457
θεν, ἐκ τῶν ἢ ἡδονῶν ὑμῶν "τῶν στρατευομένων ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν“; Ὁ iv. 3
2. ἐπιθυμεῖτε καὶ οὐκ ἔχετε - *govedere? καὶ "ζηλοῦτε, καὶ οὐ τι; 2 Pet.
δύνασθε ἐπιτυχεῖν - μάχεσθε καὶ πολεμεῖτε.
1 Habebitis 7.
cf. Rom. vi. 13.
lic τα.
οὐκ ἔχετε ὃ διὰ τὸ μὴ c—c Rom. vii. 23; I Pet. ii. τι;
dv. 6. er Cor. xii. 31.
2 bovevere. και WH (altern. reading); φθονειτε και Erasmus.
3a ουκ ex. SYP, curss., Latt., Syrr., Arm., Aeth., Thl., Oec., Ti.; add δε rec.
{From here to end of Ep. C is wanting.]
the characteristics of the writer that he speaks straight tothe point. Itis truethat in the O.T. adultery is sometimes used in a figurative sense, meaning unfaith- fulness to Jahwe; but it is well to re- member that such a use is quite excep- tional; out of the thirty-one passages in which adultery is spoken of, in only five is a figurative sense found. In the N.T. there are only two possible cases of a figurative use apart from the verse before us (Matt. xii. 39 = xvi. 4, Mark viii. 38). The word ‘to commit fornication”
(πὸ) occurs oftener, in the O.T., in a figurative sense; but in comparison with the vastly larger instances of a literal sense, the former must be regarded as exceptional, But even granting that this particular word is figuratively used, there is still a terrible list of other sins, the meaning of which cannot be explained away; these are more than sufficient to bear witness to the truly awful moral con- dition of those to whom the Epistle is addressed. On the assumption of an early date for our Epistle, the low state of morals here depicted is extremely. diffi- cult to account for. In a community which had recently received and accepted the new faith, with its very high ideals, one would naturally look for some signs of new-born zeal, some conception of the meaning of Christianity, some reflex of the example of the Founder; religious strife, owing to a mistaken zeal, one can understand; isolated cases of moral de- linquency are almost to be expected; but the collective wickedness of a new- born Christian community,—this would be quite incomprehensible; and it is clear from the verses before us that the writer is not singling out exceptions. In a second or third generation the com- munity living among heathen surround- ings might conceivably become so con- taminated as to have lost its genuinely Christian character; with the lapse of years there is an inevitable tendency to deteriorate, until a new spirit of discipline is infused. It seems more in accord- ance with known facts, and with common-
sense, to regard the people to whom this Epistle (or part of it) was addressed as those who had deteriorated from the high ideal set by their fathers and grand- fathers, and to see in the writer one who sought to inspire a new sense of discip- line and morals into the hearts of his Jewish-Christian brethren. — Vy. 1-10 form a self-contained whole, dealing with the general state of moral depravity in the community (presumably the writer has more particularly one community in view), and ending with a call to repent- ance. Vv. 11, 12 form another indepen- dent section, belonging in substance to ii, 1-13. Vv. 13-17 form again a separate section without any reference to what precedes or follows.
Ver. 1. πόλεμοι καὶ μάχαι: the former refers to the permanent state of enmity, which every now and then breaks out into the latter; like war and battles. —€v ὑμῖν: comprehensive.— ἐντεῦθεν : lays special stress on the place of origin, which is seen in the following words: ἐκ τῶν ἡδονῶν ὑμῶν : ἡδοναί is sometimes used of the lusts of the flesh, 4.5.» in the Letter of Aristeas (Swete, Intro. to Ο.Τ. in Greek, p. 567), in answer to the question ; ‘‘ Why do not the majority of men take pos- session of virtue”? it is said: “Ὅτι φυσικῶς ἅπαντες ἀκρατεῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς ἡδονὰς τρεπόμενοι γεγόνασιν. Cf. 4 Macc. vi. 35; Luke viii. 14; Tit. 11. 3; 2 Pet. ii. 13.--τῶν στρατευομένων ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν: the same thought is found in 1 Pet. ii. 11, παρα- καλῶ ἀπέχεσθαι τῶν σαρκικῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν αἵτινες στρατεύονται κατὰ τῆς ψυχῆς, cf. Rom. vii. 23; 1 Cor. ix. 7.