oJ poihvsa" ta; ajmf. e{n
] The two providential systems under which the nations and the people lived up to the Coming of Christ, the orders of Nature (comp. Rom. 2:14 ff.) and of the Law, are first noticed, and then the corresponding men (vs. 15). Christ removed the partition between the systems, which became enmity between the peoples, and united both men in Himself.
to; mesovtoicon tou' fragmou'
] Latt.
medium parietem maceriae
(
sepis
). For
fragmov"
see Matt. 21:33 and parallels. The word
mesovtoicon
is probably suggested by the Chel (
lyje
, H2658) or partition which separated the Court of the Gentiles from the Temple proper. The
fragmov"
was the
mesovtoicon
: for this use of the genitive see Eph. 6:14 note.
luvsa"
] Comp. John 2:19
luvsate to;n nao;n tou'ton
. Acts 27:41; 2 Pet. 3:10 ff.; 1 John 3:8
i{na luvsh/ ta; e[rga tou' diabovlou
.
15. th;n e[cqran ] The Fall brought to men a twofold enmity, an enmity between themselves and an enmity towards GOD (Eph. 2:16). The Law brought both into clear light. It revealed Sin in those who received it (Rom. 7:7 ff.), and fixed a gulf between them and other men. Christ in His flesh, as has been well said, went behind the Law, and by fulfilling the will of GOD (Heb. 10:5 ff.), of which the Law was an imperfect symbol, abolished it, offering to men the pattern and the power of the freedom of perfect obedience. That which was a barrier between heathenism and Judaism became necessarily a cause of active enmity between Gentile and Jew. ejn th'/ sarkiv ] Under the conditions of our mortal life. Comp. Col. 1:22 to; sw'ma th'" sarko;" aujtou' , the body which answered to these conditions. to;n novmon tw'n ejnt. ejn dovgm .] Comp. Heb. 7:16 kata; novmon ejntolh'" sarkivnh" . The addition ejn dovgmasin defines the commandments as specific, rigid, and outward, fulfilled in external obedience (Lk. 2:1; Acts 16:4; 17:7; Col. 2:14 (20)). katarghvsa" ] Latt. evacuans ( destituens ). The Law was abolished, annulled, because it was fulfilled, and taken up into something wider and deeper (Matt. 5:17 f.; compare 2 Cor. 3:14. In this sense St Paul can say (Rom. 3:31) novmon ou\n katargou'men dia; th'" pivstew" mh; gevnoito, ajlla; novmon iJstavnomen . The phrase used by him in 1 Cor. 13:11 kathvrghka ta; tou' nhpivou presents the thought very vividly. The words, the conceptions, the reasoning of the child are valid for the child. But by a normal development they pass away and are lost in the ripe judgments of the man.
That which is complete in the Divine act may be yet future in historic realisation. Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death (2 Tim. 1:10
katarghvsanto" me;n to;n qavnaton
...), and yet we see not yet all things put under Him (Heb. 2:8): we wait till the Father hath put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that is abolished is death (1 Cor. 15:26
e[scato" ejcqro;" katargei'tai oJ qavnato"
). So we look in patience for the fulfilment of the Divine will in other things, sure of the final issue (1 Cor. 1:28
i{na ta; o[nta katarghvsh/
. Rom. 6:6
i{na katarghqh'/ to; sw'ma th'" aJmartiva"
. Heb. 2:14
i{na dia; touv qanavtou katarghvsh/ to;n to; kravto" e[conta tou' qanavtou, tou'tj e[sti to;n diavbolon
).
i{na tou;" duvo
] The object of Christ in abolishing that which divided men was twofold: (1) that He might unite the two bodies, the two men in one new man, and
(2) that He might reconcile both to God (Eph. 2:16). This object He gained, though the result is not open to our vision. Humanity is in Him one new man. The enmity is slain, though we live among the fruits of its earlier vitality.
The abrupt, unprepared, transition from ta; ajmfovtera to tou;" duvo , from the systems to the men who lived under them, and the gathering up of those two bodies of men into two representative men is a most instructive illustration of the thought of