subject itself admits a lengthy exposition) as to l!llggest the necessity of their being and hard of interpretation, seeing ye are learnt anew. The writer does not, in fact, beoome (not, as in A.V., "ye are") dull of as he goes on, require them to be learnt hearing. Tt.eir dulness is the reason of the anew: for he bids his readers leave them Ad-yos being Buuepµ.f,vev-ros. It was not that behind, as though alreo.r\y known, and pro- the subject was in itself inexplicable, or ceed from them to perfection, though still that the writer was incompetent to explain with some misgiving as to their cu.pability it; his difficulty was in adapting the inter- for doing so. The figure of milk for be.bes pretation to the capacity of his readers: and solid food for full-grown men, to illus• "Non scribentis, sed vestro vitio" (Bengel). trate the teaching suitable for neophytes It seems from-ye-ydvaTe ("ye are become"), in and for advanced Christians, is found also this and the following verse, that the Hebrew in 1 Cor. iii. 1, 2 ; and that of V71"••s in Christians had even retrograded in spiritual 1 Cor. xiv. 20; Gal. iv. 19; Eph. iv. 14. perception. This is easily conceivable. As, This correspondence, though no proof of through the teaching of St. Paul especially, the Panline authorship, is u.mong the evi- the tie between Christianity and Judaism dences of the Pauline character of the became more and more broken, there was Epistle. likely to be a certain reaction among the Ver. 13.-For every one that partaketh of Hebrew Christians, who, having gone to a milk is nnakilfn.l in the word of righteous- certain extent with the tide of thought, ness: for he is a babe. Reason for saying became conscious how far it was carrying thu.t they are such as have need of them. They would be inclined to cling the milk; for milk is the nourishment of more fon illy to their old associations from infants, and he that is an infant in respect the fenr of losing them altogether. Such of spirituo.l !1:fOWth is li,mpot ;1.d-ybu 611,a,o- retrogressions have been observable in other u6.,.,,s: not of necessity uno.cquainted with times of upheaval of old ideas. it altogether, bnt still not versed in it; he Ver. 12.-l!'or when, by reason of the time is but a tyro. "Word of righteousness" (i.e. the time that has elapsed since your may be taken as a general term to denote conversion), ye ought to be teachers, ye what we might co.11 religious lore ; referring have need that some one teach you (or, here espeoio.lly to the gospel, whioh is emi- that 011e teach you which be) the 11.rst prin- nently the revelation of the "righteousness ciples (literally, the elements of the begin- of God" (Rom. i. 17; cf. 2 Cor. iii. n, ning) of the oraoles of God; and are beoome ~ ll1arco11la Tijs B1rca,ou61111s: o.ncl xi. 15, such as have need of milk, and not of solid 31cl.rco1101 B1rca,ou61111s); but not excluding o. food. Tjjs apxfis in this verse seems best more general conception. There is no neod taken in union with Tei. fTT01xeia, rather than to suppose an exolusive reference to the with TOJJI Ao-y(,,,v; the phrase, Tei. rrT01x•ia more perfect doctrine in opposition to the Tijs apxfis,meaning ••the initiotory elements" elements, sinoe, of the whole subject of -tho A, B, 0 of Christian teaching. The religious knowledge, the vl,,r,os mu.y be said word Ao-yla (" omcles "), is used elsewhere for to be bE1pos in the sense of being without t\Jo revelations of the Old Testament, as the mu.tured skill tho.t experienc& gives. Acts vii. 38 ; Rom. iii. 2. Here its meo.ning Hence, too, we are certainly not justified in co.n ho.rdly be to.ken e.s confined to them, findinl\" in the ph.ro.se o. speoifio o.llusion to sinco the first principles of the gospel are tho Po.uline doctrine of justificntion by ).icing spoken of. Still, a word tho.t includes faith only, which is not suggested by tlie them in its meu.ning may be purposely used context or by what follows. Still less mo.y by wriy of ·intimating that the elements we (with Delitzsoh) so ignore the notablo intended ore those of Judaism as well ns significance of ll1rca10rr61111 as torcduoe tho ex- Christio.nity, or of the lu.tt.Jr only in its first pression to a synonym for "rightly fro.mad, emergence out of Judo.ism. Aud u.ccord- that is sound and orthodox discourse." ingly, vem. 1, 2 of oh. vi., where they ure Ver. 14.-:But solid food is for them that enumeru.ted, a.re (as will be seen) so worded are of full age ( TEAElwv, equivalent to as to imply no more than tliis; nor are the "perfect; " but in the sense of m11turity of flrst principles there mentioned beyond who.t age or growtli, in contro.st with vfJ1r101: as on enlightened Jew might be expected to in I Cor. xiv. 20; cf. l Cor. ii. 6; Eph. iv. understand reu.dily. Be it observed thu.t 13 ; Phil. iii. 15), those who by reason of the Hebrew Church need not be supposed use have their senses ueroised to disoem to have actually lost sight of thcso first good and evil. Here the comparison is principles, so as to require a new indoctri- co.rricd ont with peculiar o.ptuess. T(& al- nu.tion into them. There mo.y be a vein of u811T1Jp1a in tho illustration ore tlae organs of delicate irony in whut is said, o.fter the sense. In the infant the digestive orgo.ns, manner of St. Paul. .All that is of neces- in tho first place, exercised in the begin- sity implied is thut there had been such a ning on milk, acquire through that exercise failure in seoing wlii.t these principles led to the power of asaimifoting more solid &nd 142 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. [cH. v.1-14.
more romplex food, while at the same time exeroised 11t fir~t on simple truths, should its sou,itfre organs generally, also thron~h ncquire by pr11ctice the power of appre- exercisC', be~ome consciously discriminative hending and distinguishing between higher of "good 11,nd 0'fil" (of. Isa. vii. 15, 16, and more recondite ones. It was becu.nso where "to know to •refuse the evil and the Hebrew Christians had failed thus to choose the good" denotes, as if prover- briug out their fflculties that they were bi11,lly, the age after early childhood). So, open to the charge of being still in a state in the spiritual sphere, the mental faculties, of infanoy.