Wy. 2, 3. ἐπιθυμεῖτε καὶ οὐκ ἔχετε. . .: It must be confessed that these verses are very difficult to under- stand; we have, on the one hand, lusting and coveting, murdering and fighting; and, on the other hand, praying. Mur- dering and fighting are the means used in order to obtain that which is coveted; yet in the same breath it is said that the reason why the coveted things are not
458
! Prov. i. 28.
g Rom. viii. oe, 26; ο7.τ
h Matt. vii. rhe Pe i Matt. xii. 39. k Matt. vi. 24; Luke
vi. 26; 1 Jn. ii. 15. Ὦ ii. 23.
ἵνα ἐν ταῖς ἢ ἡδοναῖς ὑμῶν δαπανήσητε.ὶ }η. ν᾿ τᾷ. οἴδατε ὅτι ἡ φιλία τοῦ " κόσμου 3 | ἔχθρα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστιν"; "ὃς ἐὰν οὖν © βουληθῇ φίλος εἶναι τοῦ κόσμου, ἐχθρὸς ἴ τοῦ Θεοῦ καθίσταται." 5. ἢ δοκεῖτε ὅτι κενῶς ἡ " γραφὴ λέγει: πρὸς φθόνον ὃ ἐπιποθεῖ τὸ
1 Rom. viii. 7; Eph. ii. 15.
> ~ “-“ - A a αἰτεῖσθαι ὑμᾶς - 4. αἰτεῖτε καὶ οὐ λαμβάνετε, διότι κακῶς ὅ αἰτεῖ-
4. ᾿ µοιχαλίδες,” οὐκ δ
m—m Jn. xv. 19: xvii. 14; Gal. i. 10.
1 καταδαπανησητε $31; δαπανησετε B, Weiss. ? Pr. μοιχοι και N°KLP, curss.; μοιχοι Latt. (exc. 77), Pesh., Copt., Aeth., Arm. ὅτου κοσμου τουτου ΑΝ, 68, Vulg., Pesh., Arm., Aeth.
4 ἐστιν τω Θεω SQ, Copt., Ti.
> Om. os Ν; ος av $°AKL, curss., Thl., Oec., Treg.
6 Om. L, curss. Τεχθρα 9, 7. obtained is because they are not asked for! Is it intended to be understood that this lust (in the sense, of course, of desiring) and covetousness are not gratified only because they had not been prayed for, or not properly prayed for? This is what the words mean as they stand; but can it ever be justifiable to pray for what is evil? There is some- thing extraordinarily incongruous in the whole passage, which defies explanation if. the words are to be taken in their obvious meaning. Only one thing seems clear, and that is a moral condition which is hopelessly chaotic.—Carr says that ‘these two verses are among the ex- amples of poetical form in this Epistle” ; perhaps this gives the key to the solution of the problem. It may be that we have in the whole of these verses 1-10 a string of quotations, not very skilfully strung togetheg—a kind of “‘ Stromateis "—taken from a variety of authorities, in order to make this protest against a disgraceful state of affairs more emphatic and authori- tative—ooveverte: thereading φθονεῖ- τε cannot be entertained if any regard is to be paid to MS. authority; even if ac- cepted it would not really simplify matters much.—{yAowtre: refers rather to per- sons, ἐπιθυμεῖτε to things.
Ver. 3. αἰτεῖτε. ς᾽. αἰτεῖσθε: There does not seem to be any difference in meaning between the active and middle here: ‘If the middle is really the stronger word, we can understand its being brought in just where an effect of contrast can be secured, while in ordinary passages the active would carry as much weight as was needed” (Moulton, of. cit., p. 160) ; cf. Mark vi. 22-25, x. 35-38; 1 John ν. 15. --δαπανήσητε: Cf. Luke xv. 14, 30; Acts xxi. 24.
8 Xeyer προς $8. A, curss., Arm.
Ver. 4. μοιχαλίδες: the weight of evidence is strongly in favour of this reading as against μοιχοὶ καὶ μοιχα- λίδες. The depraved state of morals to which the whole section bears witness must in part at least have been due to the wickedness and co-operation of the women, so that there is nothing strange in their being specifically mentioned in connection with that form of sin with which they would be more particularly
-associated.—otK οἴδατε. . . ka 6-
ίσταται: what seems to be in the mind of the writer is John xv. 18 ff... . εἰ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ἦτε, ὁ κόσμος Gv τὸ ἴδιον ἐφίλει " ὅτι δὲ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμος ἂν οὐκ ἐστέ, ἀλλ᾽ ἐγὼ ἐξελεξάμην ὑμᾶς ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, διὰ τοῦτο μισεῖ ὑμᾶς ὁ κόσμος ...- καθίσταται: ‘isconstituted”; cf. the Vulgate.constituttur.