(a) We have one world that we all inhabit, with the same fruits we all are fed. But these are small matters: by the same Sacraments we partake of the same spiritual food. These surely are justifications of loving! (c) Mark [946] how many (inducements and pleas) for friendship they that are without have excogitated; community of art or trade, neighborhood, relationships: but mightier than all these are the impulses and ties which are among us: this Table is calculated more (than all else) to shame us into friendliness. But many of us who come thereto do not even know one another. The reason, it may be said, is that there are so many of them. By no means; it is only our own sluggish indifference. (Once) there were three thousand (ch. ii. 41)--there were five thousand (iv. 4)--and yet they had all one soul: but now each knows not his brother, and is not ashamed to lay the blame on the number, because it is so great! Yet he that has many friends is invincible against all men: stronger he than any tyrant. Not such the safety the tyrant has with his body-guards, as this man has with his friends. Moreover, this man is more glorious than he: for the tyrant is guarded by his own slaves, but this man by his peers: the tyrant, by men unwilling and afraid of him; this man by willing men and without fear. And here too is a wonderful thing to be seen--many in one, and one in many. (a) Just as in an harp, the sounds are diverse, not the harmony, and they all together give out one harmony and symphony, (c) I could wish to bring you into such a city, were it possible, wherein (all) should be one soul: then shouldest thou see surpassing all harmony of harp and flute, the more harmonious symphony. (b) But the musician is the Might of Love: it is this that strikes out the sweet melody, (d) singing, [947] (withal) a strain in which no note is out of tune. This strain rejoices both Angels, and God the Lord of Angels; this strain rouses (to hear it) the whole audience that is in heaven; this even lulls (evil) passions--it does not even suffer them to be raised, but deep is the stillness. For as in a theatre, when the band of musicians plays, all listen with a hush, and there is no noise there; so among friends, while Love strikes the chords, all the passions are still and laid to sleep, like wild beasts charmed and unnerved: just as, where hate is, there is all the contrary to this. But let us say nothing just now about enmity; let us speak of friendship. Though thou let fall some casual hasty word, there is none to catch thee up, but all forgive thee; though thou do (some hasty thing), none puts upon it the worse construction, but all allowance is made: every one prompt to stretch out the hand to him that is falling, every one wishing him to stand. A wall it is indeed impregnable, this friendship; a wall, which not the devil himself, much less men, can overpower. It is not possible for that man to fall into danger who has gotten many friends. (Where love is) no room is there to get matter of anger, but [948] only for pleasantness of feeling: no room is there to get matter of envying; none, to get occasion of resentment. Mark him, how in all things both spiritual and temporal, he accomplishes all with ease. What then, I pray you, can be equal to this man? Like a city walled on every side is this man, the other as a city unwalled.--Great wisdom, to be able to be a creator of friendship! Take away friendship, and thou hast taken away all, thou hast confounded all. But if the likeness of friendship have so great power, what must the reality itself be? Then let us, I beseech you, make to ourselves friends, and let each make this his art. But, lo! you will say, I do study this, but the other does not. All the greater the reward to thee. True, say you, but the matter is more difficult. How, I ask? Lo! I testify and declare to you, that if but ten of you would knit yourselves together, and make this your work, as the Apostles made the preaching theirs, and the Prophets theirs the teaching, so we the making of friends, great would be the reward. Let us make for ourselves royal portraits. For if this be the common badge of disciples, we do a greater work than if we should put ourselves into the power to raise the dead. The diadem and the purple mark the Emperor, and where these are not, though his apparel be all gold, the Emperor is not yet manifest. So now thou art making known thy lineage. Make men friends to thyself, and (friends) to others. There is none who being loved will wish to hate thee. Let us learn the colors, with what ingredients they are mixed, with what (tints) this portrait is composed. Let us be affable: let us not wait for our neighbors to move. Say not, if I see any person hanging back (for me to make the first advances), I become worse than he: but rather when thou seest this, forestall him, and extinguish his bad feeling. Seest thou one diseased, and addest to his malady? This, most of all, let us make sure of--"in honor to prefer one another, to account others better than one's self" (Rom. xii. 10), deem not this to be a lessening of thyself. If thou prefer (another) in honor, thou hast honored thyself more, attracting [949] to thyself a still higher extinction. On all occasions let us yield the precedence to others. Let us bear nothing in mind of the evil done to us, but if any good has been done (let us remember only that). Nothing so makes a man a friend, as a gracious tongue, a mouth speaking good things, a soul free from self-elation, a contempt of vain-glory, a despising of honor. If we secure these things, we shall be able to become invincible to the snares of the Devil, and having with strictness accomplished the pursuit of virtue, to attain unto the good things promised to them that love Him, through the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom to the Father and the Holy Ghost together be glory, dominion, honor, now and ever, world without end. Amen.
[925] Two points are much disputed in reference to the vow mentioned in v. 18: (1) What kind of a vow it was, whether the Nazarite vow or some other. (2) Whether it had been taken and whether the shaving of the head was done by Paul or by Aquila. The majority of interpreters maintain that this shaving of the head represented the termination of a Nazarite vow which had been taken by Paul. The view encounters two great difficulties: (1) How can we suppose that the champion of liberty from Jewish ceremonies and observances should himself be given to their observance? (2) Luke here places the name of the wife Priscilla first and then Aquila, and keiramenos stands next to this name. It is most naturally construed with the name to which it stands nearest, especially when this unexpected arrangement of the names of the husband and wife is taken into account. It is true that the same arrangement is found in the salutation of Paul (Rom. xvi. 3; 1 Tim. iv. 19), but this may be due to the predominant Christian activity of the wife; so also in v. 26, which may have been conformed to this passage. The former consideration is the one of chief importance. On the other side it must be acknowledged that there would be less motive for mentioning a vow of Aquila than of Paul. The vow taken was probably akin to that of the Nazarites. It is referred to Paul by the older interpreters by Bengel, Olshausen, Zeller, De Wette, Lange, Hackett, Gloag, Lechler, Bleek, Ewald; to Aquila, by the Vulgate, Grotius, Kuinoel, Wieseler, Meyer, Conybeare and Howson.--G.B.S.
[926] Edd. without stop, hetis ouk egeneto meta to tuptethenai ton Sosthenen.--B. N. Cat. egeneto eti, which is the eti of v. 18, and explained by the following words.
[927] 'Idou kai gune: transposed from after the sentence, "For having been--custom as Jews." Mod. text adds, to ison andrasi poiousa kai didaskousa. But perhaps the comment was, "and mentioned before her husband." See Serm. in illud Salutate Prise. et Aquil. tom. iii. p. 176. B. where he comments on this position of the names, and adds that "she having taken Apollos, an eloquent man, etc. taught him the way of God and made him a perfect teacher."
[928] Something is wanting here, for in ekolueto eis ten 'Asian elthein there seems to be a reference to xvi. 6. koluthentes lalesai ton logon en te 'Asi& 139;, and again in ou men autous haplos eiasen to ibid. 7. ouk eiasen autous to pneuma. He may have spoken to this effect: This was his first visit to Ephesus, for he was forbidden before to come into Asia....Not however that the Spirit haplos ouk eiasen, but he says, with promise, I will come to you, etc. The prohibition was not absolute, but he was not permitted on the former occasion to preach in Asia (Procons.), because he was impelled to more urgent duties (in Macedonia and Greece); accordingly here also he has other immediate objects in view, and therefore cannot stay. So in Hom. xli. on xix. 10, 11. "For this reason also (the Lord) suffered him not to come into Asia, waiting (or reserving Himself) for this conjuncture."
[929] What St. Chrysostom said has been misconceived by the reporter or the copyists. He meant to remark two things concerning Apollos: 1. That having only the baptism of John he nevertheless had the Spirit, nay, was "fervent in the Spirit." How so? He had it, as Cornelius had it; the baptism of the Spirit without the baptism of water. (See Recapitulation fin.) 2. That there is no mention of his receiving baptism, as the twelve did in the following narrative. St. Luke, he says, evidently had a meaning in this juxtaposition of the two incidents. Apollos had the baptism of the Spirit "therefore did not need the water." (Hence whether he received it or not, the writer does not think need to mention it.) Those twelve had no accurate knowledge even of the facts relating to Jesus: nor so much as know whether there were a Holy Ghost.--The scribes did not comprehend this view of the case. Hence A. C. omit all' ou baptizetai, retained by B. mod. text and Cat. OEc. (all' oude b.)--They take hoi meta touton (i.e. the twelve of the following incident) to mean the Apostles, and therefore make it pollo mallon kai houtos edeethe an, "if Christ's own disciples after John's baptism needed the baptism of Christ, a fortiori this man would need it."--They find the baptism in the akrib. auto exethento, "this was one of the points they taught him--that he must be baptized."--St. Chrys. probably spoke of the case of the hundred and twenty who were baptized with the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost: i.e. "Those having" the greater, the baptism of the Spirit, did not need the less, the baptism of water. The scribes absurdly make him suggest that Apollos may have been one of the hundred and twenty.
[930] Perhaps it should be, kai ei hoi meta touton...tou Ch., pos ouch houtos edeethe an; 'All' oude baptizetai. Ti oun estin eipein; oude gar haplos ephexes etheken amphotera. (By amph. perhaps the scribes understood the "knowing only the baptism of John," and, the being "fervent in Spirit") 'Emoi dokei hoper epi ton hekaton eikosi ton meta ton 'Ap. baptisthenton, hoper epi tou Korneliou gegone, gegenetai kai epi toutou.
[931] Here OEcumenius perceived that Chrys. was misrepresented. Accordingly, he reads, Toutou oun akribos exetasthentos (Cat. to oun akribos exetasthen to, a confusion of the two readings), dokei touto me einai hoti..."This point being closely examined, it does not seem to mean this, that he also needed to be baptized." But the scribes took it as above, and the innovator (with whom A. partly agrees) enlarges it thus: "But he is not baptized, but when "they expounded to him more perfectly." But this seems to me to be true, that he did also need to be baptized: since the other twelve," etc. On this the Paris Editor, supposing the twelve Apostles to be meant, strangely remarks, Itane? duodecim quæ Jesum spectabant nihil noverunt Imo hoi kr', i.e. hoi hekaton eikosi. As if it were likely that those hundred and twenty could be so ignorant.
[932] Eikos de auton kai baptisthenai. If Chrys. said this (see note 7, p. 247), the meaning may be: "It is likely however that he did receive baptism," viz. though the writer does not mention it. For this is the point--the writer mentions it in the case of those twelve, for it was the means by which they, ignorant hitherto of the existence of a Holy Ghost, received the Spirit; not so in the case of Apollos, for as he had already the baptism of the Spirit, the water was quite a subordinate consideration. See above, Hom, xxiv. p. 157, on the case of Cornelius.