Aijguvptw/
.
lalei'sqai
] 1:1 f.; 3:5; 12:25. The addition of the verb calls attention to the present preaching, and to the fact that this is based on the original preaching of Christ.
dia; tou' k.
]
through the Lord
as the Messenger of the Father (Heb. 1:2). Vulg.
per dominum.
Comp. 5:2
oJ dij ajgg. lal. l.
Contrast
lalei'sqai uJpov
Luke 2:18; Acts 13:45; 16:14; 17:19; and
lalei'sqai parav
Luke 1:45.
tou' kurivou
] not
tou' kurivou hJmw'n
. Compare Heb. 12:14. The idea is of the Sovereign Majesty of Christ in Himself. Contrast 7:14, 13:20, 8:2.
uJpo; tw'n ajk.
] by the immediate hearers: Luke 1:2. Contrast 1 John 1:1. Though St Paul was not a hearer of Christ in the flesh, yet it is scarcely conceivable that he should have placed himself thus in contrast with those who were: Gal. 1:12; and if the writer was a disciple of St Paul he must refer to other teachers also.
eij" hJm. ejbeb.
] was brought unto usinto our midstand confirmed to us. Vulg.
in nos confirmata est.
The use of the preposition suggests an interval between the first preaching and the writer's reception of the message. It is to be noticed that the salvation and not merely the message of it (Acts 13:26) was confirmed: the salvation was shewn to be real in the experience of those who received it.
eij" hJma'"
] Gal. 3:14; John 8:26; Rom. 8:18; Acts 2:22; 1 Pet. 1:4, 25. Compare Moulton's Winer, p. 776.
ejbebaiwvqh
] Compare (Mk.) 16:20; Rom. 15:8. Heb. 2:4. The divine witness to the salvation of the Gospel is both continuous and manifold. The writer appeals to a succession of forms in which it was manifested in his experience and in that of those whom he addressed.
. Miracles (
shmei'a, tevrata
).
. Powers, outwardly shewn in action (
poikivlai dunavmei"
).
. Endowments, which might be purely personal and unobserved ( pn. aJg. merismoi'" ).
There is a progress from that which is most striking outwardly to that which is most decisive inwardly. The outward phenomenon and the inward experience are both in different ways capable of various interpretations; but they are complementary. The one supplies that element of conviction which the other wants.
The passage is of deep interest as shewing the unquestioned reality of miraculous gifts in the early Church: and the way in which they were regarded as coordinate with other exhibitions of divine power.
Compare 2 Cor. 12:12; Gal. 3:5; Rom. 15:19; Heb. 6:4 f. sunepimarturou'nto" ] God also bearing witness with them to the truth of the word. This witness is present and not past. Vulg. contestante [O. L. adseverante ] Deo. The word is found here only in the Greek Scriptures.