Ver. 6. See critical note above for suggested differences in punctuation.—
452
πι Matt. χν. κόσμος τῆς ἀδικίας, 11, 18, 19;
ἡ γλῶσσα καθίσταται ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ἡμῶν,
cf. xii. 36, ἡ 2" σπιλοῦσα ὅλον τὸ σῶμα καὶ φλογίζουσα τὸν " τροχὸν τῆς γενέ-
37; Jude
23. - n Ps, Ixxvii, 18 (Heb.); Eccles. xii. 6.
i Add ουτως P, curss., Thl., Oec., rec.; add ουτως και L, τοῦ.
καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα wip: this metaphor was familiar to Jews, see Prov. xvi. 27, .. . And in his lips there is as a scorch- ing fire; the whole of the passage Sir. xxviii. 8-12 is very ὢ propos, especially ver. 11, ἔρις κατασπευδομένη ἐκκαίει πῦρ, καὶ μάχη κατασπεύδουσα ἐκχέει αἷμα. Knowling refers to Psalms of Sol. xii. 2- 4, where the same metaphor is graphically presented, but the reference is to slander, not to the fire engendered by public con- troversy ; ver. 2runs: ‘‘ Very apt are the words of the tongue of a malicious man, like fire in a threshing-floor that burns up the straw” (the text in the second half of the verse is corrupt, but the general meaning is clear enough).—Kat ἡ γλῶσσα πῦρ, ὁ κόσμος τῆς ἀδικίας. .. τῆς γεέννης: Carr has a very helpful note on this difficult verse, he says: ‘‘a consideration of the structure of the sentence, the poetical form in which the thoughts are cast, also throws light on the meaning. From this it appears that the first thought is resumed and expounded in the last two lines, while the centre doublet contains a paral- lelism in itself. The effect is that of an underground flame concealed for a while, then breaking out afresh. Thus φλογί- ἵουσα and φλογιζομένη refer to πῦρ; and σπιλοῦσα to κόσμος, though grammatic- ally these participles are in agreement with γλῶσσα ."--ὁ κόσμος τῆς ἀδι- κίας: This expression is an extremely difficult one, and a large variety of inter- pretations have been suggested ; the real crux is, of course, the meaning of κόσμος. In this Epistle κόσμος is always used in a bad sense, i. 27, ii. 5, iv. 4. In the Septuagint 6 κόσμος is several times the
rendering of the Hebrew QU, “host” (of heaven, t.e., the stars, etc.), see Gen. ii. 1; Deut. iv. το, xvii. 3; there is no He- brew word which corresponds to κόσμος, properly speaking ; and it would therefore be no matter of surprise if a Jew with a knowledge of Hebrew should use κόσμος in a loose sense. In the N.T. αἰών is often used in the same sense as κόσμος, e.g., Matt. xii. 32; Mark iv. 19; Eph. 1. 21, of this world; here again it is mostly in an evil sense in which it is referred to, whether as αἰών or κόσμος. It is, there-
2 και WS), Ti.
fore, possible that κόσμος might be used in the sense of αἰών, by a Jew, but as referring to a sphere not on this earth. Schegg (quoted by Mayor) interprets the phrase, ‘‘the sphere or domain of ini- quity,” and though this is not the natural meaning of κόσμος, this cannot be urged as an insuperable objection to his inter- pretation; we are dealing with the work of an Oriental, and a Jew, in an age long ago, and we must not therefore look for strict accuracy. If κόσμος may be re- garded as being used in the sense of αἰών, which is applicable to this world or to the world to come, then Schegg’s “domain of iniquity ” might refer to a sphere in the next world. When it is further noticed that the tongue is called “fire,” and that this fire has been kindled by 4 yéevva, the place of burning, it becomes possible to regard the words ὁ κόσμος τῆς ἀδικίας as a symbolic expression of Gehenna (see further below, under τῆς γεέννης).---
᾿καθίσταται: “is set,” i.¢., “is consti: