[867] The old text has peirasmous, perhaps for sebasmous. Mod. text, tosauta eidola.
[868] Old text, houtos autou phthengomenou hubristikos eutheos (comp. Recapitulation) makran touto philosophias; apo tou kerugmatos. hoti oudena tuphon eichen. Hence Mod. text, oude apepedesan apo tou ker., eipontes; makron touto phil. & 169;Oti oud. t. eichen; allos de hoti ouk enooun k. t. l. The insertion of the texts removes some of the difficulties. Perhaps apo tou ker. is opposed to eutheos: the one sort straightway expressed their disdain, with a supercilious, "What does this spermologos mean to say?" the other sort did listen, and condescended to comment on the matter of the preaching, having heard it--apo tou ker. (as in the phrase apo tou deipnou)--saying, "He seemeth," etc. Of these Chrys. may have said, hoti oudena tuphon eichon, opp. to ubristikos. But all the mss. have eichen, and so we have rendered it.
[869] Here the mss. have the text v. 18, and v. 19, 20 after "female divinities also."
[870] The view of Chrys. that the Greeks supposed Paul to designate by the Anastasis some goddess, has been shared by many more recent interpreters, but seems very improbable. The apostle could hardly have spoken so abstractly of the resurrection as to give rise to such a misapprehension. Paul doubtless spoke of Jesus' own resurrection and of its relation to that of believers (vid. 1 Cor. xv.), although in the text the absence of autou permits us to find only the idea of the general resurrection expressed.--G.B.S.
[871] mss. and Edd. ouch hoste mathein, all' hoste kolasai. But this cannot be Chrysostom's meaning: for in the opening of the Hom. he remarks, that there was nothing of persecution here (comp. the opening of Hom. xxxix.), and in the Recapitulation, that the Athenians at this time were under Roman Law. Also in the following sentence, he explains that their questions were prompted by the hope of learning, Ora goun (i. e. to show that this was their meaning) kai en elpidi tou mathein. In the Recapitulation indeed, he says, they brought him hos kataplexontes, but this is a different thing from hoste kolasai. Therefore we have transposed the order of the words. The clause entha hai phonikai dikai (and in the Recapitulation entha tas ph. d. edikazon, which we retain from B.), seems to be meant to show that they did not bring him there for trial.
[872] The principal points to be noted for the interpretation of v. 23 are as follows: (1) Pausanias (a.d. 174) and Philostratus (a.d. 244) testify to the existence at Athens of altars with the inscription: agnosto theo. (2) "Upon important occasions, when the reference to a god known by name was wanting, as in public calamities of which no definite god could be assigned as the author, in order to honor or propitiate the god concerned by sacrifice, without lighting on a wrong one, altars were erected which were destined and designated agnosto the& 254;." (Meyer.) (3) By these inscriptions the Athenians referred to no particular divinities, but to supposed benefactors or avengers to whom they, in their religious system, could attach no name. (4) No reference is to be found in these inscriptions to the God of the Jews. The true text: ho oun agnoountes eusebeite, touto ego katangelo humin (instead of the masculine hon--touton of the cursives and the T. R.) does not require the supposition of such a reference. They acknowledged an unknown--lying beyond their pantheon. Paul declares what this is: the true God as revealed in Jesus Christ. They would only partially and gradually understand his full meaning.--G.B.S.
[873] prostet. E.V. "before appointed" (protet).
[874] Edd. kai ten demiourgian edelose kai tous anthropous. Comp. Recapitulation, whence it appears that he means "Both heaven and earth, and mankind also were created, not generated or emanated."
[875] Kai men dia touto opheilomen. Mod. text inserts a phesin, to make this an interlocution, in the sense, "Nay but for this reason, viz., being His offspring, we ought to think of Him as in the likeness of man." But this cannot be Chrysostom's meaning. Perhaps Chrys. said, oude touto, viz., after the following sentence, so that the sense will be, "We ought not to think the Godhead like unto gold, etc., the graven work of man's art. By no means: for certainly we ourselves, our souls, are not like unto such. Nay, more, we ought not to think even this, that the Godhead is like unto aught that man's imagination can conceive, as the Apostle adds, kai enthumeseos anthropou to Theion eikai homoion." (See the Recapitulation.) He proceeds: ti depote; i.e. Why having said charagmati technes does he add kai enthum. onthr.? The answer, not expressed here, is, "Because neither is it subject to any other human conception," (dianoi& 139;, Recapitulation). Then, the old text has, ouk esti pros philosophian; pos oun palin to zetoumenon; tous men oun chron. k. t. l. Here we insert from the Recapitulation a sentence, which, where it stands, is superfluous (p. 236, note 6): 'All' eipoi an tis, Ou touto nomizomen. 'Alla pros tous pollous ho logos en auto, and then, ouketi (so we correct ouk esti) pros philosophian. i.e. "Philosophers may say, We do not so think of the Godhead. But he is not dealing with Philosophy, but pros tous pollous. Pos oun ouch heuron; or the like; Palin to zetoumenon. Again coming to the question in hand (An Unknown' God, Whom ye ignorantly worship, he says). Now the times of ignorance," etc.--Mod. text. "Why did he not immediately come (este) to Philosophy, and say, God is incorporeal by nature, invisible and without form? Because it seemed superfluous at present to say these things to men who had not yet (mepo om. E.) learned that there is but one God. Therefore leaving those matters, he addresses himself (histatai) to the matter in hand, and says, Now the times," etc.
[876] Old text inserts here the whole of v. 30, 31, then, kaitoige phesin, horisen hem. anastesas auton ek nekron. Kataseisas auton ten dianoian to phobo, tote epagei touto. It appears from the Recapitulation that kat. to ph. refers to the preceding verses, being explained by deixas anapologetous: and epagei touto to the first clause of v. 30, the overlooking of the times of ignorance. We have arranged the matter accordingly.--Mod. text, v. 30, 31. "See, having agitated their minds by saying, He hath appointed a day,' and terrified them, then he seasonably adds this, Having raised Him from the dead.'" Which is clearly not Chrysostom's meaning.
[877] ouk epheren, all' eteketo. The latter word seems incongruous, unless there be a reference to what St. Paul says of the state of his mind while waiting at Athens, in 1 Thess. ii. 1. q.d. this is not the state of feeling in which one is apt to give way to anger and irritation.
[878] hama men tou nomou luomenou phesin loipon, hama de didaskontes eusebeian tous anthropous. i.e. "of which dispersion the consequence was indeed a breaking down, it may be said, of the Law (by intermarriages, etc.), but withal a spreading of the true religion among men." Mod. text, having mistakenly changed pro to apo, inserts ex ekeinou "from that time" before tou nomou: and also omits phesin loipon, which the innovator did not understand.--'All' ouden ischusan (mod. text, ekerdanan) ekeinoi. But those Jews, for all their success in spreading their religion, availed nothing, save that they got (more) witnesses (marturias perhaps should be marturas) of their own proper calamities (when the wrath came upon them to the uttermost), i.e. they prepared the way for the Gospel. but for themselves they availed nothing, but only to increase the number of those who should bear witness to the truth of God's judgment upon them for their unbelief.
[879] This, as it stands seems to be meant rather for the Manichæans than the heathen philosophers, to whom, he has just before said, the very notion of creation was strange. But the whole exposition is most inadequately given, through the carelessness or incompetency of the reporter. To be referred to the heathen, it should be allon men einai kurion (as Jupiter) ou poieten de: and this is favored, perhaps, by the unnecessary ten de (omitted by A. B.) as remaining from ou poieten de agenneton hulen hupotithentes.
[880] 'Entautha loipon ainigmatodos eipe to autou kai estese--i.e. in speaking of God, he at the same time hints at the coequal Godhead of the Son: for He also is Creator and Lord. See p. 233 in the comments on v. 23, and v. 25, 26.
[881] hoti ouk esti merike, oude psuche tou anthropou. "This is very obscure, and seems remote from the matter in hand. Hales ap. Sav. thinks it has come into the text from some other place. I should rather think the passage either mutilated or corrupt." Ben. "There is nothing either obscure or corrupt in the passage." Ed. Par. The meaning seems to be, As the whole creation is the work of One God, not merikos but to katholou, so are all mankind, universally, His work; the soul too, as well as the body.
[882] This and the following sentences seem to be fragments belonging to the preceding exposition. But the whole is too confused and mangled to admit of any satisfactory restoration.
[883] Pos kai anthropos gegone. Or (see note 2.) "How He (the Son) became man"--as belonging to some other place; e.g. after oudepo ta megala eipen. Or this may be put in the place of pos therapeuetai, note 8. Mod. text. "Having before shown, how the heaven was made, then he declared," etc.
[884] apephenato: above, to medenos deisthai, hoper apephenato.
[885] This also may be part of the argument against the Arians, which Chrys. seems to have brought into his exposition. See note 2.
[886] This is clearly out of place. Perhaps pos kai anthropos gegone (note 5.) belongs here.
[887] Kata tas horothesias. Perhaps Chrys. may have read kata tas hor. in his copy of the Acts: as Cod. Bezæ and S. Irenæus, kata ten horothesian.
[888] Mod. text spoiling the sense; "And this he says showing that not even now had they, having sought, found: although He was as plain to be found as anything would be that was (set) in the midst to be handled."
[889] Old text: Toutestin, oikeious, engutatous hosper paroikous kai geitonas hotan lege: so Cat. The two last words are out of place; we insert them with the text-words after Ina gar me. The sense is: He does not mean, with the heathen poet, that mankind came from God by generation or emanation: but that we are very near to Him.
[890] Here mss. and Edd, have ouden gar houtos anthropois enantion, as if it meant, "nothing so goes against men as strangeness." We place it in what seems a more suitable connection: "We ought not to think," etc. for so far from "the Godhead" being "like unto such," nothing is so much the reverse of like unto men, who "are his offspring."
[891] ti gar; huper touto Theos; oude touto; alla teos touto; A. B. C , ti gar to huper touto theos; oude k. t. l. Cat. om. ti gar to, and alla teos touto. Mod. text, all' huper touto. ti dai to huper touto; Theos; all' oude touto, energeias gar estin onoma; alla teos touto.
[892] Possibly the connection may be, "He is not addressing himself to the notions of philosophers, (supra, note 1, p. 234). for them he insinuated to asomaton by the 'En auto zomen, the intimate presence of Deity, the denial of body by the denial of diastema which is necessarily implied in the notion of body. But he speaks to the many, and puts it to them in this way, We, being in respect of the soul, akin to God, ought not to think," etc.--Mod. text omits pros tous pollous.
[893] Here the mss. and Edd. have the sentence all' eipoi an tis--ho logos auto, which we have transferred above, p. 234, note 1. In the next sentence, ei gar hemeis ouk esmen homoioi ekeinois to kata psuchen, A. B. C. omit the negative, which Cat. and mod. text retain.
[894] Ei gar e techne e dianoia heure, A. B. C. but Cat. om. ei gar, mod. text e gar techne e d. heure. Dia touto houtos eipen: A. also has this last clause, which is unknown to B. C. Cat. In the translation we assume the reading to be, Ei gar hoper e t. e d. heure--dia touto houtos "techn. e enth. a."--hoper oun e t. e d. a. heure, touto ho Theos, kai en litho ousia theou.
[895] i.e. in v. 27. "that they should seek the Lord...being, as He is, not far from every one of us." But text refers it to the following clause, by adding eipon.
[896] Pasi gar tauten pareiche pistin, i.e. God; but C. and mod. text pareichon, as if it meant "the Apostles gave assurance of Christ's resurrection," overlooking the pistin paraschon of the text.'
[897] Mod. text "The things spoken have given proof of His rising from the dead."