43 Chapter VI. Verse 1 “Brethren,145even if a man be overtaken in any trespass.”146 Forasmuchas under cover of a rebuke they gratified their private feelings, and professing to do so for faults which had been committed, were advancing their own ambition, he says, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken.” He said not if a man commit but if he be “overtaken” that is, if he be carried away.147 “Ye which are spiritual148 restore such a one,” He says not “chastise” nor “judge,” but “set right.” Nor does he stop here, but in order to show that it behoved them to be very gentle towards those who had lost their footing, he subjoins, “In a spirit of meekness.” He says not, “in meekness,” but, “in a spirit of meekness,” signifying thereby that this is acceptable to the Spirit, and that to be able to administer correction with mildness is a spiritual gift. Then, to prevent the one being unduly exalted by having to correct the other, puts him under the same fear, saying, “Looking to thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” For as rich men convey contributions to the indigent, that in case they should be themselves involved in poverty they may receive the same bounty, so ought we also to do. And therefore he states this cogent reason, in these words, “looking to thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” He apologizes for the offender, first, by saying “if ye be overtaken;” next, by employing a term indicative of great infirmity149; lastly, by the words “lest thou also be tempted,” thus arraigning the malice of the devil rather than the remissness of the soul. Ver. 2. “Bear ye one another’s burdens.” It being impossible for man to be without failings, he exhorts them not to scrutinize severely the offences of others, but even to bear their failings, that their own may in turn be borne by others. As, in the building of a house, all the stones hold not the same position, but one is fitted for a corner but not for the foundations, another for the foundations, and 145 [“I have just charged you to shun provocation and envy. I now ask you to do more—to be gentle even to those whose guilt is flagrant.”—Lightfoot.—G.A.] 146 ̓́῎Εν τινι παραπτώματι, “in a false step or slip,” omitted, in the text yet commented on. 147 [Meyer holds the same view of this word (προλημφθῇ) and says, “If he be overtaken,” means if the sin has reached him more rapidly than he could flee from it. Ellicott, however, says this view of the πρό would tend to excuse and qualify, whereas καὶ seems to point to an aggravation of the offense. The meaning then is “be caught before he could escape.”—So Lightfoot but not Schaff.—G.A.] 148 [“Paul leaves it with every reader to regard himself included or not.”—Meyer—G.A.] 149 Viz., in a false step, εν τινι παραπτώματι. Galatians 6:1 85 Galatians 6:1