CHAPTER VI.] COMMENTARY ON GALATIANS. 45 ously to apply to the Word, as to require the aid of others, and to be in manifold poverty, and to be regardless of all the means of subsis tence. But if he exceed the due measure, he injures his dignity, not by mere receiving, but by receiving too much. Then, lest the vice of the Teacher should render the disciple more re miss in this matter, and he should frequently pass him by, though poor, on account of his conduct, he proceeds to say, Ver. 9. " And let us not be weary in well doing." 1 And here he points out the difference between ambition of this kind, and in temporal affairs, by saying, "Be not deceived 2 ; God is not mocked ; for whatsoever aman soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth unto his own flesh shall ofthe flesh reapcorruption ; buthe that soweth unto the Spiritshallof the Spirit reap eter nal life." As in the case of seeds, one who sows pulse cannot reap corn, for what is sown and what is reaped must bothbe ofone kind, so is it in actions, he that plants in the flesh, wantonness, drunkenness, or inordinate desire, shall reap the fruits of these things. And what are these fruits? Punishment, retribution, shame, deris ion, destruction. For of sumptuous tables and viands the end is no other than destruction ; for they both perish themselves, and destroy the body too. But the fruit of the Spirit is of a nature not similar but contrary in all respects to these. For consider ; hast thou sown alms-giv ing ? the treasures of heaven and eternal glory await thee : hast thou sown temperance ? honor and reward, and the applause of Angels, and a crown from the Judge await thee. Ver. 9, 10. "And let us not be weary in well-doing ; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. So then as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, especially toward them that are of the household of faith." Lest any one should suppose that their Teach ers were to be cared for and supported, but that others might be neglected, he makes his dis course general, and opens the door of this chari table zeal to all ; nay, he carries it to such a height, as to command us to show mercy both to Jews and Greeks, in the proper gradation indeed, but still to show mercy. And what is this gradation ? it consists in bestowing greater care upon the faithful. His endeavor here is 1 [Dislocated by Chrysostom. This is a part of verse o, and is an encouragement not tobecome weary in below sowing to the Spirit. Meyer. G. A.]2 [Meyer, understanding "all good things" to mean every thingthat is morally good, says, thru this is a warning to the readers, in respect to this necessary moral fellowship not to allow themselves to be led astray (by the teachers of error or otherwise). Lightfoot and Schaff refer this warning to the consequencesof failure to sh: theii temporal blessings with their teachers. Ellicott says, " Verse 5 if a continuation of the subject in a more general and extendec way but not without reference to the special command which im mediately precedes." G. A.] the same as in his other Epistles ; he discourses not merely of showing mercy, but of doing it with zeal and perseverance, for the expressions of "sowing" and of "not fainting" imply this. Then, having exacted a great work, he places its reward close at hand, and makes men tion of a new and wondrous harvest. Among husbandmen, not only the sower but also the reaper endures much labor, having to struggle with drought and dust and grievous toil, but in this case none of these exist, as he shows by the words, " for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." By this means he stimulates and draws them on ; and he also urges and presses them forward by another motive, saying, "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good." As it is not always in our power to sow, so neither is it to show mercy ; for when we have been carried hence, though we may desire it a thousand times, we shall be able to effect noth ing more. To this argument of ours the Ten Virgins (Mat. xxv: i ff) bear witness, who although they wished it a thousand times, yet were shut out from the bridegroom, because they brought with them no bountiful charity. And so does the rich man who neglected Lazarus (Luke xvi : 19.) for he, being destitute of this succor, although he wept and made many entreaties, won no compassion from the Patri arch, or any one else, but continued destitute of all forgiveness, and tormented with perpetual fire. Therefore he says, " as we have opportu nity, let us work that which is good toward all men," hereby especially also setting them free from the narrow-mindedness of the Jews. For the whole of their benevolence was confined to their own race, but the rule of life which Grace gives invites both land and sea to the board of charity, only it shows a greater care for its own household. Ver. ii, 12. " See with how large letters I have written unto you with mine own hand. As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they compel you to be circumcised." Observe what grief posesses his blessed soul. As those who are oppressed with some sorrow, who have lost one of their own kindred, and suffered an unexpected calamity, rest neither by night nor day, because their grief besieges their soul, so the blessed Paul, after a short moral dis course, returns again to that former subject which chiefly disturbed his mind, saying as fol lows : "see with how large letters I have written unto you with mine own hand." By this he signifies that he had written the whole letter3 [Ellicott hesitatingly adopts this view also. So Alford and Rid. die (in Lange). But Meyer, Schaff, Schmoller (in I.ange) and I.ightfoot say that eypai^a (Philem 19) is the epistolary aorist andmarks the point at which Paul takes the pen from the amanuensis ; and that only this concluding paragraph was written with his own hand. So the American Committee also in the Rev. Ver. G. A.J