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toward them that are without, buying up the opportunity. Wise conduct in some degree disarms opposition and makes it easier to obtain our end.

17. dia; tou'to ...] For this reason , because the danger is great and the need of walking carefully is urgent,... do not fall to a lower level, but....

For mh; givnesqe see Eph. 5:7 note. Such degeneracy is noticed Heb. 5:11 nwqroi; gegovnate tai'" ajkoai'" ; 6:12 i{na mh; nwqroi; gevnhsqe .

[Afrwn , as distinguished from a[sofo" , expresses a want of practical judgment: 1 Cor. 15:36; 1 Pet. 2:15. Compare 1:8 note.
sunivete tiv to; q. t. k. ] understand by careful consideration of the circumstances in each case what the will of the Lord is , which it is your purpose to recognise and to fulfil. Generally we read to; qevl. tou' qeou' Eph. 6:6; 1 Thess. 4:3; Heb. 10:36; 1 Pet. 2:15, & c. But to; qevl. tou' kurivou is found Acts 21:14.

18. kai; mh; meq .] The transition to a particular precept is abrupt. But the precept affects the whole temper of the Christian like the teaching of Eph. 5:15-17. It expresses in the most striking form the necessity of guarding carefully the completeness of self-control in the times of highest exaltation. Men naturally seek for times of keener life in which feeling, thought, expression are quickened. This is good, but do not, St Paul says, look for your exhilaration from unlawful sources. Be not drunken with wine, in which indulgence is not healthy excitement but riot, but be filled in spirit : seek a loftier inspiration: let your highest faculty, not your lowest, be richly supplied with that which you crave, so that its especial powers are called into play. It is assumed that the Spirit of GOD can alone satisfy the spirit of man.
ajswtiva ] Latt. luxuria ( lascivia ). The word occurs Tit. 1:6; 1 Pet. 4:4. Compare Arist. Eth. N. 4.1, 4 f.
plhrou'sqe ] be filled , that is, let your utmost capacities be rightly satisfied: find the completest fulfilment of your nature. For this absolute sense of plhrou'sqai compare Eph. 3:19 (1:23); Phil. 4:18; Col. 2:10.
ejn pneuvmati is opposed to ejn sarkiv . 19-21. The intenser quickening of the higher life shews itself in many ways, in the joy of intercourse, in personal feeling, in thanksgiving to GOD, in mutual consideration.

19. Men whose spirit is kindled by noble emotion express themselves in the highest forms of speech, and their hearts are in harmony with their words. lalou'nte" eJautoi'" ] Vulg. loquentes vobismet ipsis. The Christian congregation as Christian joins in the various forms of praise; and the same strains which set forth aspects of GOD'S glory elevate the feelings of those who join in them.

In the earliest picture of a Christian service which has been preserved (Plin. epist. 10.97) Christians in the reign of Trajan (A.D. 98-117) are described as ‘soliti stata die ante lucem convenire carmenque Christo, quasi Deo, dicere secum invicem.’

This ‘divine music,’ however, is not to be confined to religious assemblies
y. kai; u{. kai; wj/. pn .] Jerome after Origen says: Quid intersit inter psalmum et hymnum et canticum in Psalterio plenissime discimus. Nunc autem breviter hymnos esse dicendum, qui fortitudinem et majestatem praedicant Dei et ejusdem vel beneficia vel facta mirantur.... Psalmi autem proprie ad ethicum locum pertinent, ut
per organum corporis quid faciendum sit et quid vitandum noverimus. Qui vero de superioribus disputat et concentum mundi omniumque creaturarum ordinem atque concordiam subtilis disputator eduxerit, iste spirituale canticum canit.

The Codex Alex. A includes a rudimentary collection of Psalms, Canticles and

alone.


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