Heb. xiii. 14; Phil. iii. 20), In Heb. xi. 9-13 the Patriarchs are credited with the same idea and Philo says that the sages of Moses’ school are all introduced as sojourners (p. 416 M). So Abraham said to the Sons of Heth, ‘‘I am astranger and sojourner (πάροικος καὶ παρεπίδηµος =
SYN 33) with you” (Gen. xxiii. 4); Jacob speaks of the days of the years of my pilgrimage (S9)3%) &s παροικῶ) ; and the Psalmist anticipates Peter and Heb. in the generalisation I am a stranger and sojourner (mapo.xos καὶ παρεπίδηµος) in the earth as all my fathers were (Ps. xxxix. 13). Deissmann (Bible Studies, p. 149) quotes two ex- amples of παρεπίδηµος from wills of the third century B.c., one of a Jew resident in the Fayyiim (Απολλώνιον [παρεπ]ίδη- pov ὃς καὶ συριστὶ ᾿Ιωνάθας). In P. Tor. 8 (B.c. 118) παρεπιδημοῦντες and κατοι- κοῦντες are contrasted. (iii.) Moses said to Israel thou shalt be scattered among the kingdoms of the earth (Deut. XXvili. 25) ; and the rendering of the LXX διασπορά is probably the earliest ex- ample of the technical designation (cf. John vii. 35) of the Jews, who—for what- ever reason—lived outside the Holy Land. The collective term (Rabbinic
54) implies the real unity of these scattered communities, whose scattering is no longer regarded as God’s punish- ment for sin. It thus serves well the purpose of one, who, like St. Paul, in- sists on the unity of the whole brother- hood of Christians (e.g., ν. 9); but this application of the principle that the Church is the Israel of God is subordi- nate to others which imply that there is
40
πρόγνωσιν Θῦ 1 πατρὸς
καὶ ῥαντισμὸν αἵματος
ἐν ἁγιασμῶ πνεύμα
ΠΕΤΡΟΥ Α a.
τος eis ὑπακοὴν
Ιδ XU- χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη
1 Θ0 is the normal contraction of Θεοῦ.
no earthly correlative to it. When St. James addresses the twelve tribes which are in Dispersion, he may on the other hand be contrasting the saints of Jeru- salem with those abroad (as St. Paul did in the matter of the Collection) if indeed he is not speaking simply to his fellow- countrymen as a Jew to Jews. But St. Peter writes from ‘‘ Babylon” and the capital of Christendom is no longer Jeru- salem. The collocation of παρεπι- Sy pots and διασπορᾶς implies that this scattering, which in the case of the type was God’s punishment for sin, will not be permanent for the antitype. For the Christian Church the Jewish hope of the ingathering will be fulfilled, as is indicated by the emphatic ἐκλε- «tots—for Jesus said, “ The Son of Man .. . shall gather together his elect
. - from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven” (Mark κ. 26, 27; cf. Deut. xxx. 4). Compare Didache ix. 4, ‘‘ For as this was broken [bread] scattered over the hills and being gathered together became one, so may thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into thy kingdom,” and Justin Martyr, Dial. 113, ‘As Moses . . . so also Jesus the Christ (corresponding to J., the Son of Nun) shall turn again the Dispersion of the People . . . shall give us the possession eternally ”’.
Ndvrov...’Agias. The order indicates the, route of the messenger, who landed presumably at Sinope or Amastris and, if the omission of καὶ Βιθυνίας be accepted, left the country at Ephesus or Smyrna. The (Armenian) Acta of Phocas (Martyr of Sinope under Trajan) are addressed to the brethren dwelling in Pontus and Bithynia in Paphlagonia and in Mysia in Galatia and in Cappadocia and in Armenia (Cony- beare, Monuments of Early Christianity, Ρ. £03). See Introduction.
Ver.2. Thethreeclauses katTa..., ἐν ..., and eis... qualify ἐκλεκ- τοῖς and perhaps also ἀπόστολος (as Oecumenius) Peter himself is elect and shares their privileges but had no need to magnify his office, as had St. Paul. Yet see Acts xv. 7 ff.