µεγαλωσύνη. Only found elsewhere in N.T. in Heb. i. 3, ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς µεγαλωσύνης ἐν ὑψηλοῖς, repeated in viii. 1, Dr. Chase notes that it occurs in Enoch v. 4, κατελαλήσατε μεγάλους καὶ σκληροὺς λόγους ἐν στόµατι ἀκαθαρσίας ὑμῶν κατὰ τῆς µεγαλοσύνης αὐτοῦ, xii. 3, τῷ κνρίῳ τῆς µεγαλοσύνης, xiv. 16 (a house excelling) ἐν δόξῃ καὶ ἐν τιµῇ καὶ ἐν μεγαλοσύνῃ. It is coupled with δόξα, of which it may be regarded as an exten- sion, in the doxology used by Clem. Rom. 20, 61. I am not aware of any other example of ἐξουσία in a doxology: com- pare, however, Matt. xxviii. 18, ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς.
πρὸ παντὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος. Cf. I Cor. ii. 7 (τὴν σοφίαν) ἣν προώρισεν 6 Θεὸςπ psd τῶν αἰώνων eis δόξαν ἡμῶν, Prov. viii. 23, πρὸ τοῦ αἰῶγος ἐθεμελίωσέμε (i.e. σοφίαν), ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸ τοῦ τὴν γῆν ποιῆσαι. An equivalent expression is πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου found in John xvii. 24, ἠγάπησάς pe π. κ. κ. also Eph. i. 4, ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ π. κ. κ. and I Pet. i. 20 (Χριστοῦ) προεγνωσµένου μὲν π. κ.κ.οφανερωθέντος δὲ ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτου τῶν χρόνων. St. Jude speaks of one past age and of several ages to come. On the other hand St. Paul speaks of many ages in the past (1 Cor. ii. 7), and St. John of only one age in the future.
εἰς πάντας τοὺς αἰῶνας. This precise phrase is unique in the Bible, but eis τοὺς αἰῶνας is common enough, as in Luke i. 33, Rom. i. 25, v. 5, xi. 36, xvi. 27, 2 Cor. xi. 31, etc., so in LXX, Dan. ii. 4, 44, vi. 6, 26. The stronger phrase eis τοὺς αἰῶνας TOV αἰώνων occurs in Gal.i. 5, Phil. iv. 20, r Tim. i. 17, 2 Tim. iv. 18, Heb. xiii. 21, 1 Pet. iv. 11, v. 11, Apoc. i. 6, etc. John uses only εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα apparently with the same meaning. Other variations are found in Eph. ili. 21, αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ ἐν Χ. Ἰ. εἰς πάσας τὰς γεγνεὰς τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων, 2 Pet. iii. 18, αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ viv καὶ εἰς ἡμέραν αἰῶνος.
* For a full account of the early doxologies, see Chase on the Lord’s Prayer (Texts
and Studies, i. 3, p. 68 foll.).
He states that the common doxology at the end of
the Lord’s Prayer (σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ 7 Svvapis Kal ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας
‘appears to be a conflation of two distinct forms,”
and ‘‘was added to the Prayer
in the ‘Syrian’ text of St. Matthew’s Gospel”.