Note 63 — Chapter XII

Ἐκ πίστως: "out of faith." The phrase has often met us in the Greek before. It calls for various renderings in various contexts; that given above seems best to paraphrase it here.

[64] See detached note, p. 140, for an account of the various reading here, ἔχωμεν εἰρήνην, "Let us have peace."

[65] Ἐσχήκαμεν: "we have had," "we have got."

[66] Καυχᾶσθαι, καύχησις: see above ii. 23, iii. 27, iv. 2.

[67] Ὑπομονὴ is more than "patience." By usage it implies "patience in action"; "perseverance."

[68] It is quite possible, of course, to explain ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ, grammatically, to mean "our love to God." And some, more mystically, explain it of God's faculty of love conveyed to us that we, with it, may love Him. But the following context, especially ver. 8, is clearly against such expositions. Verses 6-11 are in fact an explanation of the thought of ver. 5.

[69] The writer ventures to refer to his Commentary on Ephesians in The Cambridge Bible.

[70] Observe the aorist form of the participle.

[71] Ὑπὲρ is literally "over," and in itself imports simply "concern with"; as when we say that a man is busy "over" an important matter; as it were stooping over it, attending to it. Its special references depend altogether upon context and usage. In itself it neither teaches nor denies the doctrine of a vicarious and substitutionary work; ἀητὶ is the preposition which guarantees as true that great aspect of the Lord's death. But ὑπὲρ of course amply allows for such an application of its meaning, where the context suggests the idea.

[72] We incline more than formerly, though still with some doubt, to see a rising climax here, as indicated in the paraphrase, from δίκαιος to ὁ ἀγαθός.

[73] On the meaning of καταλλαγή see detached note, p. 141.

[74] Ἐλάβομεν: but the English perfect best represents the idea.