[1296] 4 mss. that he that is of faith might also have whereof to glory.
[1297] philosophou gnomes, the word is used (as frequently by Christian writers) in the sense of choosing wisdom for the guide of life.
[1298] So the mss., omitting v. 3.
[1299] So Vulg. and Field: most mss. have kamonta "that hath toiled."
[1300] Or "it"; i.e. the righteousness of faith.
[1301] So several mss. Vulg. "but not before God." But the text suits St. Chrysostom's view of the argument: see p. 112, note c.
[1302] 6 mss. om. and whose, etc.
[1303] So 5 mss. Sav. "thou receivest," which scarcely makes sense.
[1304] Chrys. is free from the polemical treatment of the subject of justification which has been so prominent in modern expositions. The following points may be suggested: (1) It is the imputation of faith which here receives chief emphasis--logizetai he pistis autou eis dikaiosunen (vv. 3, 5, 6, 8, 9). (2) Although logizesthai is an actus forensis, it has an ethical counterpart involved in the very conception of faith and righteousness. (3) While faith is not to be identified with righteousness, it can be reckoned as such because it involves the soul's commitment to a life of fellowship with Christ, in which a perfect righteousness is guaranteed and increasingly secured. This righteousness is real as well as putative. (4) The power and value of faith are in its object, not in its own inherent moral excellence. It brings the believer into real and vital union with God and Christ. The dikaioshune theou is the righteousness of which God is the author but in faith we appropriate it and God makes it ours. Man does not attain it by any act of goodness; he receives it from God as a gift of grace. It is God's righteousness as coming from God; it is man's as being imparted to him on condition of faith.--G.B.S.
[1305] Text, "the sign of circumcision, a seal," etc. All our copies, however, and those of Matth. agree. The whole verse, in fact, is paraphrased rather than quoted.
[1306] The meaning seems to be that the faithful Jews were brought in as it were to the house of Abraham, and added to the number of the faithful already existing as uncircumcised, and children of Abraham by their faith. The reading of Savile's text, he kai toutous tous en akrobusti& 139; ekeinois proserrimmenous, means, "in that these too, that were in uncircumcision, were added to them," which is inconsistent with the context and is not noticed in the Ben. Edition. Possibly the passage is still corrupt.
[1307] 4 mss. "and that neither those in circumcision might thrust away the uncircumcised, nor the uncircumcised those in circumcision."
[1308] i.e. "do not require him to be circumcised." See Rom. xiv. 3; Gal. vi. 12, 15, etc.
[1309] According to vv. 14-17, the promise cannot be through the law because that would annul faith and destroy the promise entirely (14). The principle of law is quid pro quo and on that basis alone there is no room for faith and promise. Claim, debt and reward, are the ideas which stand on the plane of law. Justification by law would imply no act of trust, obedience or gracious promise, but would be matter of reward simply. But since man is a sinner, it is inconceivable that he be justified on this basis, and the gospel of a gracious salvation is the only hope. To reject the latter is to exclude the possibility of any salvation whatever. Only by clinging to the Gospel can the Jew find any ground of hope in the ancient promises and covenants.--G.B.S.
[1310] i.e. as justifying. Rom. iii. 21.
[1311] These words are very important, as they show that the Law was not held empty in itself, but at this time, i.e. since Christianity.
[1312] Or perhaps "fixing the relationship," i.e. of Abraham to the Gentiles, sunapton.
[1313] Nearly all mss. omit "not": as do the oldest of the N.T.
[1314] i.e. Sarah's personal barrenness, and her present age.
[1315] 6 mss. philoneikian, Sav. philosophian, 1 ms. sophian, which makes better sense than the reading of Savile.
[1316] logismous. It may be used for imaginations, as by Macarius: but perhaps St. Chrysostom is thinking of Arist. Eth. vii. iii. 9, 10.
[1317] Tertull. de Res. Carn. cap. xii. Totus hic ordo revolubilis rerum, etc.
[1318] Or, "destroy"--dialusai, for diasaleusai. Savile's reading seems the most forcible, but the other makes good sense.
[1319] Tyrant was the name given to any rebel who set himself up for Emperor.
[1320] See St. Chrys. on Matt. iv. 1; Hom. 13 in St. Matt. p. 174 O.T., and the Catena Aurea on the same place, Oxf. Trans. p. 117, etc. Being alone is represented as always exposing us to temptation, though it is sometimes done for holy purposes, and for greater victory.
[1321] Alluding perhaps to the sons of Sceva, and then to Goliath.
[1322] Sav. mar. and 5 mss. delos: Vulg. deilos a coward.
[1323] Compare Bp. Taylor, Worthy Communicant, Sect. iv. 10 t. xv. p. 480.
[1324] Or tunes, the word is ambiguous in the original.
[1325] The substance used was probably not salt, but something possessing astringent properties.