2. Πᾶσαν χαρὰν ᾿ἡγήσασδε, ἀδελφοί μου, ὅταν * πειρασμοῖς ! Matt. ν. περιπέσητε ποικίλοις, 3. γινώσκοντες ὅτι τὸ ἢ δοκίμιον 5 ὑμῶν ὅ τῆς
5 Om. Syrlec,
immense influence upon their thought and literature, was Hebraic in essence though clothed in Greek garb; hence that extraordinarily interesting pheno- menon, the Hellenistic Jew. In view of what has been said it is interesting to note that two outstanding characteristics of the Epistle before us are: Hebraic thought and diction expressed in Greek form, and the emphasis laid on ethics rather than on doctrine. The meaning of διασπορά is quite unambiguous, and there is no justification for restricting it to the Eastern Dispersion; it includes the Jews of Italy, Macedonia, Greece, Asia Minor and, above all, Egypt, as well as of Asia. For further details see Esther iii. 8, viii. 9, ix. 30, x. 1; Acts ii. 0-11; Syb. Orac., iii. 271; Josephus, Antiq. XIV., vil. 12; Contra Ap., i. 22, CLC εἴο οχαυρειν- 07. ACLS κὺὶ 25: xxiii, 26, the only other occurrences of this form of salutation in the N.T. ** Historically there is probably no ellipsis even in the epistolary χαίρειν" (Moulton, Grammar of N.T. Greek (1), p. 180). It is ofinterest to note that in the Epistle in- spired by St. James (Acts xv. 23) this form of salutation is used; it would, however, be precarious to draw deductions as to au- thorship from this, for the use of the infini- tive for the imperative is quite common in Hellenistic Greek; as Moulton says : ““ We have every reason to expect it in the N.T., and its rarity there is the only matter-of surprise” (Ibid.). The Peshitta and Syrlec have the Jewish form, Shalom.
er. 2. Πᾶσαν χαράν: Cf. Phil. li. 20, μετὰ πάσης χαρᾶς: the render- ing in Syrlec, which is rather a paraphrase than a translation, catches the meaning
admirably: PNT VT NTT 2393
STIN> “With all joy be rejoicing my breth- ten.” ἡγήσασθε: the writer is not to be understood as meaning that these trials are joyful in themselves, but that as a means to beneficial results they are to be rejoiced in; it is the same thought as that contained in Heb. xii. 11: πᾶσα μὲν παιδεία πρὸς μὲν τὸ παρὸν ov δοκεῖ χαρᾶς εἶναι ἀλλὰ λύπης, ὕστερον δὲ καρπὸν εἰρηνικὸν τοῖς δι αὐτῆς γε- γυμνασμένοις ἀποδίδωσιν δικαιοσύνης..