467
3. ὃ χρυσὸς ε Cf. ii. 2.
{ Bar.vi.12;
ε A ‘a ο a, g , 1 WAY Sen > , ο ιν b ΠΟ. ὑμῶν “ και ο αργυρος “κατιωται, και ο LOS αυτων εἰς μαρτύριον υμιν Jo ΧΙ. 2
5 ϑίτιχι τας
1—1 κατιωται και o αργυρος ΑΖ, 13.
makes use of the distinctively Jewish title for God, the “‘ Lord of Sabaoth”’.
It is thus difficult to resist the con- clusion that we have here, in the section vv. 1-6, a passage which did not origin- ally belong to the Epistle at all, but was taken or adapted from some Jewish eschatological work; it will be generally acknowledged that this section has absolutely nothing specifically Christian about it. That the writer (compiler ?) should have incorporated itnis in his Epistle is quite natural, seeing that he was writing to Jews; equally as natural is it that he should, as a Christian writ- ing to (Jewish-) Christians, add the de- veloped Christian form of the same sub- ject, interspersing it with O.T. references for the sake of his hearers [see further, Bk. of $ubilees, i. 29, v. 12, xxiii. 26-30; Enoch, x. 13, xvi. 1; Ass. of Moses, i. 18, x. 13; Test. of the Twelve Patriarchs, Reuben, vi. 8; Apfoc. Bar. xxvii. 15, xxix. 8, lvi. 2; 4 Esdr. ix. 5].
Ver. 1. “Aye νῦν: See above iv. 13. --κλαύσατε ὀλολύζοντες ἐπὶ ταῖς ταλαιπωρίαις ὑμῶν ταῖς ἐπερχομέναις: according to the original prophetic conception these ‘‘miseries” which were to overtake the wicked, were to come to pass in the ‘‘Day of the Lord,” z.e., during the Mes- sianic Era; this belief became extended during the development of ideas which took place during the two centuries pre- ceding the Christian Era. Whatever the reasons were which brought about the belief, it is certain that the expression ‘those days” came to bexapplied to a certain period which was immediately to precede the coming of the Messiah ; with- out doubt a number of prophetical pas- sages were regarded as suggesting this {see below). The descriptions given of these “days,” which are to foretell the advent of the Messiah, belong to apo- calyptic conceptions; in their general outline the “signs” of these times are identical. Prophetical passages such as the following laid the foundation : “ The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is laid up in store. The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him . .. ἢ; then, on the other hand, “I will ransom them from the power of the
δω»
grave; I will redeem them from death ican (ELOSs ση. τοτη) Δ ΣΆ ης -- The day of thy watchmen, even thy visi- tation, is come; now shall be their per- plexity. Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide. .. for the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother . . . a man’s enemies are the men of his own house” (Mic. vii. 4-6); another characteristic which played a great part in the later apocalypse is contained in Joel ii. τὸ ff., “the earth quaketh before them; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. .. . Cf. Zech. xiv. 6 ff.; Dan. xii. 1, etc., etc. Throughout the immense domain of apocalyptic literature these themes are developed to an enormous extent; they are familiar to us from the Gospels, Matt. xxiv., xxv.; Mark xiii. 14- 27; Luke xxi. 9-19. In Jewish literature references to them also occur with fre- quency; this period is called the time of ἐς travail,” and more specifically, the ‘‘birth-pangs,” or “sufferings” of the Messiah—Cheble ha-Meshiach, or Cheblo shel Mashiach, see Pesikta rab., xxi. 34; Shabbath, 118a; Sanhedrin, 96b, 97a, etc., etc. See further Oesterley, The Doctrine of the Last Things, chap. vii. The great diffusion and immense popu- larity which the apocalyptic literature enjoyed makes it certain that the writer of our Epistle was familiar with the sub- ject; the “miseries,” therefore, referred to in the passage before us may quite possibly have reference to the sufferings which were to take place in the time of travail preceding the actual coming of the Μαεββίδαῃ.--ὀλολύζοντες: only here in the N.T., but fairly frequent in the Septuagint, Isa. xiii. 6; Joel i. 5, 13; Jer. iv. 8, etc.; in the first of these passages the connection is the same as here, . « . ἐγγὺς yap ἡμέρα κυρίου, and see Luke vi. 24, ‘‘ Woe unto you rich . ο. which is strongly reminiscent of the verse before us.