362
η ‘ a =~ ο Ps. vii.9, καὶ καρδίας: καὶ δώσω ὑμῖν ἑκάστω κατὰ τὰ ἔργα ὑμῶν.
XXVI. 2, etc.
p Ps. Ixii. £3, cf. Apoc. xx. 12, Xxii. 12,2Clem. Xviil. 4, etc. Fresh clause, indep. of ὅτι, begins here.
ances, €.g., connexion with the church, prophetic zeal, and plausible excuses. As in Jer. xvii. 10, xx. 12 (cf. Ps. Sol. viii. 8), the divine acquaintance with man’s real, secret life forms the basis of unerring and impartial judgment; while, as in Jer. iv. 16, 17 (cf. Acts iv. πα LIM. A. 20, 1% (Cor Vs ας mete.) the prophetic denunciation or impreca- tion has a direct effect upon the person denounced (cf. von Dobschiitz, 270 f.). The former would be a fairly novel idea to most of those accustomed to the Roman religio, which was ‘“‘one of ob- servance, sacrifice, and outward act, that in no way searched the heart of the worshipper—a system of rules which covered the circumstances of Roman life” (H. O. Taylor, Ancient Ideals, i. 417, 418).
Ver. 24. To know “the depths” of the divine being and counsel was a charac- teristic claim of the Ophites and the later Gnostics; cf. Iren. adv. Haer. ii. 22, 1 (qui profunda bythi adinuenisse se dicunt ; cf. 3), and Tertullian’s sarcastic descrip- tion (adv. Vadlent. 1), ‘‘ Eleusinia Ualen- tiniana fecerunt lenocinia, sancta silentio magno, sola taciturnitate coelestia. Si bona fide quaeris, concreto uultu, sus- penso supercilio Altum est aiunt.” ‘The depth of knowledge” was a phrase of Herakleitus, the famous Ephesian_philo- sopher, and in the creed of the Dukho- bortsui, a sect in modern Russia, the Holy Spirit is Depth, the Father being Height and the Son Breadth. Since ὡς λέγουσιν refers to the errorists themselves, the quoted phrase about ‘knowing the depths of Satan” may (i.) contain an in- dignant and sarcastic retort; ‘‘ depths of —Satan,” not ‘‘ God,” as they boast (τοῦ σ. being substituted for τοῦ θεοῦ); such teaching and principlesaresimply infernal. Or (ii.) as is more probable the words may voice the actual claim of the errorists, who considered that some accommoda- tion to pagan practices gave them a necessary acquaintance with the mean- ing of evil (so e.g., Spitta, Pfleiderer, Zahn, Jiilicher, Bousset). Their higher standing gave them immunity from any risks. They could fathom securely what