EXPOSITION, OHAPTER III. 'Antigone,' l. 470, lµurp,; xa71.w,; II' 01311 To01 8v,uovµl11ovi 4'1r1rous ,ca:r4PTu6l11T,u, Bo Ve!'B. ·t-12.-WARNING AGAINST O,ER• also l'hilo, 'De Op. Munrli,' p. 19, Tb 6uµ,- READINESS TO TEAOII, LEADING TO A D1scounsE 1tdrra-rov (~o., 1,r1ros ~q6lo,s lt;,e-ra, ,ca,.,va,6,ls. OX THE IMPORTANCE OF GoVERNMENT OF THE The manuscript authority is overwhelming ToNGUE. in favour of el 5~ (A, B, K, L; 11, elli, -ydp Ver. 1.-{l) Waming. Be not many etc.; and Vulgate, 8i autem) instea.d of 150 6 teaohen. 'I'he we.ruing is pe.ro.llel t,, that of the Received Text (0 has f5,, and the of our Lord in Me.tt. xxiii. 8, seq., " Be not Syril\Cl ecce): thus the apodosis is contoined ye ce.Ued Rabbi; for one is vour Teacher in the words, 1tal 81'.ol', 1<.-r.1'.. Translate, with [ 3,3durc11Ao>, and not, e.s Textus·Receptus, rca• R.V., now if we put the horses' bridles into 9'7')'71r/is], e.nd all ye e.re brethren." Comp. their mouths that they may obey us, we turn e.lso • Pirqe Aboth,' i. 11, "Shemaio.b so.id, about their whole body also. (l"or e. similar Love wcrk e.nd he.te lordship (nu~-,;,)." correction of 15, to el 5,, see Row. ii. 17.) The readiness of the Jews to take upon them Ver. 4.-Second illustration, showing the the office of teachers e.nd to set up as" guides importanlJ8 of the tongue and its government. of the blind, teachers of babes," etc., is The rudder is a very small thing, but it alluded to by St. Pan! in Rom. ii. 17, seq., enables the steerdman to guide the ship and such a p&ssage e.s 1 Cor. xiv. 26, seq., wherever he will, in spite of the storm. denotes not merely the presence of a eimile.r Whithersoever the governor listeth (3rou ;, tendency among Christie.ns, but e.lso the ap,,.:i,, 'TOU ,Mul'Ol'TOS {Jo6».en,, 11, B); whi~ opportunity given for its exercise in the the impulse of the steersman willeth (R.V.); Uhurch. (2) Rea11on for the waming. Xnow- Vulgate, impetu.s dirigentis. ing that we ah.all reoeive heavier jndgment Ver. 5.-(1) Application of illuatration. (1'.71,j,&,,.,ea). By the use of the first person, The tongue is only a little member, but it St. James includes himself, thus giving e. boasts great things. The true reading ap- rema.rkable proof of hnmility. (The Vulgate, pears to be ,,.,-yd1'.a a~x•• (A, B, C). The misiing this, has wrongly sumitis.) Comp. compound verb of the Textus Receptus, ,ere. 2, 9, where also he uses the first person, /J-E"'fa1'.auxiw, is found in the LXX. (Ezek. with great delicacy of feeling not separat- xvi. 50; Zeph. iii. 11; 2 Maco. xv. 32; Ecelus. ing himself from those whose conduct he xl viii. 18). (2) Third illu.strat-ion. A very denounces. Me,(o., t<plµ.a.. The form of ex- small fire me.y kindle a very large forest. pression recalls our Lord's saying of the 'H1'.l1<0., (11,A•, B, C 1, Vulgate) should be read l'he.risees, " These shall receive greater instead of 01'.l-yo., (A', c•, K, L, ff). It is rondemnation ( 1rep,uu&-repol' ,cpl,,.a)" (Mark equivalent to qu.antulu.s as well asquantu.s. A xii. 40; Luke XL 47). somewhat similar thought to the one before Ver. 2.-rap gives the reason for this us is found in Ecclus. xi. 32, "Of a spark 1:p/µ.a.. We shall he judged because in many of fire a heap of coals is kindled." 't1'.71. 0
thingE we all stumble, and it is implied that "Matter," A.V.; "wood," R.V. The word teachel'll are in danger of greater condemna- is only found here in the New Testament. tion, because it is almost impossible to govern In the LXX. it is need for a "matter" of the tongue completely. With the thought judgweiit in Job xix. 29; "me.tter" in the comp. Eccles. vii. 20, "There isnotajustman philosophical sense in Wied. xi. 18, (of. xv. upon earth that doeth good and sinneth 13); the "matter" of a book in 2 Mace. ii. not." IloAAa. is adverbial, as in Matt. ix. 14, 24 ; the "matter" of e. fire in Ecol us. xxviii. and may be either (1) "in many things," or 10 (the whole passage, vers. 8-12, is worth (2) "oft." -A11aJ1Tu. "Ne se ipsos q uidem comparing with the one before us); and for excipiunt apostoli" (Bengel). lf any lltnm- "forest" in Job xxxviii .. 40; lea., x. 17. It bleth 11.ot ill word (R.V.). "Control of speech is most nature.I to take it in this sense here is named, not as iu itself constituting per- (so Syriac e.od Vulgo.te, ,ilr,a). "The literRl fection, bnt as a crucial test indicating meaning is certainly to be preferred to the whether the man has or has not attained philosophical" (Lightfoot on Revision, p. unto it" (Plumptre). T<1'.E1or (see eh. i. 4). 140). Forest fires e.re frequently referred to Xa>..wa-y"")'<w ( cf. eh. i. 26). It is only found by the ancients. Virgil's description of one in these two passages; never in the LXX. (' Georgics,' ii. 303) is well known; so also Ver. 3.-flltu1trat-ion of the l.a1t Bt«tement Homer's (' Iliad,' xi. 155). of .,er. 2. The bit in the horse'• mouth Ver. 6.-Apr,lication of illu.stration. The enalil01i us to turn about the whole body. translation is doubtful, ou-rws of the Received So the man who con govern his tongue has 'l'ext must eerie.inly be deleted. It is want. th{: mastery over the whole body. A re. ing in 11, A, D, C, K, Lutt., Syrill.O. Tlm1e nuuk&blc par,i.l.lel ~ afforded by bophocles, renderings are then possible. (1) "And the OU. Ill, 1-18.] THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES. 4-3