On whom all Christians being built, and Jews and Gentiles, how distant soever formerly, united now and knit together, are thereby enabled to continue in that unity, and make up one Christian church, to adore and worship God together. To him be all honour ascribed through Jesus Christ, by what is now done in the church, even by the means of the faith and doctrine of Christ, which is now preached to the Gentile world: and may this for ever tend to the glory of God, and not only at this present time, but among all posterities through all parts of the world. Amen. ⁸ in power by his own Spirit, δυνάμει διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτοῦ. ⁹ being rooted and founded in love, that ye may be able, ἐν ἀγάπῃ ἑρριζωμένοι καὶ τεθεμελιωμένοι ἵνα ἐξισχύσητε. ¹⁰ Or, the superlative love of the knowledge of Christ: for the King's MS. reads ὑπερβάλλονταν ἀγάπην τῆς γνώσεως. ¹¹ to, eis. ¹² superabundantly, ὑπὲρ ἐκ περισσοῦ. ¹³ which is wrought among us, ἐνεργουμένην ἐν ἡμῖν, or, among you: for the King's MS. reads ὑμῖν. ¹⁴ Or, and, or, even by Christ: for the King's MS. reads καὶ ἐν. [d] in the church] The variety of reading, either with or without καὶ, and, makes it doubtful how this verse should be rendered. If it be without καὶ, and, then it must first be observed, that the preposition ἐν, signifying sometimes in, as in a place, (and so it may possibly be here, in the assembly of Christians for ever,) signifies also through and by; and so it may most probably signify here, and be all one with διὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, by the church, ver. 10; that as there the various wisdom of God was demonstrated by the church, that is, by God's dealing in it, so here that various wisdom and mercy of his should be acknowledged with thanksgiving. And then, though it is possible ἐν Χριστῷ may adhere to ἐκκλησίᾳ, and so be rendered the church in Christ Jesus, that is, the Christian church, yet because probably, if that were it, it would be expressed by repeating the article τῇ after ἐκκλησίᾳ, as it Isaiah 1 Cor. i. 2, therefore it will be more reasonable to render ἐν Χριστῷ, through Christ, as the mediator through whom as we pray, Rom. i. 8, so we give thanks and praise to God also. And so the meaning will be, All honour and glory be unto God through Jesus Christ, (by whom these mercies are conveyed to us,) for, or by, or through the church, that is, through those gracious and wise disposals of his, that are now wrought by receiving the Gentiles into the church, a thing which is likely to have main influence upon all posterities of the world for ever. But if the καὶ be taken in, (as in that ancient MS. it is,) then, as that must necessarily connect ἐκκλησίᾳ and Χριστῷ, church and Christ, whether it be rendered and or even, so the ἐν cannot signify in, as in a place, because that cannot be applied to ἐν Χριστῷ, in Christ, but must necessarily be rendered by or through, and the church and Christ must be the two means (though perhaps those two knit into one, by rendering καὶ, even) whereby this glory is to come in to God, and so is ascribed to him thus, All glory be to God the Father, the wise Disposer of all, through that which is now done in the church, and, or even, through what hath been done by Christ, in reconciling the Gentiles, and bringing them into the same fold with the Jews, making up one church of both. Being also by Christ thus united, that he may come and reside among you, by communication of all those benign influences which flow down to your church from the Spirit of Christ. # CHAP. III. FOR this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, I therefore the apostle that am at this time a prisoner for the cause of Christ, ch. iii. 1, (from whence to this place seems to be one long parenthesis, see note [c] Gal. ii,) do exhort you to behave yourselves like persons that have been vouchsafed by God that great mercy of revealing Christ to you in your Gentile state. And that must be by the exercise of that Christian charity, and those many effects of it, (1 Cor. xiii. 4, 5,) a lowly opinion of yourselves, a mild behaviour toward others, a patient bearing (opposed to revenging) of injuries, much more of weaknesses and ignorances, Labouring your utmost to preserve that unity in the church, which is kept in the body by being animated by the same spirit, and by being joined one member friendly and peaceably to another by sinews &c.; that is, unity of charity, as the spirit; and of outward communion, as the sinews, to knit you all together into a peaceable church, loving and living peaceably one with another. That as ye are one society, one body of Christians, so ye may have one soul, as it were, one spirit of love to animate that body, according to that one aim, (in which you all conspire, and to the obtaining of which Christianity gives you all the same pretension and hope,) viz. eternal life. And according as ye have but one Master whose commands ye are bound to obey, one body of creed to be believed by all, and the same form of initiation, the same vow of baptism appointed to be administered to all. And as having all of you the same God which created and now owneth you for his children, who overseeth all actions, pierceth through all secrets, and powerfully worketh in you by his gifts and graces. But these gifts and capacities and qualifications for the serving of Christ in the church are not in the same manner and measure given to all, but severally and in diverse degrees, such as Christ in his several distribution of gifts is pleased to dispense. According to that of the psalmist, ps. lxviii. 18, [a] gave gifts] It hath been the manner of many nations, in their triumphs after victories, to go up to the city in pomp and splendour, to bring in captives bound, all people coming forth to the spectacle, and then to give solemn gifts or largesses to their friends and countrymen, or kindred, as part of the solemnity: so M. Aurelius gave eight pound apiece to the poor people in the time of triumph. And this is here accommodated to Christ in his victory and triumph over hell, accomplished by his death and resurrection. For to increase the solemnity of that, he went up to the heavenly Jerusalem, his own city, from which he came forth, carried the devil, and sin, and death captives, shewed them openly, shackled and unarmed, the devil gagged and silenced in his oracles, death's sting pulled out, and sin left unable to hurt any that had truly repented of it; and, for a complement of all, he sent his largesses to his disciples and clients, the gifts of the Holy Ghost. That which is here ἴδωκε, gave, is in the Greek of the psalm, lxxviii. 19, ἴλαβες, received, probably from the nature of the Hebrew לקח, which, as it signifies to give, so it is to receive also, as in English, to take sometimes signifies to give, and in Greek λῆμμα and δῶρον are all one. (And what doth this his ascent to heaven signify, but that he first descended from heaven to these lower parts of the world called the earth, or to the Virgin's womb, to be conceived there in human flesh, which is by the psalmist also styled, being fashioned beneath in the earth, psalm cxxxix. 15, (see Paulus Fagius on Targum, Gen. xxxvii. 36,) or else to the grave, called the lower parts of the earth, psalm lxiii. 9. And as his descent was on purpose to do us good, to bestow and scatter his graces among us, so his ascending again, though it were for a time the leaving of us, yet it was designed to the sending down the Holy Ghost upon the apostles, by that means to supply all our wants, to do what was necessary to be done to the planting and governing of his church.) And to that end he hath constituted some to be founders and governors of all churches, (see note on John xx. 21, and note [b] 1 Cor. xii,) others to teach and confirm them when they are founded, (see note [e] Acts xv, and note [c] 1 Cor. xii,) others, followers of the apostles, sent to preach the gospel where the apostles could not go, (see note on John xx. 21,) others to reside as bishops, and govern particular churches, and instruct them also, [b] evangelists] The rest of these offices of the church have been explained in notes [a] [b] and [c] on 1 Cor. xii; and this of evangelist by the way, note [l] on Matt. ix, and [a] on John xx; to which somewhat may here be added, for the giving the full notion of it. As, first, that the word ιὐαγγελιον, good news or message, being common to that which is written, and which is delivered by word of mouth, two notions there are of evangelist, one for the writer, another for the preacher of the gospel. In the first notion we have the four evangelists, of which two were apostles of the twelve, Matthew and John, and yet those as ordinarily called evangelists as the other two. But this is not the notion which belongs to this place, (where evangelist is a distinct office from apostle,) but the second, which denotes an office then known in the church, when any that was taken notice of for some eminent degree of proficiency in the gospel, and special abilities of utterance and diligence, &c., was upon recommendation of the church (as it is said of Timotheus, Acts xvi. 2,) chosen by any of the apostles to assist them in their work, and sent out with power of preaching the gospel, (and of doing miracles, and with gifts of healing, to that purpose,) and of baptizing those that should receive the gospel, and with other powers also of ordaining bishops, when the apostle thought fit to allow it him. For as the office of evangelist, being to preach to unbelievers, requires not the donation of all the episcopal power, viz. of ruling, nor the power of ordination necessarily, because when the evangelist hath planted the faith, the apostle himself may come and confirm and ordain bishops, as we see in Samaria, Acts viii. 17, (and therefore the author of the Commentaries on the Epistles under St. Ambrose's name, saith on this place, Quamvis non siut sacerdotes, evangelizare tamen possunt sine cathedra, quemadmodum Stephanus et Philippus, "Though they be not priests, (that is, bishops,) yet they may evangelize without a chair,") so the donation of that superior power doth not yet make them cease to be evangelists. And accordingly as Philip, For the holding together the body of the church to frequent public assemblies, (see note [c] Till Jews and Gentiles all coming to the church, and joining in the same faith and profession of Christ, attain to full age, as it were, and stature, such as uses to have full knowledge belonging to it, viz. the perfect knowledge of Christ's will revealed to them: Which may secure us from that which we now see is the fate of many, viz. to be (as children are ⁶ Or, Having ascended to the height, and led captive, he gave—for the King's MS. reads αἰχμαλωτεύσας—Ἰδωκεν. ⁶ unto, els. ⁷ fulfil, πληρώση. ⁸ compacting, or, knit- ting together, καταρτισμόν. ⁹ of ministration, διακονίας. ¹⁰ acknowledgment, ἀντρώσεως. [c] sleight] The word κυβεία from κύβος, a dye, might possibly signify inconstancy and mutability, because nothing is more variable than that. And so in Antoninus, l. 1. ἀναμφιβολως ἀκύβευτος is set to signify the firmest constancy of mind. In this sense it might well enough agree with the περιφερόμενοι here, being carried about with the wind, &c.; and so Xylander upon that place hath taken confidence to interpret it, that St. Paul advises us to avoid κυβείας ἀνθρώπων, that is, saith he, ne omni vento doctrinae circumagi nos et in errores abripi patiamur, "that we do not permit ourselves to be driven about, and snatched into errors by every wind of doctrine." But the gloss of Phavorinus is more to be heeded, who renders it πανοουργία, craft, subtilty, dexterity to deceive; and agreeably the very word πανοουργία is here set with it, in the sense wherein we proverbially say of a cunning cheat, that he sets the dice upon us. And so Eusebius out of Irenæus, speaking of Marcus, saith he was μαγικῆς κυβείας ἐμπειρότατος, by κυβεία signifying deceitful artifice, such as conjurers use, Eccles. Hist. l. 4. c. 11. See Theophylact, who, comparing the false teachers to κυβευταί, dicers, saith of them, that they do μετατιθέναι ἀφελεστέρους, ὥσπερ πεττούς, ὡς βούλονται, "remove the simple as they please, as at dice they can cast what throw they have a mind to;" and this, saith he, is the κυβεία here spoken of, and the μεθοδεία πλάνης, ὅπερ ἡ πλάνος αὐτῶν μεθοδεία βούλεται, "whatsoever their deceitful artifices have a mind to." [d] lie in wait to deceive] What μεθοδεία signifies in this place may thus be collected. Hesychius seems to render it τέχναι, arts, for so I But that preserving unity of faith and charity we may improve (as members in unity with the head) and grow in all Christian knowledge whatsoever; Christ being that head, from whose influence (as from the influence of the principal member the body of any living creature is ordinarily compacted, and by the supplies that the veins and arteries, binding fast the joints, afford to every part, proportionably to the power or efficacy of the one, and the wants of the other, doth daily increase and grow till it come to perfect maturity, and all this through the mutual amity that is preserved in the body, so) the whole body of the church being held together in frequent assemblies, ver. 12, by every man's doing his best in the capacity he is in towards the service of the church, (or by means of the rich men's contributing to the maintenance of the poor, accordingly as one wants and the other is able to supply,) grows into a complete spiritual body fit for the service of Christ; and all this by the means of mutual love and charity. [eʳ from whom the whole body—] This verse hath much of difficulty in it, and the first part of that is, whether, Christ being called in the former verse the head of the church, the influences that here are said to come from him, and are set down by analogy with the natural body, are those that come from the head, and not rather from the heart. To this the solution may be easy, first, that it is very probable that in a man's body the growth is from the head. For the animal spirits are by the nerves conveyed to the nourishing and increasing the several parts through the whole body; and those nerves descend from the brain by the spina dorsi, and are from the vertebræ there branched out over the whole body, from whence it comes to pass in crooked persons, where the vertebræ are displaced, that the growth is thereby hindered. And then the analogy will hold exactly to the church, the body of Christ, that it receives its supply for increase, or growth, from Christ the head. Secondly, that if this be not so, but that the heart should be found to be the fountain both of life and growth, yet the analogy here will still hold, it being reasonable to affirm that Christ supplies the place of both these parts in the church, γ Tom. 3. p. 879. l. 43. This command therefore I give you with all carnestness in the name of Christ, whose apostle I am, that being converted from heathenism to Christianity ye do not any longer live after the manner of the heathens, in the vileness of those practices used in their idol-worships: (see note [h] Rom. viii.) That long course of sin having blinded their understandings, so that they see not that which by the light of nature they are enabled to see, and by that gross ignorance and obduration of heart run into all impiety, are far removed from that life which God and nature requires of them. And in a kind of senselessness and benumbedness yield themselves up to all softness and im- [f] past feeling] Ἀπαλγεῖν is, saith Pausanias, παύσασθαι ἄλγεῖν, to cease to feel cold; as ἄλγεῖν is not πονεῖν, but πάσχειν, not actively to labour, but passively to suffer pain. So ἀπαλγοῦντες ἀπὸ τοῦ πολλοῦ ῥίγους, they that through extreme cold are numbed, and can neither feel nor do any thing. [g] uncleanness] Ἀκαθαρσία τῶν ἀρρένων, καὶ θηλέων ἀρρητοποιῶαι, saith S. Basil ad Diodorum, the word is used for those "abominable sins not to be named, whether of men or women." The contrary to all which ye have been taught by the Christian religion, and therefore ought not to permit yourselves to be seduced by false teachers, the Gnostics, under pretence of Christian liberty to such unchristian licentiousness. This certainly is your duty, and so you will believe, if you have known (see note [f] ch. i,) and been thoroughly instructed in the truth of Christian doctrine; To wit, that you should change your former course of life, and put off all your idolatrous uncleannesses that before you lived in, defiled and corrupted by unnatural lusts, (see note [b] 2 Peter i,) which now your false teachers, the Gnostics, desire to bring in again; 23, 24. And being inwardly and cordially changed to new desires and pursuits, conform all your actions also to this new rule of Christian purity and sincere unfeigned holiness. To this purpose these so many sins will be fit to be avoided at this time; first, that of lying, which is a sin destructive to society; and for the restraining of this, ye must consider that not only all Christians but all men are members of the same body, viz. of mankind; and sure one member never speaks false or deceives another member, nor consequently must we lie to any man in the world, though he be not a Christian, much less when it is to the injuring of our fellow-Christians. Another sin to be guarded by you is wrath; and if you be surprised suddenly with any commotion of mind for any thing done injuriously to you or others, yet let it not break out into bitter or contumelious behaviour, or if it do, make all haste to subdue that rage, and to reconcile thyself to him that hath been thus injured by thee. [h] let not the sun go—] What is here advised by the apostle is parallel to the directions of the ancient philosophers, known by the Ephesians to whom he wrote. Aristotle distinguisheth in this matter, Eth. l. 7. c. 6, between ἀκρόχολοι, those that are highly enraged, and πικροὶ, bitter, or contumelious in their anger, and χαλεποὶ, hard to be reconciled, whom elsewhere he calls δυσδιάλυτοι, those that hardly are dissolved, hardly put off their displeasure, Eth. iv. 5. These three sorts are here referred to by the apostle. The first (ἀκρόχολοι) is intimated in the ὀργίζεσθε, be angry, whether by that be meant sudden anger and hastiness, or whether distemper and rage, conceived upon any the greatest provocation. This first degree is here supposed, and the exhortation founded in the presence of it, which yet concludeth not this, whether suddenness of passion, or inordinacy of rage, to be no sin; for certainly the contrary, to the slowness to anger, is elsewhere commanded, βραδὺς εἰς ὀργὴν, James i. 19, and so of the charitable man it is said, 1 Cor. xiii. 4, μακροθυμεῖ, he is slow to anger. And psalm ii. 4, whence these words are recited from the Septuagint, it is certain those that are there spoken to did sin, in being displeased at God's setting up David; and their rebellion against him was but an higher degree of it, of which he forewarns them in the next words, sin not, that is, fall not into that horrible sin. The second sort, πικροὶ, is forbidden in the μὴ ἁμαρτᾶνε, sin not, this being the first aggravation of the fault of anger indulged to, that it becomes bitter, which is expressed by παροξύνεται, 1 Cor. xiii. 5, an exasperation or paroxysm of this evil humour. And the third, χαλεποὶ or δυσδιάλυτοι, is here expressed by the very same colour, that the ancient philosophers, the Pythagoreans, had thought fit to express it by. For of them, saith Plutarch, de Fat. Am., that when they fell into any λοιδορία ὑπ' ὀργῆς, contumely through anger, πρὶν And to this end take care that you give not ear to calumniators; or do not suffer the devil to gain in upon you, and bring you to those black detestable sins of malice, mischievous machinations, &c. by your continuing indulgently in this sin of wrath, ver. 26. A third sin is stealing, and despoiling of [i] working with his hands] The reason of the conjoining of the prohibition of stealth and the precept of labour will be discerned by remembering the old verse in Phoeylides, Πᾶς γὰρ ἀεργὸς ἀνὴρ ζώει κλοπιμῶν ἀπὸ χειρῶν, "There is no way for a sluggard to live, but by stealing," and acts of that kind. And so saith Chrysostom, Τὸ γὰρ κλέπτειν ἀργίας ἐστίν, "stealing is an effect of idleness." [k] sealed] The special use of a seal, and that which in this and other places of the scripture is most commonly referred to, is that of a mark or character set upon wares or commodities that are bought by any; and because men were as ordinarily bought as any other commodity, nothing was more ordinary than to set a seal or mark upon them, either in their forehead or some other part, to distinguish them from all other men's servants. So saith Theophylact on Rom. viii. 10. Ὁ μὴ ἔχων σφραγίδα, οὐκ ἔστι τοῦ δεσπότου τοῦ διὰ τῆς σφραγίδος ἐκείνης δηλουμένον, "He that hath not the seal, is not the servant, or goods of the master, who is expressed to be so by that seal." Thus Rev. vii. 3, the sealing is there accommodated to the servants of God, who are there supposed to be bought, and are now further to be rescued out of the temporal ensuing danger, and, as a token of that, sealed in the forehead; as servi, "servants," in respect of the original of the word, a servando, is all one with σωζόμενοι, who, being spiritually rescued and saved already from the pollutions of the world, are now to be delivered from the approaching destruction, when, without that mark of discrimination, the good and ill might all be involved in the same calamity. See note [c] on Rev. vii. Thus when John vi. 27, it is said that God the Father hath sealed Christ, the meaning is clear, that by the miracles which he did, and especially by the Holy Ghost's descending upon him, with οὗτός ἐστι, this is he, he had owned him his servant, Isa. xlii. 1, (see note [l] on Matt. iii,) and demonstrated it as punctually as if he had marked him in the forehead that this was his anointed special servant, sent by commission from him, discriminated from all others, and that whatsoever he said was the will and pleasure of God. In reference to what was there said of God's sealing Christ, is that which Be ye therefore as diligent to render yourselves the pictures and resemblances of God, which hath thus vouchsafed to be your Father, as any children are by nature in the lineaments of the face, or by institution in the qualities of the mind, like to their natural parents. (For he is the head of the church, and we are members of him.) And continue constant to death in the profession of the Christian faith, (see note [b] Rev. ii,) thereby imitating the love of Christ to us, who, that he might confirm and seal the truth of his preaching, for which he was sent by God, offered up his own life, was willingly content to die; which death of his, as it was for our sakes, so was it most acceptable to God, and so cannot be better compared than to a meat-offering or drink-offering, which being offered [a] offering] The difference of προσφορὰ, offering, and θυσία, sacrifice, is ordinarily observable: see Heb. x, where, instead of θυσία and προσφορὰ, sacrifice and offering, ver. 5, is ὁλοκούτωμα καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας, burnt-offering and sacrifice for sin, ver. 6, where, as θυσία, sacrifice, is certainly expressed by ὁλοκούτωμα, the bodies of beasts wholly burnt upon the altar, (of which therefore no part came to the priest, Heb. xiii. 11,) so the προσφορὰ, oblation, is the מִנְחָה or meat-offering, the flour and oil, Lev. ii. 2, of which part was burnt with fire, and the remnant was Aaron's and his sons, ver. 3. And as of the former of these, when it was offered by Noah, Gen. viii. 20, it is said that the Lord smelled a sweet savour, ver. 21, and that as a token that his wrath was pacified, as it follows, the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more, &c.; so Lev. ii. 2, the other is said to be an offering made by fire, a sweet savour unto the Lord. And accordingly here to the mention of offering and sacrifice, meat-offering and burnt-offering, is added, εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας, for a smell of sweet savour, which notes this death of Christ, which is expressed by it, to be a means appointed by God for the averting his wrath from us, for the appeasing and reconciling him to us, as those sacrifices were wont to do, and an engagement to us to live such lives as may be acceptable to God, contrary to the noisome lusts, ver. 3. And for the Gnostic noisome foul practices, unlawful, unnatural, riotous lusts, let them never get the least admission among you, but be utterly detested by you, according to that obligation that lies on you as Christians, in opposition to the heathens: And so all unclean gestures and obscene talking, or unsavoury jests to cause laughter, which are all unbeseming a Christian; but purity, chasteness, graciousness of language, opposite to the filthiness before, or else blessing and praising of God, a far fitter subject for our rejoicing. [b] foolish talking] That μωρολογία signifies foolish speaking, and that εὐτραπελία signifies the same, only with this addition of designing it as jest, to move laughter, (and therefore εὐτράπελος is ordinarily interpreted γελοιώδης, and γελωτοποιός, a ridiculous person, or one that causeth laughter,) there is no question. But that the text may here reasonably be thought to confine them both to obscene and filthy discourse, may also appear, not only by the company that they are set with, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate lust, filthiness, but especially by the reason [c] giving of thanks] What εὐχαριστία here signifies may be matter of some question. It signifies ordinarily thanksgiving; and that belonging especially to God, (from whom all mercies are received, and to whom all thanks are due,) may be meant here by the word, though no mention of God be added to it: and so the context may well bear. Let there be no unclean scurrilous jests used among you, but rather, giving of thanks, that is, Let the Christian's way of mirth be far from that of obscene wit; the recounting the mercies of God in Christ, calling you from darkness to his marvellous light, will far better become a Christian; and to this purpose see ver. 20. But yet it may be observed what notion there is of χάρις (of which this word is compounded) several times in the epistles, for piety, Christian virtue in general. Thus, ch. iv. 29, where the corrupt communication is forbidden, and instead of it the good commanded, for profitable instruction or edification, this is designed, ἵνα δῷ χάριν τοῖς ἀκούουσι, that it may give grace, that is, afford spiritual advantage in increase of piety in the hearers. So Col. iv. 6. Let your speech be always ἐν χάριτι, with grace, that is, gracious, pious, seasoned with salt, contrary to the putrid, corrupt, mentioned to the Ephesians. So Col. iii. 16. ἐν χάριτι ᾧδοντες, with grace singing, that is, after the manner of pious gracious persons in a Christian manner: and so it is also Eph. v. 19, in the reading of the king's MS. And agreeably to this notion of χάρις we have γυνὴ εὐχάριστος, a gracious pious woman, Prov. xi. 16. And so perhaps εὐχαριστία may signify in this HAMMOND ANNOTT. VOL. II. P For by the Christian doctrine ye are assured, that he that is guilty of any unlawful, especially unnatural, inordinate lust, (see note [f] Rom. i,) those sins which were used in the mysteries of the heathens, is an absolute Gentile person, hath no portion in the church of God under Christ, nor inheritance in heaven: (see note on 1 Cor. v. 1.) Let no man flatter you that these are tolerable for a Christian, for they are the very sins for which God hath so plagued the heathens, as he did Sodom, &c. Do not ye then join in their sins, that ye may not in their punishments. For though ye were formerly heathens, yet now ye are become Christians, and that lays an obligation on you, and all such as you, to live like Christians, (For that Spirit that God hath sent among us in the preaching of the gospel, being the Spirit of God, must bring forth all kindness, justice, fidelity, and such like, (Gal. v. 22.) Searching and approving, and accordingly practising whatsoever you shall find acceptable to God: (see note [f] Rom. ii.) And go not ye to their heathen mysteries; comply not with their close, dark, abominable practices; but oppose, and help to bring them to light, that they ²inordinate desire: see note [h] Rom. i. ³And filthiness, and foolish speaking, or jesting, which are things unseemly; but rather graciousness. ⁴Or, light: for the King's MS. reads φωτός: see vv. 8. 11. ⁵examining, δοκιμάζοντες. ⁶discover them, ἐλέγχεται. HAMMOND, VOL. II. R For those secret practices are such that they dare not appear in the light, and therefore are by the devil, who prescribes them as parts of his worship, appointed to be used in close recesses, which are called their mysteries, as the highest, but indeed the vilest part of their religion: (see note [c] Rev. xvii.) But Christianity is a means to discover and display these abominable cheats and villainies, as light is the direct means to discover what darkness hath hid, and to make them renounce and forsake it when they see it is seen and abhorred by men. According to that saying of Isaiah, ch. lx. 1, Arise, be enlightened, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee; that is, this Christian estate is a lightsome condition, and engages every man that expects to have his part in it to get out of all these horrible dark secrecies, which are put to shame and discomfited by the light. See therefore and consider how ye may walk most exactly and inoffensively; to which end ye will need great circumspection, as being placed in the midst of such temptations and dangers, by one or other ready to be ensnared on every side. If your circumspection be not intense enough, ye will be ensnared as fools in their lusts and compliances, which bring such carnal temptations along with them; and if ye be over earnest in admonishing them, and vehement unseasonably, ye will exasperate and incur the danger, Matt. vii. 6, of being rent by the swine. [d' that] The word πῶς generally in the New Testament is not to be rendered that, but how, especially when it follows βλέπετε· so Luke viii. 18. βλέπετε πῶς ἀκούετε, take heed how you hear, and 1 Cor. iii. 10. βλεπίζω πῶς ἐποικοδομῇ, Let him take heed how he superstruct. And so it is here to modify the accurate walking, and accordingly it is answered with ὡς, as, that they behave themselves warily between the two dangers of being corrupted on one side, and devoured on the other; in the first not ὡς ἄσοφοι, as easy, seducible people, in the second ὡς σοφοί, as wise, prudent men, that can manage their affairs to the best advantage, and not run hazards to no advantage. And therefore, as you must be sure to preserve the innocence of the dove, so ye have need of prudence and wariness, and wisdom of behaviour, because the world is at this time full of corruption and of contumacy, and persecuting of all good and orthodox Christians. [e] redeeming the time] Ἐξαγοράζεσθαι τὸν καιρὸν, though it have a sense very unlike the English words redeeming the time, yet cannot well be literally rendered otherwise than either so, or buying out, or gaining the time. Theodotion useth it in the active, ἐξαγοράζοντες καιρὸν, Dan. ii. 8, by that rendering the Chaldee עֲרַנָּא אֲנָתָן וּבָנָן, and there the Vulgar have redimitis tempus, and we, gaining or buying the season, referring particularly to the delays that they sought to make, thereby to save themselves from danger. The full meaning of the phrase in that place is, to use caution and cunning and dexterity, whether by delays or any other means, for the saving of themselves from that danger that was threatened them, ver. 5. And it seems to be a proverbial speech, which the use had made to signify more than the very literal of the words imported; and you may find it used in authors in the same or like words. So in Plutarch, who sets it down for an apophthegm of Scipio, Ὁρῶν γὰρ τὴν ἀπόνοιαν τῶν πολεμίων, ἔλεγεν ὠνείσθαι τοῦ χρόνου τὴν ἀσφάλειαν, τὸν γὰρ ἀγαθὸν στρατηγὸν, ὥσπερ ἰατρὸν, ἐσχάτης δεῖσθαι τῆς διὰ τοῦ σιδήρου θεραπείας, "Seeing the madness of the enemies, he bid them buy the safety of the time, that is, avoid fighting with them at that season, for that it was with commanders as with physicians, who used not the sword or lance but in extreme cures." Thus St. Chrysostom² interprets it by the contrariety to κινδύνους περιττοῖς ὑπομένειν, καὶ κέρδος οὐκ ἔχοντας, "undergoing superfluous dangers, and such as bring no gain:" and again, he explains this exhortation by paying tribute, &c, and never opposing them in any thing, but in preaching the gospel, "Ἐν οἷς μὴ βλάπτουσι, μηδεμίαν αὐτοῖς δίδοτε λαβήν, "in things wherein they hurt not, give them no occasion." Διὰ τὸ κήρυγμα μόνον ἔσται σοὶ πόλεμος, μηδεμίαν ἑτέραν ἀρχὴν ὁ πόλεμος λαμβανίτω, "The very preaching the gospel shall bring their rage upon you, let it not take other beginning." Thus in Nazianzen's Στηλιτευτ. α'. p. 14. of Julian, ὁ μὲν ἐξωνούμενος τὸν καιρὸν, καὶ κρύπτων ἐν ἐπιεικείας πλάσματι τὸ κακοηθὲς, where buying out of time is a proverbial expression for carrying himself cunningly, dexterously "concealing (what he had not a mind to discover) his ill disposition under a disguise of gentleness." And proportionably it is so here, to use all prudent artificial devices to preserve them from the evil times then present, times of high corruption, and so of danger to their souls, wherein the carnal heathen sensualities (to which they had such temptation, and which were used in their ² Tom. 4. p. 148. l. 12. ³ p. 146. l. 33. And therefore see that ye be not corrupted by their insinuations, but let the knowledge of your Christian duty so fortify you, that ye be not befooled or ensnared by them. And do not ye, like those heathens in their bacchanals, inflame yourselves with wine, to which all manner of inordinate lust is consequent, (and then [f] excess] The word ἀσωτία signifies generally being given up to all wickedness, particularly luxury, meaning by that, not only excess of drinking or eating, or wasting an estate, but especially giving himself up to riotous enormous lusts: thus Hesychius renders ἀσώτως by αἰσχρῶς, ἀπλήστως, filthiness, insatiableness; and so when of the prodigal, Luke xv, it is said that the means of spending his patrimony was his living, ἀσώτως, ver. 13, that is interpreted, ver. 30, by καταφαγὼν τὸν βίον μετὰ πορνῶν, devouring his livelihood with harlots. And then we may discern the meaning of this phrase ἐν ᾧ ἐστιν ἀσωτία, speaking of drunkenness and filling themselves with wine, in which, saith he, there is (not excess, as that signifies immoderate drinking, for that was contained before in drunkenness, or being filled with wine, and to say that in drunkenness or in wine were immoderate drinking would not be so commodious, but) unclean inordinate behaviour, all kind of veuery and enormous lusts: so Theophylact, Ἀσωτίαν ἀκολασίαν φησίν, ἐκ γὰρ τῆς μίθης ἀκολασία τύκεται. "It signifies incontinent lust, for that is begotten by drunkenness:" and so it is true, not only in common observation, that inflaming themselves with wine betrays men to all uncleanness, but particularly in the heathen Bacchanals, (to which he seems to refer, by opposing to them the being filled with the Spirit, and expressing that in Psalms, &c., the Christian way of rejoicing, contrary to their prophesying, Wisd. xiv. 28, or their mad howlings in their Orgia,) where, after their drinking, uncleanness was wont to succeed, as in the Israelites' idol-feasts, after their sitting down to eat and drink, it is added, they rose up παίζειν, to sport or mock, which that it belongs to this of uncleanness, see note [c] on 1 Cor. x. And so this is a seasonable exhortation to the Christians at Ephesus, living among the heathens, and in danger to be seduced by the Gnostics to the idol-feasts, that instead of the Bacchanals, and unclean consequents of them, which P 2 And let all your mirth and jollity be expressed in the several kinds of hymns, &c. that are used among Christians, after a pious manner, singing, and inwardly in your hearts rendering praises to God, and not finding out such gross carnal ways of expressing your joys as the heathens use; Upon all occasions acknowledging the great and fatherly mercies of God to you, through our Lord Jesus Christ; Yielding obedience to those to whom it is due, in subordination to God, obeying their lawful commands upon God's command to honour them, but yet not doing any thing in obedience to them which is forbidden by that superior law of God. All wives must be subject to their husbands by virtue of the Christian law, which in this and other things doth no way disannul, but rather confirm God's first institution. And the same obligation that lies on the church to obey Christ, viz. because he is the head of it, lies on the wife to obey the husband, who is the head of the wife, 1 Cor. xi. 13, by the law of creation, which is in force among all nations; and as Christ did for his church, so it is the office of the husband, as of the head, to take care for, and secure and defend the body which belongs to it, that is, to do all that he can for the good of the wife. And this subjection of the wife to the husband is not restrained to some sorts of things, but extended unlimitedly to all, where there is not a prohibition of some superior law, (see ver. 21,) as the church is to be regulated by Christ, and those whom he hath placed over it, in all things. And, by the same rule of analogy with Christ, the husbands are obliged to express that care of their wives, that love to their good, as Christ had to the good of his church, which is his wife, (for whom he laid down his life,) That he might purify it from all sin, and to that end appointed baptism, therein obliging us to forsake the devil, &c., and covenanting to give us And all this, that as a wife he may set it out in beauty and comeliness, as a garment come new out of the fuller's hand, purged from spots, stretched from wrinkles, the former newly contracted, the latter by long time of custom and habit; the former more easy, the latter hard to be removed; and so not having any of the base pollutions before mentioned, ver. 5, but that it may be perfectly clean without ever a blemish in it. And this love of the husband to the wife must be as to a part of himself; (for so Eve was taken out of Adam;) A fourth sin is that of filthiness, from which ye ought to be so far removed, that not so much as your tongue should admit any impure word; and therefore be sure that no unclean discourse (so far from useful, that it is poisonous and infectious, as putrid, rotten meats) be indulged to among you, but instead of it, that which is wholesome, profitable, instructive in those things that are necessary for a Christian to know, that it may bring advantage to them that hear you, and increase of piety: (see note [c] ch. v.) And not to love a man's self, and every part of that, is unnatural; and therefore every sensible man will love his wife as part of himself, and endeavour her good, as Christ doth the church's, with all the zeal imaginable. And repel not by your noisome conversation the holy Spirit of God, by which you are marked, and sealed, and set by as wares that are by Christ purchased to be used in his service, a church of pure Christians: (see note [d] ch. i.) And this is the reason of that precept in the first creation, that a man shall at marriage put off all other nearest relations, so far as to prefer this newly contracted relation before them all, of two to make up one common person, Gen. ii. 24. This place of Genesis is spoken literally of marriage, but it hath also a divine, secret, mystical sense in it, to denote first the forming of the church, after the manner of Eve out of Adam's side. Adam was alone, God casts him into a dead sleep, then takes a bone out of his side, and makes a woman meet for him, and she is the mother of all living. So Christ being the second Adam, and alone also, he is cast into a dead sleep on the cross, and then out of his side the church is formed; and she becomes his spouse, and so the mother of all living, in the spiritual sense: (see Prosper de Prædiction, lib. 1. cap. 1.) Secondly, the conjunction consequent to this marriage between Christ and his church, who are literally one flesh, by Christ's assuming our nature upon him, and mystically one body, by the strict union which And so likewise all children and subjects must be obedient to their parents and princes now under the gospel: for this is commanded by the law in the Old Testament, which Christ came not to evacuate, but to confirm. For so are the words of the fifth commandment of the Decalogue, Honour thy father and mother, not only thy natural, but civil parents, and all other placed over thee by God, or the laws under which God hath placed thee. And this is the first commandment of the second table, and that with a promise annexed to it, viz. of prosperity and long life in the land of Canaan, as it concerned the Jews, and to all others of prosperous peaceable living upon earth, (toward which obedience to superiors is ordinarily an eminent means of security, see Matt. v. 5,) and of eternal bliss in heaven by the promise of Christ. And parents likewise are to behave themselves lovingly and gently toward their children, and not to tempt them, by tyrannical usage of their power, to disobedience, but use all care to bring them up in the knowledge of their duty to Christ. And do not think that Christianity hath set all servants at liberty, or given them any privilege of disobeying those whose servants they are, according to the course of this world, be they heathens, &c. ¹⁷ fear, φοβῆται. χρόνιος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. ¹ just, δίκαιον. ² thou shalt have a long time on the land, ἴση μακρο- ³ discipline and nurture, παίδεσμ καὶ νουθεσίᾳ And this not only to avoid the displeasures of their masters, (which will extend no further than to those things which they can see whether they be done or omitted, and consequently punish in them,) but upon sense of obligation to the law of Christ, who can see the secrets of the hearts, and so must be served accordingly; viz. with uprightness and cheerfulness, a volun-tary obedience, which may approve itself to Christ, and not a forced one, which arises from fear of man, and so extends no further than the master can see and punish: Knowing that as all other performances of duty, so his faithful service to his master shall be rewarded in him by God. And the masters must use their servants, as fathers were appointed to use their children, ver. 4, not wrathfully and imperiously, but calmly and gently, either as knowing that they themselves have a master to obey, who commands them to do thus, or knowing that you and they are but fellow-servants in respect of Christ, and indeed that if masters do not their duty, they shall be as punishable before God as any others of the most inferior degree, God favouring or sparing none upon so slight considerations as these, of their being greater men in this world than others. Finally, brethren, consider the all-sufficiency and omnipotence of his might, who is able to sustain you against all opposition of men or devils, and con-firm yourselves in the faith, and cheer up yourselves with that consideration. And make use of all the defensatives and weapons that Christ hath afforded you, to the repel-ling of all the temptations and stratagems of the devil, that ye may be able to hold out against all his as-saults, both of force and cunning. For the combat for which we are to be forti-fied, is not against any ordinary human enemies, but [a] high places] What ἐπουράνια signifies here will be soon discerned, first, by remembering that the several regions of the air, and all above the globe of the earth, is in the Hebrew styled שמים, and in the Greek of these books οὐρανοί, heavens, and so ἐπουράνια will signify those places, the several regions of the air; 2dly, that the Syriac reading for πνευματικά, spiritual parts, πνεύματα, spirits, and the phrase spirits of wickedness, readily signifying wicked spirits, and those oft used to denote devils, the spirits of wickedness in heavenly places will be no more than the powers of the air under their ἄρχων or prince, ch. ii. 2, that is, devils under Beelzebub the prince of the devils. These are here distinguished from the κοσμοκράτορες τοῦ σκότους τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, the worldly rulers of the darkness of this age. Noting several sorts of devils, either in respect of their mansions, ἀερίων καὶ ἐπιγείων πνευμάτων, saith Ignatius ad Ephes., "aërial or earthy spirits;" or else of the inclinations which they suggest. The earthy devils suggesting grosser carnal appetites, filthiness of the flesh, &c., the aërial, pride, vainglory, malice, &c., the filthiness of the spirit. And the Gnostic heretics, by power of sorcery seducing men to both sorts of these filthinesses, all fleshly abominable lusts, and all malice and rancour against the orthodox Christians, it is here truly said, that they were to contend with both sorts of evil spirits, terrestrial and aërial, the terrestrial that ruled among the heathen dark parts of the age, and the aërial wicked spirits. The variety and greatness of the danger being thus considered, makes it reasonable for you to arm yourselves in every part, with all that the Christian faith hath provided you with, that in time of temptation ye may be able to hold out against the contrary allurements of those heretics, and in conclusion to be so far victorious, as not to have been ensnared on any side. 14, 15. Let your military preparations against these assaults be these: first, truth, the doctrine of the gospel in opposition to heathen errors and heretical insinuations, and let that be your military girdle (see note [b] Luke xii.) that keeps on all the other armour, and fits you to make use of it, and withal will restrain you from all libertinism and licentiousness, as a girdle restrains and keeps in the body; secondly, righteousness, sincere faithful obedience to Christ, to guard the whole man from assaults of sin, as the breastplate guards him, Isa. lix. 17; thirdly, the practice of Christian charity and peaceableness, to supply the place of shoes, that ye may go on expeditely in the Christian course, and not fall or miscarry by the way, through the traps that heretics and schismatics lay to wound and gall you, and hinder your progress; [b] shod] The use of shoes in the celebration of the passover hath been formerly observed: for so the Israelites were commanded at their eating of it, that they might be ready for their journey, to have each of them their shoes on their feet; so when the apostles, Mark Fourthly, faith, or the believing both the promises of Christ to all reformed penitents, and the threats to all impenitent sensual persons; which will keep temptations from entering, and be able to allay the pleasures of those sensual baits proposed to you, either by Satan or any other tempter, which, like poisoned darts, (which are wont to inflame the parts that are wounded with them, and therefore are called fiery darts, as the serpents with poisonous stings are called fiery serpents,) will wound you to death, if the consideration of your duty, the promises and terrors of Christ, received by your faith, do not help to quench them; Fifthly, the hope of salvation, which may serve as an helmet, Isa. lix. 17, to bear off any blow (at ⁸ the worldly rulers—of this age, κοσμοκράτορας—τοῦ αἰῶνος. ⁹ spiritual parts, or, spirits: for the Syriac appears to have read πνεύματα. ¹⁰ in heavenly places. ¹¹ in the readi- ness. ¹² unto all, ἐκὶ πᾶσιν. ¹³ the wicked one, τοῦ πονηροῦ. Praying heartily and fervently (see note [e] Luke ix.) upon every opportunity and time of need, for God's assistance to enable you to persevere, and for the removal or averting of temptations; not so much for secular as spiritual things, (which Theophylact sets as the meaning of the phrase in the spirit,) and then adding vigilancy to prayer, and so continuing and persevering in a constant performance of that office of prayer, for all virtues and graces that are needful for you, and all means that may tend to the securing or increasing holiness in you. And let not these your prayers be wholly confined to yourselves, but let me have my part in them, that I may be enlarged from my present restraint, and so have liberty to propagate the faith of Christ, (see note [b] 1 Cor. i.) and publicly or freely, or with authority, (see note [a] John vii.) to preach to the Gentiles, and instead of the heathen mysteries, wherein all their impieties are acted, to reveal to them the nature of the gospel, to which they are initiated, the purity and holiness which are there required: [g] psalms and hymns and—] The difference of these three ψαλμοί, ὕμνοι, φδαί, psalms, hymns, songs, must be fetched from the Jews, who have three sorts of Canticles, first, כזכור from זכר, amputavit, "a concise verse," which is here called ψαλμός, a psalm; 2dly, תהלה, praise, celebration, depredicating of any thing, which is here ὕμνος, hymn; 3dly, שיר, canticum or cantio, whence is שיר השירים, canticum canticorum, "the song of songs," and to this answers here the φδαί; and the word πνευματικαί added to it, spiritual or Christian, is both in opposition to the εὖα Βάκχε, and the like drunken, sensual songs and ovations in their Bacchanalia, and perhaps in respect of the χάρισμα then among them, as of praying, so of singing also, by that extraordinary gift of the Spirit, 1 Cor. xiv. 26; see note [f] on Jude. (For the maintaining of which I am persecuted, and being imprisoned, do still continue to preach it,) that I may by it be emboldened to speak as I ought, ² to give you such an account of my afflictions and imprisonment as may not afflict, but give you matter of rejoicing. I beseech God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, to bestow upon your whole church the grace of peaceableness, and charity, and true faith. The blessing of God be on all those that continue constant in their love to Christ, and are not corrupted out of it by any of the baits or seductions of these times: (see note [b] Rev. ii.)