Ver. 12. Πρὸ πάντων. The most natural way of understanding these words would be to take them in connec- tion with something that immediately preceded, but as there is not the remotest connection between this verse and the section that has gone just before, this is im- possible here ; the verse must be regarded as the fragment of some larger piece; it is not the only instance in this Epistle of a quotation which has been incorporated, only in this case the fragmentary char- acter is more than usually evident. That it is not a quotation from the Gospel, as we now have it (Matt. v. 33-37), must be obvious, for if it were this, it would unquestionably approximate more closely
e a.
Ρ ναὶ ναὶ, καὶ τὸ οὗ οὔ, ἵνα μὴ ὑπὸ κρίσιν τις ἐν 2 ὑμῖν; προσευχέσθω - εὐθυμεῖ τις; " ψαλλέτω. τις ἐν ὑμῖν; προσκαλεσάσθω τοὺς " πρεσβυτέρους τῆς ἐκκλησίας, καὶ προσευξάσθωσαν ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν ὅ * ἀλείψαντες ὃ ἐλαίῳ ἐν ὀνόματι τοῦ
1 εἰς υποκρισιν ΚΙΙΡΖ, curss., rec. (ed. Steph.). 4Om. της εκκλησιας 7).
Pe. ος 77:
1
4/3
13. ἃΚακοπαθεῖ p> = i. κ 17, 18. 14. ἀσθενεῖ ® α Ps. 1. 15. , _ 4? Rom. xv. 9; 1 Cor. Xiv. 15; Eph.v.19; Col. 111. 16. t Mark vi. 13; cf. xvi. 18.
s Acts Xi. 30.
2 Ex ff.
5 αυτους Nl.
6 Add αυτον SAKL, curss., Treg.
to the original; on the other hand, its general similarity to the Gospel passage proves that there must be a relationship of some kind between the two. Pro- bably both trace their origin to a saying of our Lord’s which became modified in transmission, assuming various forms while retaining the essential point. An example of a similar kind can be seen by comparing together Matt. x. 26; Luke viii. 17 and the fourth of the New Oxy- rhynchus Sayings: Λέγει Ἰησοῦς Πᾶν τὸ μὴ ἔμπροσθεν τῆς ὄψεώς σου καὶ τὸ κεκρυμμένον ἀπὸ σοῦ ἀποκαλυφθήσεται. οὐ γάρ ἐστιν κρυπτὸν ὃ οὐ φανερὸν γενήσεται καὶ τεθαμμένον ὃ οὐκ ἐγερ- θήσεται (Grenfell and Hunt’s restora- tion). In any case the verse before us must originally have been preceded by a context which contained various precepts of which this was regarded as the most important, on account of the words πρὸ πάντων.--μὴ ὀμνύετε. . .: this was a precept enjoined by many of the more devout Jews; Pharisees avoided oaths as much as possible, the Essenes never swore; a very good pre-Christian ex- ample of the same precept is contained in Sir. xxiii, 9-11, Ὅρκῳ μὴ ἐθίσῃς τὸ στόμα σου, kat ὀνομασίᾳ τοῦ ἁγίου μὴ συνεθισθῇς . . - ἀνὴρ πολύορκος πλη- σθήσεται ἀνομίας ...--ἥτω: Cf. τ Cor. xvi. 22, the only other occurrence of this form in the N.T.
Ver. 13. κακοπαθεῖ: See note on v. το; it refers perhaps rather to mental worry or distress, while ἀσθενεῖ refers to some specific bodily ailment.—ed 6 v pet; only found elsewhere in Acts xxvii. 22, 25 in the Ν.Τ.--ψαλλέτω: refers both to playing on a stringed instrument (Sir. ix. 4) and to singing (Eph. v. 19), and is also used of singing with the spirit (1 Cor. xiv. 15).
Ver. 14. ἀσθενεῖ. . . προσκα- λεσάσθω, εἰς. : Cf. Sir. xxxviil. 14, καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ Κυρίου δεηθήσονται, ἵνα evo- δώσῃ αὐτοῖς ἀνάπαυσιν καὶ ἴασιν χάριν