composition was so important and so large that its performance required a considerable degree of trustworthiness. . . . It purports to be a letter of Peter’s; and such it is, except that Peter left its composition to Silvanus because he regarded him as better fitted than himself . . . to express in an intelligible and effective manner the thoughts and feelings which Peter entertained toward the Gentile Christians of Asia Minor”’
Dr. Chase! quotes Professor Zahn as arguing that Silvanus. ‘“must have been either a messenger who conveyed the letter or a friend who put St. Peter’s thoughts into the form of a letter”. Against this interpretation, he says, four “ considerations seem together decisive” ; and he concludes that Silvanus carried the Epistle and did not write it. It is of course possible that the phrase may bear this meaning, but the other is not to be excluded. The parallels quoted are, with two exceptions, ambiguous, and of the exceptions each supports one of the rival views. In Acts xv. 22, for example, it is said that the Apostles chose Judas and Silas and wrote by their hand.2 Clearly they were the bearers of the letter, as it is said that they delivered it at Antioch ;* and ‘ being prophets. they exhorted and confirmed the brethren”.* But it is certainly possible if not definitely probable that they actually wrote each a copy of the letter for himself at the dictation of St. James. The case on which Dr. Chase chiefly relies is the postscript of Ignatius’ letter to the Romans: “I write these things to you by the worthy Ephesians: Crocus whom I love is by my side with many others”’.° But even here the other interpretation is not impossible. They certainly were the bearers, but for safety’s sake each may have written his own copy of the letter. The journey from Smyrna to Rome was. long and dangerous, and apart from considerations of safe delivery each of them may well have desired to have his own copy. And there is one clear case in which this ambiguity disappears: Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, writes to Soter, Bishop of Rome, in acknowledg- ment of a letter received from the Roman Church, which (he says) ‘‘we shall always have to read for our admonition like the former
1 Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible (1900), vol. iii. p. 790.
“ypawavres διὰ χειρὸς auTav.
5 Acts xv. 30, of μὲν οὖν ἀπολυθέντες κατῆλθον εἰς ᾽Αντιόχειαν καὶ συν- αγαγόντες τὸ πλῆθος ἐπέδωκαν τὴν ἐπιστολήν.
4 Acts xv. 32.
5 Ad Romanos, xiv. 1, γράφω δὲ ἡμῖν ταῦτα ἀπὸ Ομύρνης 80 Ἔφεσιων τῶν: ἀξιομακαρίστων. ἔστιν δὲ καὶ ἅμα ἐμοὶ σὺν ἄλλοις πολλοῖς καὶ Κρόκος τὸ ποθητόν΄ μοι ὄνομα.