We shall persuade our heart to be confident in ask- ing anything from God. Objection. This would anticipate ver. 21. “If our heart condemn us not, then have we boldness toward God, and whatsoever we ask of Him we receive,” etc. ; or,
We shall persuade our heart to show love an life and act. Objection. This does not suit the connection 5 for we recognize ourselves by our love as children of faith, and do not need first to move our hearts to love which already dwells there ; or,
We shall persuade our heart that we are of the truth. Objection. This is tautological. We know
or perceive that we are of the truth, by the fact of our love. We therefore reject the absolute use of TEloOpeED.
(}.) Still rendering persuade, we may attempt to find the substance of the persuasion in the following clauses. Here we run into the second of our three questions, the double 87, for 87s becomes the sign of definition of set cowev. The different combinations and translations pro- posed centre in two possible renderings for érv: because or that.
If we render because, it leaves us with the absolute aeloowev Which we have rejected. We have then to render—“ Hereby perceive we that we are of the truth, and shall persuade our heart before Him: be- cause, if our heart condemn us, because, I say (second 8rv), God is greater than our heart,” ete.
All the other renderings, like this, involve what is called the epanaleptic use of é7u; the second taking up and carrying forward the sense of the first. This is very objectionable here, because
1. There is no reason for it. This use of 67e or similar words is appropriate only in passages where the course of thought is broken by a long, inter- jected sentence or parenthesis, and where the con- junction takes up again the thread of discourse. It is entirely out of place here after the interjection of only a few words.
9. There is no parallel to it in the writings of
John, nor elsewhere in the New Testament, so far
as I know (but see 1 John v. 9).
Hie case is no better if we translate Ore that. Here indeed we get rid of the absolute eicopuev, but we are compelled to hold by the resumptive 67s. or instance,
“We shall persuade ourselves that, if our heart condemn us, that, I say, God is greater than our heart.”
Moreover, some of these explanations at least, commit the apostle to misstatement. Suppose, for example, we read: “We ghall persuade our heart that God is greater than our heart:”