giii. 4, et ς
xii, 22, εἰ κατοικήσας μετὰ ᾿Ισαὰκ καὶ ᾿Ιακὼβ τῶν συγκληρονόµων τῆς ἐπαγ-
xiii. 14;
Apoc.xxi. γελίας τῆς αὐτῆς: 10. ὅ ἐξεδέχετο γὰρ τὴν τοὺς θεμελίους ἔχουσαν
2
19, et Xxi. 2° Tne. 1, 36; Rom Iv. 10.
Isaac and Jacob, co-heirs with him of the same promise.” παρῴκησεν, as in Acts vii. 6, πάροικον ἐν γῇ ἀλλοτρίᾳ, dwelt alongside of the proper inhabitants. Cf. Gen. xvii. 8 and passim. εἰς in its common pregnant sense, Jo. xxi. 4; Acts viii. 40; Pet. v. 12 and especi- ially Acts vii. 4. He lived in the pro- mised land, ὡς ἀλλοτρίαν, as if it be- fonged to some other person; neither did he make a permanent settlement in it but dwelt in tents, shifting from place to place, the symbol of what is temporary, see Isa, xxxvili. 12; 2 Cor. v. 4. The presence of his son and grandson must continually have prompted him to settle. They were included in the promise, but they too were compelled to move with him from place to place. But how did this evince faith? It did so by showing that he had given a wider scope and a deeper significance to God’s words. He was content to dwell in tents, because he looked for “‘ the city which has the founda- tions”. ἐξεδέχετο yap Thy... πόλιν. ‘‘For he expectantly waited for thecity.” ἐκδέχομαι (Jas. v.7,6 γεωργὸς ἐκδεχ., Acts xvii. 16; 1 Cor. xi. 33) oc- curs in Soph. Phil., 123, where Jebb says: “The idea of the compound is ‘be ready for him,’ prepared to deal with him the moment he appears”. The city is des- cribed as one ‘‘ that has the foundations ” which the tents lacked, and which accord- ing to xiii. 14 is by implication not only μέλλουσαν but μένουσαν. In xii. 22 it is called ‘the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,” and in Gal. iv. 26 ἢ ἄνω Ἱερουσαλήμ. A city was the symbol of a settled condition, as in Ps. ον. 7, πόλις κατοικητηρίου. Cf. the interesting parallel in Philo. Leg. Alleg., iii.-xxvi., Ρ. 103, πόλις δέ ἐστιν ἀγαθὴ καὶ πολλὴ καὶ σφόδρα εὐδαίμων, τὰ γὰρ δῶρα τοῦ θεοῦ μεγάλα καὶ τίμια. It 15 further described as ἧς τεχνίτης καὶ δημιουργὸς ὁ θεός, “whose constructer and maker is God”. τεχνίτης is used of the silversmiths in Acts xix. 24, of God as Maker of the world in Wisdom xiii. 1 and xiv. 2, τεχνίτης δὲ σοφίᾳ κατεσκεύασεν.
h Gen. xvii. πόλιν, ἧς τεχνίτης καὶ δημιουργὸς 6 Θεός. II. ἢ Πίστει καὶ αὐτὴ Σάρρα δύναμιν εἰς καταβολὴν σπέρματος
. PIN Ν By Ν Ad , 24 3 λ x ς / ἈΝ ε αβε, και παρα καιρον η τκιας ETEKEV, ἔπει πιστον ηγησατο τον
Perhaps “‘artificer’”’ comes nearest to the meaning. δημιουργός, originally one who works for the people, but applied by Plato (Rep., p. 530) to God; and so, very often in Josephus and Philo (see Krebs, in loc.). For the use of the title among the: Gnostics, see Mansel, Gnostic Heresies, p- το. In Clement, Εβ., 20, we have 6 μέγας δημιουργὸς καὶ δεσπότης τῶν ἁπάντων. In 2 Macc. iv. 1, τῶν κακῶν δημιουργὸς. “ Maker” most adequately translates the word. Wetstein shows that τεχνίτης καὶ δημιουργὸς was not an uncommon combination and aptly com- pares Cicero (De Nat. D., i. 8) ‘ Opi- ficem aedificatorem mundi”. The state- ment of this verse shows that Abraham and other enlightened O.T. saints (cf. chap. iv.) understood that their connection with God, the Eternal One, was their great possession, of which earthly gifts and blessings were but present manifestations.
Ver.11. Πίστει καὶ αὐτὴ Σάρρα. . .. ‘By faith Sarah herself also received power to become a mother even when past the age, since she counted Him faithful who had’ promised.” καὶ αὐτὴ Σάρρα is rendered by Vaughan, Sarah ‘‘in her place” as [Abraham] in his; she on her part. The reference of αὐτὴ is disputed; it has been understood to mean “Sarah the unfruit- ful”. In D. στεῖρα is added; or, as Chrysostom and Bengel, “‘ vas infirmius,” the weaker vessel. Delitzsch thinks that as in Luke xx. 42, xxiv. 15, it merely means “80 Sarah likewise”. But ap- parently the reference is to her previous unbelief. By faith she received strength εἰς καταβολὴν σπέρματος, “the act of the busband not of the wife” (see a score of passages in Wetstein), hence Bleek, Farrar and several others prefer to under- stand the words of “the founding of a family,” citing Plato’s πρώτη καταβολὴ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. But if eis be taken in the same sense as in x. 19, “45 regards” or “in connection with” or ‘‘ with a view to,” the difficulty disappears. [Cf. Weiss who says the words signify ‘‘nicht ein Thun, zu dem sie Kraft empfing, sondern. die Beziehung in welcher sie ein Kraft.