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indeed the judgment of God (Gen. 27:33, 37): dh'lon ga;r o{ti kai; oJ path;r kata; qeo;n ajpedokivmasen aujtovn (Theophlct.).

For ajpodokimavzein see 1 Pet. 2:4; Luke 19:22. met. ga;r t. oujc eu|ren ] for he found no place of repentance. The son who had sacrificed his right could not undo the past, and it is this only which is in question. No energy of sorrow or self-condemnation, however sincere, could restore to him the prerogative of the first-born. The consideration of the forgiveness of his sin against God, as distinct from the reversal of the temporal consequences of his sin, lies wholly without the argument.

The clause is to be taken parenthetically: Esau was rejected —his claim to the blessing was disallowed— for he found no place of repentance—though he sought the blessing earnestly with tears. Equally abrupt parentheses are found Heb. 12:21; 13:17.

‘A place of repentance’ is an opportunity for changing a former decision so that the consequences which would have followed from it if persisted in follow no longer. The repentance in such a case corresponds with the particular effects under consideration. It would be equally true to say that in respect of the privileges of the first-born which Esau had sold, he found no place for repentance, and that in respect of his spiritual relation to God, if his sorrow was sincere, he did find a place for repentance.

The phrase locus poenitentiae is so used by the Roman jurists. A passage quoted by Wetstein (Ulpian ap. Corp. J. C. Dig. XL. Tit. 7:3 § 13) is instructive, and offers a close parallel. A slave is to have his freedom if he pays ten aurei to his master's heir on three several days. He offers them the first day and they are refused; and again on the second and third days with the same result. The heir has no power of refusing to receive the payment, and therefore the slave, having done his part, is free. But a case is proposed where the slave has only ten aurei in all. They have been refused on the first and second days: will they avail for the third payment? The answer is in the affirmative: puto sufficere haec eadem et poenitentiae heredi locum non esse: quod et Pomponius probat.

The last words of Pliny's letter to Trajan on the Christians are: ex quo facile est opinari quae turba hominum emendari possit, si sit locus poenitentiae ( Epp. 10.97). Comp. Liv. 44.10.

Metanoiva" tovpo" is found Wisd. 12:10 krivnwn kata; bracu; ejdivdou" tovpon metanoiva" . Clem. ad Cor. 1.7 metanoiva" tovpon e[dwken oJ despovth" toi'" boulomevnoi" ejpistrafh'nai ejpj aujtovn . Tat. c. Graec. 15 hJ tw'n daimovnwn uJpovstasi" oujk e[cei metanoiva" tovpon : th'" ga;r u{lh" kai; th'" ponhriva" eijsi;n ajpaugavsmata Constit. Apost. 2.38; v. 19. Comp. Acts 25:1 tovpo" ajpologiva" .

The rendering ‘ he (Esau) found in Isaac no place for change of mind , though he sought it (the change of mind) earnestly—that is, he found his father firmly resolved to maintain what he had said,—is equally against the language and the argument.

The aujthvn in the last clause can only be referred to eujlogivan . The phrase ejkzhtei'n metavnoian would be very strange, and if the writer had wished to express this form of thought, he would have said aujtovn with reference to metanoiva" tovpon , so that the object of ejkzhtei'n and euJrivskein might be the same. The reference to eujlogivan on the other hand seems to be pointed by meta; dakruvwn ejkz. Gen. 27:38 ajnebovhsen fwnh'/ jHsau' kai;


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