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© κρατῶν τοὺς ἑπτὰ ἀστέρας ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ αὐτοῦ, ὁ " περιπατῶν ἐν α Lev. xxiv.
4, ΧΧΥΙ. 12 (LXX),
b Not in ii. 9, 13.
c (Cf. Epict. Diss. 1. 3, 2 ovdeis
8 σουτ.
ἁτ John iv. 1, cf. 2 Cor. xiii. 5:
2. Οἶδα τὰ Pépya σου, καὶ
plified more especially in its active and passive sides, as exertion and endurance, by κόπος and ὑπομονή, which are knit together by the final σου as epexegetic of épya. The κόπος, or hard work, is further specified in the text of ver. 2 (the church’s vigorous dealing with im- postors), while the ὑπομονή is developed in ver. 3. For a parallel, verbal rather than real, see 1 Thess. i. 3. Here duty follows privilege (ver. 1), and communion with Christ involves practical energy and enterprise on earth. The remarkable prominence of ἔργα in this book corre- sponds to its O.T. conception of the fear of God which, as a religious principle, manifests itself effectively in works. The phrase has nothing to do with the special sense in which Paul had em- ployed it during a bygone controversy. Works here are the result of an inner relation to God (xii. 11).—Patient endur- ance (2, 3, 7) wins everything and triumphs over opposition, as in the case of the Maccabean martyrs (4 Mace. i. 11) who are lauded for their courage, καὶ TH ὑπομονῇ -.. νικήσαντες τὸν τύραννον τῇ ὑπομονῇῃ.- βαστάσαι, the weak are a burden to be borne (Gal. vi. 2): the false, an encumbrance to be thrown off. Patience towards the for- mer is a note of strength: towards the latter, it is a sign of weakness. The prophet is thoroughly in sympathy (cf. 2 John 10, 11) with the sharp scrutiny exercised at Ephesus over soi-disant missioners; he gladly recognises the moral vigour and shrewdness which made the local church impatient of itinerant evangelists whose character and methods would not stand scrutiny. Pretensions, greed and indolence were the chief sins of this class, but the prophet does not enter into details. He is content to welcome the fact that un-’ complaining endurance of wrong and hardship has not evaporated the power of detecting impostors and of evincing moral antipathy to them, upon the prin- ciple that ὑπομονή, as Clem. Alex. finely explained (Strom. ii. 18), is the knowledge of what is to be endured and of what is not. The literature of this
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