The Pulpit Commentary — Galatians — Section 55

oft.en benrs_when th_e writer is passing on to man, neither was I taught it (ou8~ -yo.p /-y,I, a fresh ~eotion of d1scourne. Tims, in par- ,ra.pii &v8pd,,rou ,ra.ph,a.13ov aliT&, o~.,.. i811ldx81w); ticular, the oonjun<'tion is fonnd with " I for ~eitli_er at the hand o.f man did I m11Be~f mnlre known (-yvwpl(w)," in 1 Cor. xv. 7; 2 recewe it or was taagiit it. The " for " Cor. nii. 1 ; and with "I would not have introduces a consideration fortifyin"' the you ignorant," in Rom. i. 13; 1 Thess. iv. foregoing affirmntion, tllat the ap~stle's 13 ; l Cor. xii. 1. In fact, the direct pur- gospel was uot in its ohe.racteristio com- pose of the succeeding exposition would plexion human ; it was no wonder that it eeem to be, not precisely so much to mnke was not; for neither was it human in its good the particular point that the gospel origin. The "neither" (ou8~) points for- which the A.postle taught was sacred and ward to the whole subsequent clause, "nt mviolable, as to show that it was certainly the hand of men did I myself receive it." true, and on that ground not to be departed In a similar manner does " for neither" from. The verb -yvwpl(w cannot mcau "draw (ou8~ -yizp) point to the whole subsequent attention to" or "remind you." Its only cb.use in John v. 22; viii. 42; Acts iv. 34. sense is" make known." Its employment The 1-yw (" I myself") is inserted in the here appears to indicate a feeling on the Greek, as contrasting the preacher with apostle's part that the point referred to had, those to whom the gospel he.d been preached perhaps, not as yet been made definitely (ver. 11), in the same way as it is inserted clear to those, or at least to some of those, in 1 Cor. xi. 23, "I myself received (i-yw whom he was addressing. That the gospel ,r~c/3ov) of the Lord that which also I whioh was preaohed of me (.,.b ,vayyb,,ov .,.b delivered unto you." Some expositors (e.8 •vll")"'Y<A11T8,v {nr' lµoii, 3.,.,); touching the gospel Meyer, Alford) connect the "for neither" u,hwh was preached by me, that it. In the with the pronoun "I myself" only ; as if Greek, the noun " the gospel " is the accusa- the meaning were, "For neither did I, auy tive governed by "me.ke known; " while in more than Cephas or James, receive the fa.et the object contemplated by the verb is, gospel from men." This restriction of the not the gospel itself in general, hut certain "neither " to the noun or pronoun only circumstances relating to it expressed and which follows, is grammatically, of course, implied in the foll owing clause: "that it is not inadmissible (comp. John vii. 5). But not after man's fashion." This kind of con- there is nothing in the immediate context struction is of frequent occnrrence in Greek to suggest the idea that the writer is just anthors. Analogous examples a.re found in now thinking of the other apostles, and the ver. 13 of this chapter, and 1 Cor. iii. 20; sentence is perfectly clear without our in- xv. 15 ; xvi 15. The aorist tense of •vayy•>..- troducing it. It is quite clear that the 1a-Btv points to the so.me time as was re- apostle means in the words olfr, ili,l'idxB1,v ferred to in "called you" (ver. 6) aud "we to affirm that man did not teach him the preached" (ver. 8), which are both in the gospel any more than deliver it to him. same tense. Is not after IDAil ( 0~1< fr.,., But the verb "was taught," taken by itself, 1<a.'Ta li.vBpanrov); is not after the fashion of does not convey the idea of merely human man ; that is, "is not to be estimated as a instruction, being used continually in the merely human thing." The clause does not Gospels of our Lord's teaching, and John immediately describe the origin of the gospel, xiv. 26 of the" teaching" of the Holy Spirit. which point is distinctly brought ont in the We must, therefore, conclude that the pas- next sentence : but rather the cha:ract1ir sive verb "I was taught it" is, in the which attaches to it in conaequ.ence of its writer's intention, conjoined with the aotive origin. The eense of the phrase, "e.ocord- verb "I received it," as both alike depend. ing to man," is illustrated by its use in I ing upon the first words in the sentence," at Cor. ix. 8, " Do I speak these things after the the hand of man.•• If so, we have here an- manner of men (1<a.'Ta 5.vBp,,,,.ov)?"i.e. "accord- other instance of the use of the figure zeugma ing to merely human principles of action." I (see above on ver.10); for while the preposi- Cor. iii. 3, " Walk after the manner of men." tion ,ra.piz is used in its proper sense, when, On the other hand, in 2 Cor. vii 10, "godly ·as here, it is connected with ,rczpl>..a.f3ov, it is sorrow," literally, "the grief which is ac- only in a strained, improper sense the.tit could cording to God," is a grief such as God be employed, like i,-,,.o, with a passi!e verb, inspires and approves; and in Eph. iv. 24, to simply denote the agent. Some difficulty "The new man, which after God [literally, is felt in determining in what way the ' according to God '] hath been created," is writer regards the notion of "receiving the "created in conformity with God's model or gospel " as distinguishable from the.t of approve.I." The present tense "is" marks " being taught it." It is possible that the the permanent character att&ehing to Paul's latter is added merely, as Bishop Lightfoot gospel; it was "the faith once for all (&w~) supposes, to explain and enforce the former. delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). But another view is deserving of considera- Ver. 12.-J'or I neither reoeived it of tion. We may suppose "the gospel" to be OFI. I, 1-24.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 19