hRB b.,en more neglellted in the Ohmab, In iii. 10; Titua i. l: Reb, :a:. 26, eto.). The all ages. truth; that truth whioh before they aet Ver. 24.-The Lord', eenHn1t for tAe _.. themselves to oppose, disputing ag11,inat it ..a..t of the l,ord, A.V.; Wtl!ard$ all for ,moo 11,nd resisting it, The servant of tho Lord a.ll - . A.V.; forhearing for patient, A. V. must never despair of Rny one, never throw The Lord's aervant (8ovXov Kvpiov), So St. an adrlitional obst11,cle in e.ny one's way by Paul rep<>Rtedl~- de~crihPs himself (Rom. roughness or hnrsh speech, anti never allow i. l ; GRI. i. 10; Phil. i. 1 ; Titus i. 1), unkind feelings to be roused in his own IU! do al•o the apoBtles JRmes, Peter, Jude, breast by the perverseness or unreasonable- and John (Jae. i. I; 2 Pet. i. l; Jude 1; ness of tl,em that oppose themselves to him. Rev. i. 1). The term seems, t.herefore, espe- Ver. 26.-They for that they, A.V.; ciHlly (though not exolusively, Eph. vi. 6; hatJing been taken capti'lllJ by the Lord', ,er- 1 P,•t. ii. 16; Rev. xix. 2, 5; :nii. S) t.o flllnt unto tlu, will of God for who are taken de,cribe tbOlle whose office it is to preach captive 1,y him at hie u,ill, A.V. Having the gospel, either as apostles or as ministers been taken oaptive, eto. This is undoubtedly (Col. iv. 12). Must not strive (µ&xur8111); a difficult passage, We will first take thu " oonclusive rerusnn a~ainst engaging in indivi,lunl words, and then tum t,o the those foolish and ignorant questionings i:renero.l meaning. Reoover themselves which necessarily engen,ler strife. Gentle (tivuv-/i,j,o.>a-.v); only found here in the New (fi,,-,ov);. only here and in 1 TbeSB. ii. 7, Testament, and never in the LXX. In where we see how St. Paul carried this pre- cl88Bical Greek, where it is, however, uncom- cept i11t.o practice. A nurse does not meet mon, it means literally " t.o recover from the cl,ild's waywardness by blows or threats, drunkenness," hence, " to come to one's self," hut by gentleness e.nd love. It is a classical "to come to a right mind" (see Steph., word. Apt to tee.oh (see I Tim. iii. 2, note). 'Thes.'). Snare (..-11-,,!s); as 1 Tim .. iii. 7; Forbe&ring ( av,( """' w); only here in the vi. 9. Compare the nae of ru-,,,11,6., (Matt. New Testament, not found in the LXX., mi. 15). Having been taken captive Rnd onlv in late Greek. It means literally (1(.,-,,p-l,µ,vo,); only found iu the New Tes- " bearing up age.inst ill treatment," pe.tit:ntly tament in Luke v. 10 besides this place, enduring it. but common in the LXX. e.nd in classical Ver. 25.-0orrecting them for iutructing Greek, in the sense of "to take alive," of Ow,e. A.V.; peradventure God for God per- prisoners of war, who, if not ransomed, adventure, A.V.; may for vnll, A.V.; unto always became slaves of the oonqueror. the krwuJledge for to the admotDledging, A. V. Here, therefore, the meaning ill " having Correoting ( ..-a.ii1,60VT11), ..-a.iii,6,w means pro- been captured e.nd enslaved." By him perly to "eduoate," "bring up," or "train " (margin), (inr' auToii); i.e. of course the a child. Hence sometimes the idee. of devil, who had just been named e.a having tea.ehing predominates, sometimes the.t of ensnared them. Unto the will of him etWTeding or che.stieing. Here the context (lll&l'gin), (l1<dvou 811,.,,µa.). The difficulty shows tl,e.t the idee. of teaching is pre- of the pwiage lies in the word l1«lvou, dominant-partly because tl,e word suggests which at first sight seems to indicate a 10mething contrary t.o the a.ra.la,vro, ,.,,.,.-1,- different antecedent from the antecedent of uus of ver. 23, e.nd partly because the end auToii. This grammatical difficulty has Jed of tbk ,nu5,ia is to brinl? them to the know- to the strange rendering of the R. V., and to ledge of God's truth. The A. V. "instruct- the wholly unjustifiable intrusion int.o the ing " is therefore the right word here. text of the words, "the Lord· s aerve.n t " and Them that oppose themselves ( .,.ol,s a.v.,.,g,,..,.._ of" God," producing altogether a ~entence 8,µ.ivovs); only here in the New Teeto.ment of unparalleled awkwardneBS and grotesque- or the LX.X., or in cllll!llical Greek. Lite- ness, e.nd utter iwprobe.bility. But there is rally, tho,e who arrange or aet themBelrea in no real difficulty in referring l1ulvou to the oppoaition; or, in one word, "opponents," same penion as a.uToii (meaning in both cases referring, no doubt, chiefly to such Cl.ll'TtXe- the devil), as in the passage from Plato's -,,o..,.« as e.re mentioned in the very aimile.r • Cre.tylus,' oited by Huther, after De Wette, puse.ge, Titna i. 9 (see too Titna ii 8). U per- the cause of the use of liulvou belnJ that Bt. a.clventure(µ-1,ro.-.). "M/ir<M"<, in later Greek, Paul we.s e.t the moment emphasizing the lot188 its averB&tive meaning (' lest e.t any fe.ct of these captives being deprived of their time'), and is almost tquive.lent to ,f,,,.on" own will, and made subservient t.o the will (A.lford, in l.oc.)-equivulent to" in case God of another. The pasuge may he para- should," etc. B.epentanoe (µnavoia); such phrased: "If peradventure God may give e. cL.auge of minrl as shall lead them to them repentance unto the knowledge of the erul,race the truth. Knowledge (lrl-,,v"'<T"); truth, sou to reoover themselvea out of the alwOi>t invariably wied of the kuowledge of snare of the devil, after they had been led God or of God's irl1ih (eh. iii. 7; Rom. captive by him, IO u to be no longer their i. 18; Eph. i. 17; tw. 11; Ool I. 9, lt; own JD1111ten, but obllpd to do hil will." OD, D. 1-26.) 1·HE SECOND EPISTLE TO TmOTHY. 26
The Implied oontrast i1 ob Tb lauTwv aAA' J:. 5, "Bringing into captivity every thon"'ht IK<lvou 6h71µa, just RB in the J>ILRR;tgH from to tho obedience of Christ," where aixµaA;;,;. the' Crntylus,' p. 130 l vol. iv. p. :IOG, Bek- (ovTH (see eh. iii. 6) oorresponda to i("''YPTJ- knr'a eclit.),IK,lvo11 is contrasted with -yu,a,K&,. µfvo,, e.nd fis T't/v lnrczKo¾-,11 Toll XpurTotl to 'fhe full p11saage is 6,,(,.. aimj &.v µ~v T"X,:1 ,;, Th iH,lvou 8IA71µa. It "h•mld be noted iK,lvou ,iKOva, t.v B! T"X!l, -yuva,KOS, Annther further that the sentence is ce,tainly rather ex11mple of the trnneitinn from abT&, to iK,ivo, a peculiar one, from the u•e of such uncom- la in John i. 7, 8, Ohos ;jAO,v ,is µapTup(av, mon words ae &vav-/i,Pw and (urypl.,,, and the fvg µ11pT11pfi"T/ 11'<pl TOV tpr,yrh,, 1v11 ..-tivT<s mixture of metaphors. Bnt the sense of 11'UTT<6,nun B,' abTov· obK ;\v ,,,.,vo, TO ,pws, the A. V. is fully I,, ,me out. The interpre- K,T,A., where there is R contrast between tation preferred by Bisl,op Ellicott is" they John as the witness and Christ aa the true may recover themselves from the s1111re of Light(compare, too.John iv. 25, where iK<ivos the ilevil u11to his will (viz. God's), havi11g has the force of "not you, hut he"). For (prnvionsly) been lcJ captivt> by him (viz. the general tum of phraae, comp. 2 Cor. the devil)."