Ver. 7. But the end of all things and men has drawn nigh; Christians also must be ready, watch and pray, as Jesus taught in the parable of Mark xiii. 34-37 (cf. xiv. 38).-σωφρονήσατε paral- lels ἀσελγ. ἐπιθυμίαις (ver. 3) of. 4 Macc. i. 31, temperance ts restraint of lust. In Rom. xii. 3 St. Paul plays on the mean- ing of the component parts of ow-dpovetv, cf. εἰς σωτηρίαν ψυχῶν above.—v ή ψ- ατε, corresponds to οἰνοφλυγίαις κώµοις. πότοις (ver. 3); cf. i. 13, ν. δ. St. Paul also depends on parable of Luke xii. 42- 46 in 1 Thess. v. 6 ff—eis προσεν- χάς, the paramount duty of Christians is prayer especially for the coming of the Lord (Apoc. xxii. 20; Luke xi. 2; cf. ili. 7).
Ver. 8. πρὸ πάντων, St. Peter em- phasises the pre-eminent importance of love of man as much as St. John; ¢f.1. 22. --ἑαυτούς put for ἀλλήλους in accord- ance with the saying thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself as much as with the contemporary practice.—8 Tt... ἅμα- ρτιῶν, quotation of Prov. x. 12, love hides all transgressions which was ad- duced by Jesus (Luke vii. 47). The plain sense of the aphorism has been evaded by the LXX (πάντας τοὺς μὴ Φιλονει- κοῦντας καλύπτει Φιλία) and Syriac translators substitutes shame for love. The currency of the true version is at- tested by Jas. v. 20, he that converted a sinner . . . καλύψει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν.
Ver. ο. Hospitality is the practical proof of this love ; its practice was neces- sary to the cohesion of the scattered brotherhood as to the welfare of those whose duties ‘called them to travel. The inns were little better than brothels and Christians were commonly poor. Chrysostom cites the examples of Abra- ham and Lot (cf. Heb. xiii. 2). The united advocacy of this virtue was suc- cessful—so much so that the Didache has to provide against abuses such as Lucian depicts in the biography of Peregrinus κα Christian traveller shall not remain more than two or three days. . . if he wishes to settle... is unskilled andi
6---12.
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ὢνας τῶν αἰώνων ἁμήν. Spt” πυρώσει πρὸς πειρα will not work he is a Χριστέμπορος, makes his Christian profession his mer- chandise.”"—a AA yAovs, used despite ἑαυτούς above and below, perhaps because the recipients of hospitality belong neces- sarily to other Churches.—avev yoy- γυσμοῦ, St. Peter guards against the imperfection of even Christian human nature. Ecclus. xxix. 25-28 describes how a stranger who outstays his welcome is first set to menial tasks and then driven out.
Vv. το f. supplement the foregoing directions for the inner life of the Church and rest partly on Rom. xii. 6 (with simpler classification of gifts), partly on the conception of disciples as stewards (Luke xii. 42) serving out rations in God’s house.—8 ta kovovvrTes, inthe widest sense (as διακονία in Acts vi. I, 4; 1 Cor. xii. 5) in accordance with the saying, the Son of Man came... to minister (Mark x. 45), which is interpreted here, as part of the pattern, by the addition of an object (only here and i. 12); cf. 2 Cor. viii. 19, τῇ χάριτι . . . TH διακον- ουµένῃ ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν.- οἰκονόμοι, The title is applied to all and not only to the governors as by St. Paul (1 Cor. iv. 1; Tit. i. 7); compare the question of St. Peter which precedes the source (Luke xii. f.).
Ver. 11 follows the primitive division of ministry into that of the word and that of tables (Acts vi. 2-4); compare prophecy and ministry (in narrower sense like διακονεῖ here) of Rom. xii. 6.— λαλ εἲ covers all the speaking described in I Cor. xii. 8, 10, to one by means of the spirit hath been given a word of wisdom, etc. . . . xiv. 6,26.- ὡς λόγια θεοῦ (perhaps echoes κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν of Rom. xii. 6) as being God’s oracles or as speaking God’s oracles. ‘The Seer is the model for the Christian preacher: Num. xxiv. 4, Φησὶν ἀκούων λόγια θεοῦ. His message is the particular grace of God which he has to administer like the pro- phets and evangelists, i. 10-12. — διακονεῖ includes all forms of the