[402] In our mss. the Homily opens abruptly with the question, Pos ouk elabon ek ton eiremenon aphormen eis to [me Cat.] anelein auton; which is left unanswered, till some way further on. See note 2.--Montf. notes, "Unus, eisto me anelein." But this reading does not appear in any of our mss. though the Catena has it. Edd. from E, have; "How it was that they did not take occasion from what he had said to kill him, but are still mad, and seek an accusation, one may well wonder. So ever in trouble are the wrong-doers. Just then as the chief priests, in their perplexity, said," etc. F. D. adopting part of this addition, "but are still mad, and seek an accusation. See once more," etc.
[403] ouden paschomen. Kai eboulonto, phesin (om. D. F.) anelein auton. (as if these words were part of the sacred text. Then) Prophasin ('Alla proph. D. F.) ethelon eulogon k. t. l. A. B. C. D. F. The modern text substitutes, 'Eboulonto men oun anelein; all' ou poiousi touto, aitian thelontes eulogon k. t. l.--OEcumenius, however, begins his comment thus: Ei eboulonto anelein, pos ouk aneilon eutheos tote;Oti prophasin eulogon k. t. l. Hence we restore the true reading, and the proper order. Namely, for Kai we read Ei, and transpose to this place, as part of the interlocution, the question pos ouk elabon--; So, the phesin is explained, the question is followed by its answer, and there is no abruptness.
[404] touto de eusebeias en to rh& 210;ma. i.e. all that Stephen had spoken in accusation of their wickedness, especially v. 51-53, was the language of piety, of a devout man zealous for the honor of God: they could not say, "This is impious;" and they were waiting to catch at something which might enable them to cry out, "He blasphemeth:" and, disappointed of this, they were cut to the heart.--Below Ben. retains (from E. alone) me palin kainon ti peri auton allo genetai, though Savile had restored the genuine reading me palin aidesimoteros genetai. They had desired to injure his reputation for sanctity, and now feared that his speech would have the opposite result.
[405] Edd. from E. houto de auto legei phanenai, hos pou diexeisin, hina kan houto dexontai ton logon. "And Stephen describes Christ as appearing to Him in this manner, as one somewhere relates at large, in order that," etc.: meaning, that he might have said "sitting at the right hand," but forbears to do this, because it was offensive to the Jews, and accordingly teos peri tes anastaseos kinei logon, kai phesin auton histasthai. The clause hos pou diexeisin seems to have been intended by the innovator, not as part of the text, but as a gloss, "as is somewhere shown at large." But what Chrys. says is, that Christ was pleased to appear in this attitude to Stephen for the sake of the Jews, in order, etc.--Hom. vi. in Ascens. (Cat. in 1,) he says, "Why standing, and not sitting? To show that He is in act to succor His martyr. For thus it is said also of the Father, Stand up, O God, and, Now will I stand up, saith the Lord, I will set him in safety.'"--Below, Dia touto k. t. l. Comp. de Mundi Creat. Hom. ii. t. vi. 447. C. "Why did He cause the face of Stephen to shine? Because he was to be stoned as a blasphemer for saying Behold,' etc., therefore God, forestalling this, crowned his face with angelic beauty, to show those thankless ones, that if he were a blasphemer, he would not have been thus glorified." But E. (Edd.) apo toutou stochazomai dedox. "I conjecture that it was from this vision (Erasm. from this time: Ben. hence) that his face was glorified." In the next sentence, Edd. from E. di hon epebouleuonto ekeinoi, di auton ebouleto autous ekkalesasthai, ei kai meden pleon egeneto. Kai ekbalontes k. t. l. "by means of the very machinations wherewith those were assailed He desired to call (the doers) themselves to Himself, even if nothing more had been done."
[406] A. E. N. Cat. omit the ton Theon.
[407] katestesan epi ton cheron, A. C. N. Sav. cheiron, Cat. choron, B. D. E. F. Morel. Ben. versati sunt in regionibus, Erasm. constituti sunt per regiones, Ben.
[408] hoti te chariti monon katorthoun. Or, "that by grace they only succeeded," i.e. always, without failure.
[409] Chrys. seems to assume that andres eulabeis refers to Christian men, a view that has been taken by some modern expositors (as Ewald and DeWette). It is better to understand by the term, pious Jews who were favorably disposed to Christianity (So Meyer, Olshausen, Lechler, Lange, Gloag, Hackett). The usage of eulabes in the N.T. favors this view as it is applied to devout persons who were not Christians (vid. ii. 5; Luke ii. 25) in every case, except in xxii. 12when it refers to Ananias, a Christian, but is used in describing him in a legal point of view: eulabes kata ton nomon. Moreover, if Christians had been meant, they would not probably have been designated by so vague a term, but, as uniformly, would have been called disciples or brethren. The burial of Stephen by devout Jews recalls the burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathæa and Nicodemus (John xix. 38, 39).--G.B.S.
[410] Ten aitian tes opseos phesin. B. C. Sav. marg. meaning, That his face was as the face of an angel was caused by the glory of Christ which he now beholds. The modern text omits this, having said the same thing above in the words apo toutou, see note 4, p. 112.
[411] Ben. after Morel. from E. without notice of the true reading (A. B. C. N. Cat.), received by Savile, has: Othen theios autou kai ho thanatos gegone. Mechri gar toutou sunkechoreto tais psuchais en to hade einai. (The latter part is adopted also by D. F.) "Whence also his death became divine. For until this time it had been granted to the souls to be in Hades." This comment is derived from St. Cyril. Al. from whom the Catena cites: "Since we are justified by faith in Him....He hath wrought a new thing for us, to meketi men eis hadou trechein tas ton somaton apallattomenas psuchas katha kai proen, pempesthai de mallon eis cheiras Theou zontos: that our souls, on their deliverance from our bodies, no longer as aforetime haste into Hades, but are conveyed into the hands of the Living God. And knowing this, Saint Stephen said, "Lord Jesus receive my spirit." OEcumen, repeats this, almost in the same words.
[412] In the old text, v. 4-10, are given continuously, and v. 11-19; between them the brief comments which we have restored to their proper places, viz. here and after v. 15: and after v. 19, the comment which we have placed after v. 17. In the modern text, the first comment (omitting legon einai k. t. l.) is placed after v. 10; in the second, the words, kai semeia megala egeneto, are omitted; the rest is given after v. 19.
[413] The modern text E. F. D. Edd. "But although the persecution then most gained strength, nevertheless God again delivered them, epiteichisas autois ta semeia. Stephen's death, however, did not quench their rage, nay, increased it rather, wherefore also the teachers, etc. But observe again how good things take their turn with them, and how they are in joy. For there was great joy,' it says, in that city.' And yet there had also been great lamentation.' Thus is God ever wont to do, and to temper things grievous with things joyful, that He may be more held in admiration. But of a long time had this disease been upon Simon; wherefore not even thus is he rid of it." But in the genuine text, (A. B. C. N. Cat. ad. v. 15-17, and 3, 4.) the subject to exeileto and epeteichise is not Theos, but diogmos: and the persons delivered are not the disciples, but the Samaritans, described as prokatechomenoi, viz. under the influence of Simon's sorceries. In the last sentence, the meaning is entirely mistaken: for the nosema is the infatuation of the Samaritans, not the wickedness of Simon.--'Epeteichise gar autois ta semeia can hardly be rendered without an awkward periphrasis: epiteich. ti tini, a phrase frequently used by St. Chrys., means to raise up something against a person as an epiteichisma, (as Decelea in Attica against the Athenians in the Peloponnesian war:) see Mr. Field's Index to Hom. in Matt.
[414] So A. B. C. N. Cat. Of the Edd., Savile alone retains this clause, the rest follow the mod. text, which rejects it. And indeed it can hardly be doubted, that St. Chrys. himself would have expunged, or altered this statement, had he revised these Homilies: for in the next Hom. he shows that the Philip of vv. 26 ff. was certainly not the Apostle, but probably one of the seven deacons. The fact seems to be, that having had no occasion until now to discuss this question, he had assumed (as others had done before him) that the Philip of the Eunuch's history was the Apostle of that name: thus in Hom. ad Gen. xxxv. §2 (delivered but a few years before), he takes this for granted. Here, however, he perceives that the Philip who preached at Samaria could not be the Apostle: but at present he is still under the impression, that the person by whom the Eunuch was converted was St. Philip the Apostle, and accordingly speaks as in the text, "This Philip, I take it, was one of the Seven; he of the story of the Eunuch was one of the Apostles." Of course it was impossible on a review of the circumstances to rest in this conclusion; and in the very beginning of the next Homily he tacitly revokes the notion here advanced, and points out how the command, "Arise, and go to the south," must have been addressed to Philip in Samaria (the deacon), and not Philip the Apostle in Jerusalem. (See the note there.) The early writers frequently confound the Philip of this chapter (the deacon and evangelist, Acts xxi. 9, with the Apostle: Polycrates ap. Eus. H. E. iii. 30, and v. 24, (see Vales and Heinichen on the former passage.) Const. Apol. vi. 7. S. Clementine Strom. iii. p. 192. Comp. St. Augustin Serm. 266. §5.--S. Isadore of Pelusium, Ep. 448, in reply to a correspondent who was not satisfied with his statement (Ep. 447), that "Philip who baptized the Eunuch and catechized Simon was not the Apostle, but one of the Seven," and requested proof from Scripture ('Epeide kai marturian zeteis graphiken....'Epeide pollon apodeixeon eras,) bids him observe, ch. viii. 1. that the Apostles remained at Jerusalem: that Philip the Apostle would have been competent to impart the gift of the Spirit: and further suggests, that Philip the deacon, fleeing from the persecution, was on his way through Samaria to Cæsarea his native place, (where we afterwards find him xxi. 9), when these events befell, viz. the preaching, etc., at Samaria, and the conversion of the Eunuch.--In the next sentence, ekeinoi (i.e. the Apostles) ouk exeesan; okonomethe toutous (i.e. Philip the deacon and others) exelthein; kai ekeinous (the Apostles) husteresai: "should come after," or rather, "should be lacking, be behindhand, not be forthcoming (at the time):" but Cat. kai ekeinous heteros, "and those (the Apostles) otherwise."--The modern text, after "next to Stephen," proceeds thus: "Wherefore also, when baptizing, he did not impart the Spirit to the baptized, for neither had he authority to do so, since the gift belonged only to the Twelve. But observe; those went not forth; it was Providentially ordered that these should go forth, ohi kai husteroun tes charitos dia to mepo labein Pn. & 169;A., who were deficient in the grace because they had not yet received the Holy Ghost. For they received power, etc. Consequently, this was the prerogative of the Apostles."
[415] Kai hora tous koruphaious ouk allous tinas alla Petron. B. C. D. F. N. Cat. but A. adds, seemingly from a marginal gloss, kai 'Ioannen men, "and John, however," E. (Edd.) hothen kai tous kor. ouk allous tinas estin idein touto poiountas. "Whence also the leaders, not any others, are to be seen doing this."
[416] Ouk an de eipen, A. B. D. F. ouk an didotai tote eipen, C. ouk an eiden, Cat. Sav. marg. idenN. Read, ouk an "idon de" eipen.--E. ouk an houtos eipen.
[417] Chrys. appropriately remarks that the word idon (18) implies that there were visible manifestations connected with the gifts of the Spirit here spoken of. This would seem to show that when it said (16) that the Holy Spirit had not fallen upon any of the Samaritans, that the ordinary influences of the Spirit which accompany conversion, were not referred to, but some special and miraculous endowments such as the gift of tongues, and of prophecy and perhaps of miracles were meant.--G.B.S.
[418] Kai touto aphosiosei (monon add. D. F.) epoiei, deon klausai kai penthesai. Cat. aphosiomenos, l. aphosioumenos, "as a mere formal ceremony ominis causa."