Heb. mam? underlying it. The play
on the peculiar sense thus required does not exclude the ordinary meaning honour (for which cf. 1. 7; Rom. ii. ΤΟ).--λίθος dv... γωνίας-- Ps. l.c: (LXX)—the prophetic statement in scriptural phrase of the fact of their unbelief. The idea may be that the raising of the stone to be head of the corner makes it a stumbling- block but in any case λίθος . . . σκα- νδάλου is needed to explain this._AtBbos προσκόµµατοςκ. π. σκ. from Isa. viii. 14 ; LXX paraphrases the original, which St. Peter’s manual Ῥτεδεινες, reading καὶ οὐχ ὡς λίθῳ προσκόµµατι συναντήσεσθε οὐδὲ ὡς πετρας πτώμ- ατι (common confusion of construct. with Gen.).— ot... ἀπειθοῦντες, des-
6---ο. 57 πέτρα σκανδάλου ot προσκό = Trova TH λόγω ἀπι στοῦντες ὃ εἰς ὃ καὶ ἐτέ Onoav:! ὑμεῖς δὲ γένος ἐκλεκτὸν βασίλειον 9
ε , ” εφ a ἱεράτευμα ἔθνος ἅγιο
ἐξαγ Ἁγείλητε τοῦ ἐκ σκότους
λαὸς els περιποίησιν " ὑμᾶς καλέσαντος εἰς
ὅπως τὰς ἀρετὰς τὸ
1 Τη view of “the argument which is intended to carry one back to the opening of the prophetic passage,” Dr. Rendel Harris (Side-Lights on New Testament Research, pp. 209 f.) proposes to substitute ἐτέθη for ἐτέθησαν.
cription of the unbelieving in terms of the last quotation, who stumble at the word being disobedient. τῷ λόγῳ is pro- bably to be taken with πρ. or both πρ. and 4. in spite of the stone being identi- fied with the Lord. Stumbling at the word is an expression used by Jesus (Mark iv. 17, διὰ τὸν λόγον σκανδαλί- ἵονται; Matt. xv. 12, ἀκούσαντες τὸν λόγον ἐσκανδαλίσθησαν; John vi. 6ο, τοῦτο--ὁ λόγος οὗτος--ὑμᾶς σκανδα- λίζει). For a. cf.iv. 17, τῶν ἀπειθούντων τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ εὐαγγελίῳ.--εἰς ὃ καὶ ἐτέθησαν, whereunto also (actually) they were appointed. ἐτέθησαν comes from τίθηµι (6); stone and stumbler alike were appointed by God to fulfil their functions in His Purpose. For the sake of the unlearned he only implies and does not assert in so many words that God appointed them to stumble and disobey; but his view is that of St. Paul (see Rom. ix., xi., especially ix. 17, 22); cf. Luke ii. 34. Didymus distinguishes between their voluntary unbelief and their appointed fall. If any are tempted to adopt such ingenious evasions of the plain sense it is well to recall the words of Origen: ‘‘If in the reading of scripture you stumble at what is really a noble thought, the stone of stumbling and rock of offence, blame yourself. You must not despair of this stone . . . con- taining hidden thoughts so that the say- ing may come to pass, And the believer shall not be shamed. Believe first of all and you will find beneath this reputed stumbling-block much holy profit (in Jer. xliv. (li.) 22, Hom. xxxix. = Philocalia x.).
Vv.gf. The Church, God’s new people, has all the privileges which belonged to the Jews. In enumerating them he draws upon a current conflation of Isa. xliii. 20 f., ποτίσαι τὸ yévos µου το ἐκλεκτὸν (1) λαόν µου dv περιεποιησάµην (4) τὰς ἀρετάς µου διηγεῖσθαι with Exod. xix. 65, ὑμεῖς δὲ ἔσεσθέ por βασίλειον ἵερά- τευµα (2) καὶ ἔθνος ἅγιον (3) ἔσεσθέ por λαὸς περιούσιος (4) ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν (1); and Ps. cvii. 14, καὶ ἐξήγαγεν αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐκ σκιᾶς θανάτου . . . ἐξομο-
λογησάσθων τῷ κυρίῳ τὰ ἐλέη αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ θαυμάσια αὐτοῦ τοῖς viois τῶν ἀνθ- pwmwv—to which is appended Hos. i. 6, 8.—yévos ἐκλεκτόν, Isa. lc, LXX (Heb., my people my chosen); yévos, race implies that all the individual members of it have a common Father (God) and are therefore brethren (cf. viol γένους ‘ABpadp, Acts xiii. 26); cf i, 1, 6.— βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα, a royal priesthood, from Exod. l.c. LXX (Heb., a kingdom of priests = Apoc. i. 6, βασιλείαν iepets). Christians share Christ’s prero- gatives. The priesthood is the chief point (see ii. 5) it is royal. Clement of Alex- andria says: ‘“‘Since we have been sum- moned to the kingdom and are anointed (sc. as Kings)”. ‘The comparison of Mel- chizedek with Christ perhaps underlies the appropriation of the Εῑιε.--ἔθνος ἅγιον, to the Jew familiar, with the use of ἔθνη for Gentiles, as much a paradox as Christ crucified. But λαός, the com-