The Pulpit Commentary — Galatians — Section 328

EXPOSITION. CHAPTER VI. instances: thus: Luke xi. 8, " if (1<al) even he will not give them unto· hi.in becamie Ver. 1.-:Brethren, il (or, althoug'h) a ma.n he is a friend ; " 1 Cor. vii, ,21, " but if even be overtaken in a fault (a.o,:>..cpoi, ia.11 1<al •thou a.rt .ible to beoome free-;" 2 Cor. iv. 3; TrpOA"l)<POfi livep~,roi '" 'TUil 7raparrTWµ.a:n); xi. 6. The verb 1rpo:>..c:iµf)d.11w occurs ,besidea b,·oU,ren, if even a man 'hath been overtaken iJ;l the New Testament in Mark ;xiv.. 8, "she in some trespas,. " Brethren ; " the com- hath come beforehand to. 11,noint [ or, 'eh~ pella.tion so introduced betokens a. somewhat • hath anticipated the. anointing of '.l .. my pathetic urgency ; cf. above, eh. iii. 15 ; body ; " and .1 Cor. id. ·21, ... taketh before iv. 31; v. ll. But Phil. iii. 13, 17 suffice to other his owli supper." A morn helpful 11how that its occurrence at the beginning illustration, however, is furnishe,l by Wisd. of a sentence does not necessarily indicate xvii. 17, where, speaking of the horrible the commencement of a. new section of darkness falling quite suddenly: upon the discourse-to which notion we, perhaps, Egyptians, the writer says, "Whether he owe the division of chapters here made. In were_ h11sb11,ndman or shepherd or. labourer fact, this para.graph is most closely con- in the field, he was overtaken and endured nected with the preceding; the apostle's (1rpo:>..71cp.6,ls lµ,11,11) the ill-avoidable neces- object being to point out that not· even sity ; " the 1rpo in . tho , compound verb a moral delinquency into which a brother meaning before he could , h.elp himself _in has fallen should lead us to indulge onr- any way. So here, 1rpo:>..71<P6fi.means be sur- 11elves in any feeling of superiority in prised, overtak'en, before he is w.ell awe.re dealing with him, or to vaunt even to our what it really is that he is' doing. "' Snr- own selves (see ver. 4) our greater con- prised; " but by· whom or what? Not by sistency. In short, he is enforcing by a a person detecting, the, offender in the very strong instance the exhortation in ver. 26, .act; as if it were equivalent to 1<c:i-rc:i>,.11cp6yi "Let us not be vain-glorious." "If even l1rc:ivrocptI,prp (John viii. 4); for the npostle is a man hath been overtaken." The apostle not at all concerned with the evide11ce for supposes the case as one which might very the delinquency; which is. ·the importaµt well present itself; the form of expression consideration .in John vlii. 4, but simply ( Uv, not ,i), however, not pointing to such with the fact. Rather, overtaken by the a case having already occurred. How pos- force of temptation; a.e the verb ": til.ke'n" sible the supposed case was, was plain enough is used with "temptation " in 1 Cnr. x. 13; from the enumeration of the " works of hence the words which follow," lest thou a.lso the flesh " above given, IIO many and so be tempted." The writer thus commends 1uulliiorm. Some critics have embarrassed the delinquent to sympathetic commisera- tlic:msel ¥e& by supposing that the 1<c:il tion. But there ie no palliation iudica.ted (" even ") must, of course, emphasize the by the word "fault" or "trespass." Not onoe 1irat succeeding word 1rpo:>..11<P6fi, "hath been in the fifteen other passages in the New overtaken." But it may just as probably be Testament in which the noun 1rc:ipd.1r-r,.,µ11 mee.nt to empbasize the whole clause, " a occurs is there any to)rnn of suah pallio.tion n:ia.n ha.th been overtaken in some trespass." being intended. The petition," forgive us 'l'hia is proved by a 1111mber of other our treepasses," is sufficient t.o exemplif1 on. v1. 1-18.]. THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 295