The Expositor's Bible: The General Epistles of St. James and St. JudePlummer, Alfred
Religion
The Expositor's Bible: The General Epistles of St. James and St. Jude
Plummer, Alfred
Bible. James -- Commentaries; Bible. Jude -- Commentaries
We not unnaturally fancy that when
the Holy Spirit inspires a person to write for the spiritual
instruction of men throughout all ages, He also preserves him from
making mistakes as to the authenticity of writings of which he makes
use, or at least would preserve him from misleading others on such
points; but it does not follow that this natural expectation of ours
corresponds with the actual manner of the Spirit's working. "We follow
a very unsafe method if we begin by deciding in what way it seems to
us most fitting that God should guide His Church, and then try to
wrest facts into conformity with our preconceptions."[124]
[121] Dr. Field, in his most valuable _Otium Novicense_ (iii., pp.
154, 155), argues strongly in favour of translating κρίσιν ἐπενεγκεῖν
βλασφημίας, "bring against him an accusation of blasphemy;" and he
quotes various passages to show that κρίσιν ἐπιφέρειν may mean "to
bring an accusation against." But none of them have a genitive after
the κρίσιν, and the question still remains whether the genitive is
descriptive and may be treated as an adjective, or expresses the
subject-matter of the κρίσις. That the former is right seems to be
shown by the context (βλασφημῦσιν in vv. 8 and 10); the libertines do
to higher beings what an archangel did not dare to do to Satan; and
also by the parallel in 2 Peter ii. 11 (βλασφημον κρίσιν). And on what
grounds would Michael not dare to charge Satan with blasphemy? That he
did not dare to rail at him is intelligible.
[122] The variety of interpretation as regards these two expressions
is remarkable. Some, as Beza, Calvin, Erasmus, and Grotius, interpret
both "dominion" and "dignities" of civil magistrates; others, as
Hammond, include ecclesiastical rulers; others, as Lumby, interpret
both of Apostles and elders, and through them Christ; others, as
Ritsch, apply "dominion" to God or Christ, and "dignities" to good
angels. Wiesinger and Huther apply "dominion" to God or Christ, and
"dignities" to bad angels. Alford, Bengel, Brückner, and De Wette
explain both of good angels; while Schott apparently explains both of
bad angels. Œcumenius is not quite alone in suggesting that
"dignities" may mean the Old and New Testament; Plumptre would make
the word include both good and bad angels.
[123] The Latin fragment has been several times published since
Ceriani made it known in 1861; by Hilgenfeld in 1866 and 1876; by
Volkmar in 1867; Schmidt and Merx in 1868; and by Fritzsche in 1871. A
very full summary of literature on the subject is given in Schürer,
_The Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ_ (T. and T. Clark,
1886), Div. II., vol. iii., pp. 80-83. See also Herzog, Plitt, and
Hauck (_Real-Encykl._, vol. xii. pp. 352, 353).
[124] Salmon, _Introduction to the N.T._, 4th ed., Murray (1889), p. 528.
CHAPTER XXXV.
_THE DESCRIPTION CORRESPONDING TO CAIN:
THE LIBERTINES AT THE LOVE-FEASTS.
THE BOOK OF ENOCH._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account