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1:8 ( filovxeno" ). Filoxeniva occurs again Rom. 12:13. See also Herm. Mand.
viii. a[koue ... tw'n ajgaqw'n ta; e[rga a{ ge dei' ejrgavzesqai ... chvrai" uJphretei'n, ojrfanou;" kai; uJsteroumevnou" ejpiskevptesqai, ejx ajnagkw'n lutrou'sqai tou;" douvlou" tou' qeou', filovxenon ei\nai, ejn ga;r th'/ filoxeniva/ euJrivsketai ajgaqopoivhsi" ... Lucian mocks at the liberality of Christians to strangers: ejxhv/ei (Peregrinus) to; deuvteron planhsovmeno", iJkana; ejfovdia tou;" cristianou;" e[cwn, uJfj w|n doruforouvmeno" ejn a{pasin ajfqovnoi" h\n ( de morte Peregr. § 16; comp. §§ 12 f.).

The use of the phrase mh; ejpilanqavnesqe , compared with mimnhvskesqe , implies that the virtue was now being neglected: tou'to ga;r eijko;" ajpo; tw'n qlivyewn givnesqai (Chrys.).

There is a marked correspondence between filadelfiva and filoxeniva . Compare Rom. 12:10, 13.
dia; tauvth" ga;r ...] Comp. Gen. 18, 19; Philo, de Abr. § 22, i. pp. 16 f.
M. The form of the illustration seems to be that we only observe the outside surface of those whom we receive. More lies beneath than we can see. Christ indeed comes in the least of those who are welcomed in His name (Matt. 25:40, 45; John 13:20).

The idiomatic form of expression, e[laqon xenivsante" (Vulg. latuerunt quidam angelis hospitio receptis ) does not occur again in the N.T. or in the
LXX. Compare the use of
lanq . in the corresponding passage of Philo: oiJ de; (sc. oJdoiporou'nte" a[ndre" ) qeiotevra" o[nte" fuvsew" ejlelhvqeisan (l. c. § 22).

Primasius and Gregory ( Hom. xxiii. in Ev. § 2) (with some Latin copies) read placuerunt quidam [sc. Deo].

Heb. 13:3. Hospitality is the answer to a direct appeal. We must also seek for those who need our help, and whose circumstances withdraw their claims from our sight. Such sufferers may owe their distress either to direct persecution ( tw'n desmivwn ), or to the ‘changes and chances of this mortal life’ ( tw'n kakoucoumevnwn ). In both cases Christians must acknowledge the obligation of fellowship.
mimnhvskesqe ] Remember ‘in precibus, in beneficiis’ (Bengel). Compare Heb. 10:32 ajnamimnhvskesqe . Elsewhere mnhmoneuvein , 13:7; Gal. 2:10.

For tw'n desmivwn compare Heb. 10:34. wJ" sundedemevnoi ] as bound with them , rather than as if you were bound with them. The participle appears to give the reason in this as in the following clause ( wJ" ... o[nte" ...). The members of the Christian body are so closely united that the suffering of one is really, though it may be unconsciously, shared by all. This is the ideal which each believer must strive to realise.

Compare 2 Cor. 11:29 tiv" ajsqenei' kai; oujk ajsqenw' ; tiv" skandalivzetai kai; oujk ejgw; purou'mai ;

Non sint vobis oblivioni quamvis teneantur in abditis reclusi (Herv.). Public intercession for ‘prisoners’ has formed part of the Church service from the earliest times down to our own Litany.

The petition is found in the prayer which closes the Epistle of Clement: luvtrwsai tou;" desmivou" hJmw'n: ejxanavsthson tou;" ajsqenou'nta" : parakavleson tou;" ojligoyucou'nta" (c. lix).

So in the Apostolical Constitutions (8.10) the direction is given uJpe;r tw'n ejn metavlloi" kai; ejxorivai" kai; fulakai'" kai; desmoi'" o[ntwn dia; to; o[noma tou' kurivou dehqw'men . uJpe;r tw'n ejn pikra'/ douleiva/ kataponoumevnwn


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