The Pulpit Commentary — Galatians — Section 177

as the masruline of" goveme.es," comee per- end with hie takiri~ him to school, but oon• h11,ps ne&rest ; but ll tutor to a gentleman'e tinued on throughout his non-age ; (2) the children is genemlly an ednooted man, and function of Christ is not viewed here nil oft"'n of like rank in lifo with those he is instruetion; (3) if this oonstruction had with ; whereas a predagogtM was usually a been in· the apostle's view, he would havo sieve-an element of thought probably very written ,rpbs Xpu,-.,-ov or .It Xp11TToiJ llB in near to the apostle's consciousness in his the ,ls 11,llal71«!/l.ov ("to the teacher's house") present use of the term. In illustration of of the passage above cited from Plato, We t.his and other points bearing upon this must, therefore, understand the preposition subjer.t, the reader will be interested by a as in the preoeding verse, "with o. view to.'' passage cited by Bishop Lightfoot out of The next clause is the explanation, That Plat-O's 'Lysis' (p. 208, C). Socrates is we might be justiflod by faith (fva '"' ..1.,..,.,,.,. questioning a young friend. "' They let 811ea,.,e.;;,,_,.,); in order that by faith we might you have your own ruling of your- get }wUfied. This clause is the most im- self: or do they not trust you with this, portant part of the sentence. Not from the either?' ' Trust me with it, indeed I ' he Law was to come righteousness; the Law Aid. 'But ns to this, who has the ruling was no more than introductory or prepara- ef you ? ' ' This man here,' he said, ' a tory; righteousness (once more the apostle tutor.' • Being a slave, eb ? ' 'But what of reminds the Galatians) wee to come to us that?' said he; • yes; only, a, sla,ve of our as a free gift through Christ, upon simply own.' 'An awfully stra,nge thing this,' I onr faith, the Law having now nothing to said, ' that yon, freeman that yon are, do with us. Hence the emphatio position should he under the ruling of a, slave. But of the words '" wl1TT<OJs, The apostle ·does further, what does this tutor of yours, as not, in the present conneotion, make it ·hig your rnler, do with yon?' 'He takes me,' bnsiness·to explain in -what way the Law said he, ' to a teacher's hoillle, of course.' was preparatory, which he does in Rom; • Do they rnle yon too, the teachers?' • Cer- vii. ; his purpose e.t present is to insist upon tainly, of course.' • A mighty number it its purely provisional char&eter. What we seems of masters and rulers does your have here is Ii. description of the relation of father think proper to set o,,.er you.'" the Law to God's people viewed collectively: Teaching, except possibly of the very first but we can hardly. fail to be reminded, thlit rudiments, wos not the p2d,a,gog1J,S'B busi- this experience of 'tlle collective people of ness, but only the general care and super- God very commonly finds its' counterpart intendence of his charge-taking him to in respect to :the ethical bearing of the Law and be.ck from his teachers' houses or the in 'the experience of each individual believer. schools of physical training, looking after Only, we have still to bear in mind that th'e him in his play .hours, and the like. In apostle is thinking of the Law just' now applying to the Law the figure of a p2da- more in its oeremonial e.speot •than its gogus, t!,e features which the apostle had in ethical. view were probably these: the childhood Ver. 25.-But after that faith is oome or non-age of those under its tutelage; ( h,8061T71s II~ .,-.;s ,.1.,..,.e,.,s); but now -that their withdrawal from free parental inter- Faith hath come ; this white-robed, joy- course ; their de~aded condition probably bringing angel of deliverance I (see i;iote as being under servile management; the on the ·words, in ver. 23, "bef6re faith exercise over them of nnsympathizing hard- ea.me"). We are no longer under a sohool- ness (comp. 1 Cor. iv. 15, "Though ye have master ( ov,cl.,-, ~,,.1, 1ra1B11-yo,,j,ov. l<Tµ.ev) ; 1D6 ten thousand tuton in Christ,"yet have ye are no wnger under li keeper of our·childh(lod, not many fathers"); coercive discipline; When a, child becomes of age, as deter- the rudimentary character of their instruc- mined by his father's arrangement; the tion (this particular, however, is likewise of p2da.gogua's function; of course,-ceases: llo questionable application); the temporary also when we(God's collective people) became and purely provisional nature of the con- believers in Christ, we had reached the era dition under which they were placed; its appointed by our Father for our ooming of termination in the full enjoyment of free- age, and the Law lost all hold upon us. dom and of participation in their father's This triumphant conclusion is based upon inheritance. The clause, "unto Christ,"' the premiss that the Law was the pt£dd.- can hardly mean " to bring us to Christ,'' !JOf1UB of God's people, and nothing more, tempting as this interpretation may seem, in 'l'bis premiss is itself proved true to the view of the verbal constituent(i.-,,,.,)" bring" apostle's conviction, by the very nature of in ,r,u3a-yc.ryos, e.ud of the fact that it was,one the case, • • part of the duty of the child's keeper to take Ver. 26.-li'or ye are all the ohildren of him to his school For there are the fol• God by faith in Christ J esUB ( wclnu -yap 11/ol lowin11: objections to ,taking it 110: (1) The e,oii. l<TT~ 11,a 'TTjS ..1.,..,-,.,s '" Xp11T-rrp 'l711Toii); child-keeper's relation to his charge -did aot / or sons of God are 11e all throuvll /aitli it1 Cll, III, 1-29,] '!'HE EPISTLE TO THffi GALATIANS. 11-3