Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Acts 20:32

καὶ τὰ νῦν, see above on Acts 4:29. παρατίθ., cf. Acts 14:23. τῷ λόγῳ τῆς χ. αὐτοῦ : as in the fourth Gospel, John 1:14-17, so here and in the Epistle to the Ephesians, we find great stress laid on χάρις, but we cannot conclude with Stier and others that in the word λόγος we have any reference here to the Word of St. John's Gospel, although the similarity between St. John's doctrine of the Word and St. Paul's conception of our Lord's Person is very close elsewhere; the thought here is however closely akin to that of St.James 1:21 (Hebrews 4:12). In his earliest Epistle the Apostle had spoken of the Word, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, ὅς καὶ ἐνεργεῖται ἐν ὑμῖν. The Word here is able to build up and to give, etc., which certainly seems to ascribe to it a quasi-personal character, even more so than in 2 Timothy 3:15, where the Apostle uses a somewhat similar phrase of the O.T. Scriptures, τὰ δυνάμενά (the same verb as here) σε σοφίσαι εἰς σωτηρίαν κ. τ. λ. The same phrase as here occurs in Acts 14:3, which points to its derivation from one imbued with Paul's words and habits of thought, if not from the Apostle himself (Alford). Weiss and others refer τῷ δυν. to τῷ Θεῷ (Κυρίῳ, see critical note), cf. Romans 16:25; Ephesians 3:20; Galatians 3:21, on the ground that although ἐποικοδομῆσαι (οἰκοδ.) may refer to λόγος, yet the λόγος cannot be said δοῦναι κληρ. To the latter phrase Bethge, p. 158, strives to find some Scriptural analogies in the work attributed to ὁ λόγος, cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18; John 12:48. But it is best and simplest on the whole to regard the entire phrase τῷ Θ. καὶ τῷ λ. as one, “quasi una notio sunt; agit enim Deus per verbum suum,” Blass; so Page. ἐποικοδ., Ephesians 2:20, in the passive, see critical note. Whether we read the compound or the simple verb, the metaphor of building is prominent in Ephesians 2:21; Ephesians 4:12; Ephesians 4:16; Ephesians 4:29, as also in 1 Cor., cf. 1 Corinthians 3:10 (2), 1 Corinthians 3:2; 1 Corinthians 3:14; 1Co 3:9; 1 Corinthians 14:3; 1 Corinthians 14:5; 1Co 14:12; 1 Corinthians 14:26, and cf. 2 Corinthians 5:1; 2 Corinthians 10:8; 2Co 12:19; 2 Corinthians 13:10. See note above on Acts 9:31. τὴν κληρ., Acts 7:5, see note; nowhere else in Acts, cf. for the thought Ephesians 3:18; Ephesians 1:11; and words elsewhere spoken by St. Paul, Acts 26:18; the word itself occurs three times in Ephesians 1:14; Ephesians 1:18; Ephesians 5:5. In Ephesians 3:18 we have closely conjoined with κληρ. the ἡ βασιλ. τοῦ χ., cf. St. Paul's words Acts 20:25 above. The word is frequent in Psalms of Solomon, cf. Acts 14:6-7, where the inheritance of the saints is contrasted with the inheritance of sinners in the Messianic consummation, and also Acts 15:11-12; Acts 17:26; see further on the word, Kennedy, p. 100.

Continues after advertising

BibliaPlus

Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Acts 20:32

Old Testament

New Testament