Ιν.
ap ὑμῶν 8. "ἐγγίσατε τῷ Θεῷ,2 καὶ
t 6 ’ - < , A u [ή καναρισατε χειρας, ἁμαρτωλοί, και ἁγνίισατε
t Isa. i. 16. u Jer. iv. 14; 1 Pet. i. 22°
3 D(omi)no s VulgF; ad dominum {; add et ipse ff.
rEph. vi. τῷ "διαβόλῳ, καὶ φεύξεται 1 παντος κα Pet. v. 8, ἐγγίσει “ ὕμιν. 9. s 2 Chron. : xv. 2; Zech. i. 3; Luke xv. 30; cf. Lam. iii. 57. 1 Jn. ili, 8. 1 φευξετε Β1 (-ται Β3). 3 ἐγγιει Treg., Ti. difference between the Jewish and
Christian doctrines of grace and free- will here cannot fail to be observed. it is useless to cite the words, ‘‘ Be sub- ject unto God,” as indicating divine assistance in withstanding the devil, be- cause the subject of thought in either passage is quite independent; the mean- ing is not that ability to withstand the devil is the result of being subject to God; but two courses of action are en- joined, in each of which man is repre- sented as able to take the initiative—In the second place, the representation of Satan (the devil) here is altogether Jewish; the Hebrew root from which
“cs
Satan” comes (1110) means ‘to op-
pose,” or ‘to act as an adversary”; the idea is very clearly brought out in Num.
xxii. 22, where the noun is used: And the -
Angel of fahwe placed himself in the way for an adversary (literally “for a Satan”). This is precisely the picture represented in the words before us; the ancient Hebrew idea of something in the way is to some extent present in the Greek 6 διάβολος, from διαβάλλω “το throw across,” ζ.6., the pathway is im- peded (cf. Eph. iv. 27, vi. 11). Jewish demonology was full of intensely material- istic conceptions ; the presence of demons in various guise, or else invisible, was always feared; primarily it was bodily harm that they did; the idea of spiritual evil, as in the passage before us, was later, though both conceptions existed side by side. The words under consideration are possibly an inexact quotation from Test. of the Twelve Patriarchs, Naphth. viii. 4, ‘‘If ye work that which is good my children . . . and the devil shall flee from you”. Knowling quotes an inter- esting parallelin Hermas, Mand., xii. 5, 2, where in connection with the devil it is said, “If ye resist him he will be van- quished, and will flee from you dis- graced’”’.
Ver. 8 ἐγγίσατε τῷ θεῷ, καὶ ἐγγίσει ὑμῖν: here, again, we have what to Christian ears sounds rather like a reversal of the order of things; we
should expect the order to be that ex- pressed in such words as, ‘ Ye did not choose me, but I chose you” (John xv. 16). The words before us seem to be a quota- tion (inexact) from Hos. xii. 6 (Sept.), «ον ἔγγιζε πρὸς τὸν θεόν σου διὰ παν-
τός. The Hebrew phrase "ἡ" w)95 is a technical term for approaching God for the purpose of worship, 6.5., Exod. XIX) 22: Ἱε. Xxx. 21: zeke xiv το, There is an extraordinary passage in Test. of the Twelve Patriarchs, Dan. vi. I, 2 which runs, ‘‘And now, fear the Lord, my children, and beware of Satan and his spirits. Draw near unto God and to the angel that intercedeth for you, for he is a mediator between God and man” (the latter part here is not a Chris- tian interpolation). cra@aploare χεῖρας: Cf. Ps. xxiv. 4, ἀθῷος χερσὶ καὶ καθαρὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ . . .; in Hos. i. 16 we have, λούσασθε, καθαροὶ γένεσθε, and in Sir. xxxvili. 10, ἀπόστησον πλημ- μελίαν καὶ εὔθυνον χεῖρας, Kal ἀπὸ πάσης ἁμαρτίας καθάρισον καρδίαν. In each case it is a metaphorical use of language which otherwise expressed the literal ritual washing; the former, taken from the latter, was in use at least as early as exilic times—apaptTwdrol: the close connection with this word and the δίψυχοι which follows almost imme- diately recalls the language in Sir. v. 9, .. «οὕτως ὁ ἁμαρτωλὸς ὁ δίγλωσσος. --δἁ γνίσατε καρδίας the thought of these, as well as of the preceding words, is an adaptation of Ps. xxii. (Ixxiii.) 13, "Apa ματαίως ἐδικαίωσα τὴν καρδίαν μου, καὶ ἐνιψάμην ἐν ἀθῴοις τὰς χεῖράς μου. Theverb ἁγνίζω (ΓΤ) means originally to sanctify oneself preparatory to appearing before the Lord by separat- ing oneself from everything that might cause uncleanness; the idea of separating oneself is still present in the passage before us, because mourning implied tem- porary withdrawal from the world and its doings. Mayor quotes in connection with this verse, Hermas, Mand., ix. 7, καθάρισον τὴν καρδίαν σου ἀπὸ τῆς