Against the promises (κατὰ τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν)

Does it follow from the difference between the law and the promises that they are in antagonism? Paul supposes this objection on the part of a Jewish Christian.

God forbid (μὴ γένοιτο)

See on Romans 3:4. This could only be true in case the law gave life, for life must come either through the promises or through the law. If the law is against the promises, and makes them invalid, it follows that life must come through the law, and therefore righteousness, without which there is no life, would verily (ὄντως), just as the Judaisers claim, be through the law.

By the law

Tisch., Rev. T., Weiss, retain ἐκ νόμου from, resulting from the law. WH. read ἐν νόμῳ in the law. The meaning is substantially the same with either reading: in the one case proceeding from, in the other residing in the law.

But it is not true that the law gives life, for the law, according to scripture, condemned all alike.

The scripture (ἡ γραφὴ)

Scripture is personified. See on Galatians 3:8.

Hath concluded (συνέκλεισεν)

Better, hath shut up, as a jailer. Only in Paul, with the exception of Luke 5:6. Frequent in lxx. Not included with others, but confined as within an enclosure, as Luke 5:6, of the net enclosing the fish. Comp. Exodus 14:3; Joshua 6:1; 1 Macc. 4:31. Scripture, in its divine utterances on the universality and guilt of sin, is conceived as a jailer who shuts all up in sin as in a prison. Comp. Romans 3:10-19; Romans 11:32.

All (τὰ πάντα)

Neuter, all things collectively: equals all men. For the neuter in a similar comprehensive sense, see 1 Corinthians 1:27; Colossians 1:20; Ephesians 1:10.

That (ἵνα)

In order that. That which is represented through a personification as the act of Scripture, is the act of God, according to a definite purpose that the promise should be inherited by believers only, through faith in Jesus Christ.

The promise (ἡ ἐπαγγελία)

That is, the thing promised; the inheritance, Galatians 3:18.

By faith (ἐκ πίστεως)

Const. with the promise, not with might be given. The promised gift which is the result of faith. The false teachers claimed that it was the result of works.

To them that believe (τοῖς πιστεύουσιν)

continued...

But the office of the law as a jailer was designed to be only temporary, until the time when faith should come. It was to hold in custody those who were subjected to sin, so that they should not escape the consciousness of their sins and of their liability to punishment.

Faith (τὴν πίστιν)

The subjective faith in Christ which appropriates the promise. See on Galatians 1:23.

We were kept (ἐφρουρούμεθα)

Better, kept in ward, continuing the figure in shut up, Galatians 3:22. The imperfect tense indicates the continued activity of the law as a warder.

Under the law (ὑπὸ νόμον)

Const. with were kept in ward, not with shut up. We were shut up with the law as a warder, not for protection, but to guard against escape. Comp. Wisd. 17:15. The figure of the law as pedagogue (Galatians 3:24) is not anticipated. The law is conceived, not as the prison, but as the warder, the Lord or despot, the power of sin (see 1 Corinthians 15:56; Romans 7), by whom those who belong to sin are kept under lock and key - under moral captivity, without possibility of liberation except through faith.

Shut up unto the faith (συνκλειόμενοι εἰς τὴν πίστιν)

Εἰς unto or for expresses the object of keeping in ward. It is not temporal, until, which is a rare usage in N.T., but with a view to our passing into the state of faith.

Which should afterwards be revealed (μέλλουσαν - ἀποκαλυφθῆναι)

The position of μέλλουσαν emphasizes the future state of things to which the earlier conditions pointed. The faith was first revealed at the coming of Christ and the gospel.

Wherefore (ὥστε)

Better, so that. Theological consequence of the previous statements.

Our schoolmaster (παιδαγωγὸς ἡμῶν)

Our. Paul speaks as a Jew of Jews especially. Schoolmaster (παιδαγωγὸς P) is an error. The word means an overseer or guardian. See on 1 Corinthians 4:15. Tutor (Rev.) is defensible on the ground of etymology, tueri to look upon, thence to guard. In civil law a tutor is a person legally appointed for the care of the person and property of a minor. So Bacon (Adv. of Learning, ii.:19): "the first six kings being in truth as tutors of the state of Rome in the infance thereof." The later use of the word, however, in the sense of instructor, has so completely supplanted the earlier, that the propriety of the Revisers' rendering is questionable. The law is here represented, not as one who conducts to the school of Christ; for Christ is not represented here as a teacher, but as an atoner; but rather as an overseer or guardian, to keep watch of those committed to its care, to accompany them with its commands and prohibitions, and to keep them in a condition of dependence and restraint, thus continually bringing home to them the consciousness of being shut up in sins, and revealing sin as positive transgression.

For ye are all the children of God (πάντες γὰρ υἱοὶ θεοῦ ἐστὲ)

Better, ye are all sons of God. Note 1. The change of person, ye are. Comp. we, our, us, Galatians 3:23, Galatians 3:24, Galatians 3:25. He now addresses the Galatians, who were mostly Gentiles, and includes all Christians, Jewish and Gentile. 2. The emphasis is on sons of God rather than on all; for his object is to show that, after the coming of faith, they are no more under the care of a guardian. Ὑιοὶ signifies sons of full age (comp. Galatians 4:1) who have outgrown the surveillance of the guardian; so that sons is emphasized as against children. Paul describes Christians both as τέκνα θεοῦ children of God (Romans 8:16, Romans 8:21; Romans 9:8; Philippians 2:15), and υἱοὶ θεοῦ sons of God (Romans 8:14, Romans 8:19; Romans 9:26). Both τέκνον and υἱός signify a relation based on parentage. The common distinction between τέκνον as emphasizing natural relationship, and υἱός as marking legal or ethical status, should not be pressed. In lxx both words are applied ethically to Israel as God's beloved people. See Isaiah 30:1; Wisd. 16:21; Joel 2:23; Zechariah 9:13; and Isaiah 63:6; Deuteronomy 14:1; Wisd. 9:7; 12:19. John never uses υἱός to describe the relation of Christians to God; but he attaches both the ethical relation and that of conferred privilege, as well as that of birth, to τέκνον. See John 1:12; 1 John 3:1, 1 John 3:10; John 1:13; John 3:3, John 3:7; 1 John 3:9; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 5:1, 1 John 5:4, 1 John 5:18. Paul often regards the Christian relation from a legal point of view as υἱοθεσία adoption, a word used only by him. See Romans 8:14, Romans 8:17, we have both υἱοὶ and τέκνα, and both in the ethical sense. In Romans 9:8; Ephesians 5:1, the ethical sense. 3. In Christ Jesus. Const. with faith. The article before πίστεως faith may point back to the faith previously mentioned, or may have, as so often, a possessive force, your faith.

Were baptized into Christ (εἰς Χριστὸν ἐβαπτίσθητε)

See on Matthew 28:19. Not in relation to Christ (Meyer), but into spiritual union and communion with him. Comp. Romans 6:3 (see note); 1 Corinthians 12:12, 1 Corinthians 12:13, 1 Corinthians 12:27. Paul here conceives baptism, not as a mere symbolical transaction, but as an act in which believers are put into mystical union with the crucified and risen Lord. Comp. Romans 6:3-11.

(You) put on Christ (Χριστὸν ἐνεδύσασθε)

The phrase only here and Romans 13:14. The figurative use of the verb occurs only once in the Gospels, Luke 24:49, but often in Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:53; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10, Colossians 3:12, etc. Chrysostom (Hom. xiii. on Ephesians) remarks, "We say of friends, one puts on the other, meaning thereby much love and unceasing fellowship." In lxx quite often in the figurative sense, as Judges 6:34; 1 Chronicles 12:18; 2 Chronicles 6:41; Job 8:22; Job 29:14; Psalm 108:1-13 :18. Similarly in class., Plato, Rep. 620, of Thersites putting on the form of a monkey: Xen. Cyr. ii. 1, 13, of insinuating one's self into the minds of hearers. So the Lat. induere: Cicero, De Off. iii. 10, 43, to assume the part of a judge: Tac. Ann. xvi. 28, to take on the part of a traitor or enemy. To put on Christ implies making his character, feelings and works our own. Thus Chrysostom: "If Christ is Son of God, and thou hast put him on, having the Son in thyself and being made like unto him, thou hast been brought into one family and one nature." And again: "He who is clothed appears to be that with which he is clothed."

With this putting on of Christ, the distinctions of your ordinary social relations - of nation, condition, sex - vanish. Comp. Romans 10:12; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Colossians 3:11.

There is (ἔνι)

Only in Paul (1 Corinthians 6:5; Colossians 3:11) and James 1:17. Ἔνι is the abbreviation of ἔνεστι there is in or among.

Male or female (ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ)

Comp. Matthew 19:4. He said "Jew nor Greek"; "bond nor free." Here he says "male and (καὶ) female"; perhaps because political and social distinctions are alterable, while the distinction of sex is unalterable, though absorbed in the new relation to Christ. Yet see Colossians 3:11, where we find, "not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision."

Ye are all one

One moral personality. The individual differences are merged in the higher unity into which all are raised by their common life in Christ. This is the one new man, Ephesians 2:15.

Abraham's seed

As being one with Christ. See Galatians 3:7, Galatians 3:16. In Romans 4 Paul shows that Abraham was justified by faith, and was thus constituted the spiritual father of all believers in Christ, whether circumcised or uncircumcised. The purpose of God in making the inheritance of the promise dependent on faith was that the promise might be sure to all the seed. Abraham, he says, is "the father of us all" (Romans 4:16). This spiritual paternity does away with the current Jewish notion of physical paternity. Physical relationship with Abraham is of no significance in the economy of salvation. The apostle "discovers the basis of Christian universalism in the very life of him in whose person theocratic particularism was founded. He has demonstrated the existence of a time when he represented Gentilism, or, to speak more properly, mankind in general; and it was during this period, when he was not yet a Jew, but simply a man, that he received salvation" (Godet).

Now I say (λέγω δὲ)

Introducing a continued, explanatory discussion. Comp. Galatians 3:17; Galatians 5:16; 1 Corinthians 1:12.

The heir (ὁ κληρονόμος)

See on inheritance, 1 Peter 1:4. The article is generic as in the mediator, Galatians 3:20.

A child (νήπιος)

A minor. See on 1 Corinthians 3:1. Used by Paul in contrast with τέλειος full grown. See Ephesians 4:13; 1 Corinthians 14:20; Philippians 3:15. The Jews called proselytes or novices babes. See Romans 2:20.

Lord of all

Legally, by right of birth, though not actually.

Tutors (ἐπιτρόπους)

Better, guardians. See on Luke 8:3. Only here in Paul. A general term, covering all to whom supervision of the child is intrusted, and should not be limited to παιδαγωγός (Galatians 3:24). See 2 Macc. 11:1; 13:2; 14:2.

Governors (οἰκονόμους)

Better stewards. Lat. dispensatores. More special than guardians, signifying those who had charge of the heir's property. See on Luke 16:1. In later Greek it was used in two special senses: 1. The slave whose duty it was to distribute the rations to the other slaves: so Luke 12:42. 2. The land-steward: so Luke 16:1. Comp. Romans 16:23, ὁ οἰκονόμος τῆς πόλεως, commonly rendered city-treasurer: A.V. chamberlain. In Lucian, Alex. 39, the Roman procurators, or fiscal administrators, are called Καίσαρος οἰκονόμοι; comp. 1 Esdr. 4:49; Esther 8:9. The dispensator in the Roman household had charge of the accounts and made the payments (see Cicero, ad Att. xi. 1; Juv. Sat i. 91). He was commonly a slave. Christian teachers are called "stewards of the mysteries of God" and "of the grace of God" (1 Corinthians 4:1; 1 Peter 4:10), as those who have received the counsels of God and impart them to men. A bishop or overseer is also called "a steward of God" (Titus 1:7).

The time appointed (προθεσμίας)

N.T.o. olxx. In Athenian law the term limited for bringing actions and prosecutions. Προθεσμίας νόμος a statute of limitations. It was also applied to the time allowed a defendant for paying damages, after the expiration of which, if he had not paid, he was called ὑπερήμερος, or ἐκπρόθεσμος, or ὑπερπρόθεσμος one who had gone over his day of payment. Whether Paul's figure assumes that the father is dead or living is a point which does not affect his argument. It is not easy to decide. As Alford justly remarks: "the antitype breaks through the type and disturbs it, as is the case wherever the idea of inheritance is spiritualised." Προθεσμία an appointed time for the termination of the minority, would seem to imply that the father is conceived as living; since, if he were dead, that matter would be regulated by statute.

We

Not Jewish Christians only, but all Christians. For in Galatians 4:5, Jewish Christians are distinctly characterized as those under the law, while the following we, subjects of Christian adoption, points back to the we in this verse. Again, elements of the world is too wide a conception to suit the law, which was given to Israel only.

Elements of the world (τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου)

For the word στοιχεῖα in N.T. see Colossians 2:8, Colossians 2:20; Hebrews 5:12; 2 Peter 3:10, 2 Peter 3:12.

See on 2 Peter 3:10. Interpretations differ. 1. Elements of knowledge, rudimentary religious ideas. See Hebrews 5:12. The meaning of world will then be, the material as distinguished from the spiritual realm. Elements of the world will be the crude beginnings of religion, suited to the condition of children, and pertaining to those who are not Christians: elementary religious truths belonging to mankind in general. Thus the Jewish economy was of the world as appealing to the senses, and affording only the first elements of a spiritual system. The child-heir was taught only faint outlines of spiritual truth, and was taught them by worldly symbols. 2. Elements of nature - of the physical world, especially the heavenly bodies. See 2 Peter 3:10, 2 Peter 3:12; Wisd. 7:17. According to this explanation, the point would be that the ordering of the religious life was regulated by the order of nature; "the days, months, times," etc. (Galatians 4:10), as well as the heathen festivals, being dependent on the movements of the heavenly bodies. This was the patristic view (Ambrose, Augustine, Chrysostom, Theodoret). 3. The elements of the world are the personal, elemental spirits. This seems to be the preferable explanation, both here and in Colossians 2:8. According to Jewish ideas, all things had their special angels. In the Book of Jubilees, chapter 2, appear, the angel of the presence (comp. Isaiah 63:9); the angel of adoration; the spirits of the wind, the clouds, darkness, hail, frost, thunder and lightning, winter and spring, cold and heat. In the Book of Enoch, 82:10-14, appear the angels of the stars, who keep watch that the stars may appear at the appointed time, and who are punished if the stars do not appear (18:15). In the Revelation of John we find four angels of the winds (14:18); the angel of the waters (16:5); the angel in the sun (19:17). In Hebrews 1:7 we read, "who maketh his angels winds." Paul also recognizes elemental forces of the spiritual world. The thorn is "a messenger of Satan" (2 Corinthians 12:7); Satan prevents his journey to Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 2:18); the Corinthian offender is to be "delivered to Satan" (1 Corinthians 5:5); the Kingdom of God is opposed by "principalities and powers" (1 Corinthians 15:24); Christians wrestle against "the rulers of the darkness of this world; against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the upper regions" (Ephesians 6:12). In this passage the elements of the world are compared with overseers and stewards. This would seem to require a personal interpretation. In Galatians 4:8, "did service to them which by nature are no gods," appears to be equals "in bondage under the elements," suggesting a personal interpretation of the latter. The Galatians had turned again to the observance of times and seasons (Galatians 4:10), which were controlled by the heavenly bodies and their spirits.

Fullness of the time (τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου)

The moment by which the whole pre-messianic period was completed. Comp. Ephesians 1:10. It answers to the time appointed of the Father (Galatians 4:2). For πλήρωμα see on John 1:16. The meaning of the word is habitually passive - that which is completed, full complement. There are frequent instances of its use with the genitive, as "fullness of the earth, blessing, time, the sea, Christ," in all which it denotes the plenitude or completeness which characterizes the nouns.

Sent forth (ἐξαπέστειλεν)

From himself: from his heavenly glory. This does not mean that God then, for the first time, embodied what had previously been a mere ideal, but that he sent forth a preexisting person. See Philippians 2:6.

Made of a woman (γενόμενον)

Or born. Repeated, and expressing the fact that Christ became a man, as distinguished from his prehistoric form of being.

Under the law

The earthly being of Christ began under the law. He was not only of human birth, but of Jewish birth; subjected to all the ordinances of the law, as circumcision for instance, like any other Jewish boy.

To redeem (ἵνα ἐξαγοράσῃ)

See on Galatians 3:13. To redeem from the dominion and curse of the law. The means of redemption is not mentioned. It cannot be merely the birth of Christ of a woman and under the law. These are mentioned only as the preliminary and necessary conditions of his redeeming work. The means or method appears in Galatians 3:13.

We might receive (ἀπολάβωμεν)

Not receive again or back, as Luke 15:27, for adoption was something which men did not have before Christ; but receive from the giver.

The adoption (τὴν υἱοθεσίαν)

Po. See on Romans 8:15, and comp. Romans 9:4; Ephesians 1:5. Not sonship, but sonship conferred.

Because ye are sons (ὅτι)

For ὅτι in this sense at the beginning of a clause see Romans 9:7; 1 Corinthians 12:15; John 15:19; John 20:29. The emphasis is on sons. The spirit would not be given is ye were not sons. Others take ὅτι as demonstrative, as a proof that ye are sons; but examples of such usage are wanting. It is not a proof of the fact of sonship that the apostle is giving, but a consequence of it. Comp. Romans 8:16, where the witness of the Spirit attests the sonship.

The Spirit of his Son

The Holy Spirit which animated Jesus in his human life, and which, in the risen Christ, is the life-principle of believers. See 1 Corinthians 15:45, and comp. Romans 8:9-11. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ, Romans 8:9, Romans 8:10, where Paul uses Spirit of God, Spirit of Christ and Christ as convertible terms. The phrase Spirit of Jesus Christ only Philippians 1:19. In John 3:34 Christ is represented as dispensing the Spirit. He is fully endowed with the Spirit (Mark 1:10; John 1:32): he sends the Spirit from the Father to the disciples, and he is the burden of the Spirit's testimony (John 15:26; John 16:7, John 16:9, John 16:10, John 16:15). The Paraclete is given in answer to Christ's prayer (John 14:16). Christ identifies his own coming and presence with those of the Spirit (John 14:17, John 14:18). Paul identifies him personally with the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Our hearts

Note the interchange of persons: we might receive, ye are sons, our hearts. Comp. Romans 7:4.

Crying (κρᾶζον)

A strong word, expressing deep emotion. The verb originally represents the sound of a croak or harsh scream; thence, generally, an inarticulate cry; an exclamation of fear or pain. The cry of an animal. So Aristoph. Knights, 1017, of the barking of a dog: 285, 287, of two men in a quarrel, trying to bawl each other down: Frogs, 258, of the croaking of frogs. This original sense appears in N.T. usage, as Matthew 14:26; Matthew 15:23; Matthew 27:50; Mark 5:5, etc., and is recognized even where the word is used in connection with articulate speech, by adding to it the participles λέγων, λέγοντες saying, or διδάσκων teaching. See Matthew 8:29; Matthew 15:22; Mark 3:11; John 7:28, etc. In Mark 10:47 the inarticulate cry and the articulate utterance are distinguished. At the same time, the word is often used of articulate speech without such additions, as Mark 10:48; Mark 11:9; Mark 15:13, Mark 15:14; Luke 18:39; Acts 7:60; Acts 19:34; Romans 8:15. It falls into more dignified association in lxx, where it is often used of prayer or appeal to God, as Judges 3:9, 15; 4:3; 6:7; Psalm 21:2, 5; 27:1, 54:16; and in N.T., where it is applied to solemn, prophetic utterance, as Romans 9:27; John 1:15, and is used of Jesus himself, as John 7:28, John 7:37; John 12:44, and of the Holy Spirit, as here. The Spirit gives the inspiration of which the believer is the organ. In Romans 8:15 the statement is inverted. The believer cries under the power of the Spirit.

Abba, Father

Comp. Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15. Ὁ πατήρ the Father, is not added in order to explain the Aramaic Abba for Greek readers. Rather the whole phrase Ἁββά ὁ πατήρ had passed into the early Christian prayers, the Aramaic title by which Christ addressed his Father (Mark 14:36) being very early united with the Greek synonym. Such combinations of Hebrew and Greek addresses having the same meaning were employed in rabbinical writings. Comp. also Revelation 9:11; Revelation 12:9.

Servant (δοῦλος)

Bondservant. See on Matthew 20:26; see on Mark 9:35; see on Romans 1:1.

Then an heir (καὶ κληρονόμος)

Καὶ marks the logical sequence. Comp. Romans 8:17. The figure is based upon Roman, not upon Jewish, law. According to Roman law, all the children, sons and daughters, inherited alike. According to Jewish law, the inheritance of the sons was unequal, and the daughters were excluded, except where there were no male heirs. Thus the Roman law furnished a more truthful illustration of the privileges of Christians. Comp. Galatians 3:28.

Of God through Christ

The correct reading is διὰ θεοῦ through God, omitting Christ.

Over against their filial freedom in Christ, Paul sets their lapse into subjection to the elements of the world (Galatians 4:3).

Knew not God

See on 2 Thessalonians 1:8.

Ye did service (ἐδουλεύσατε)

Better, were in bondage or were slaves.

By nature (φύσει)

Not denying their existence (comp. 1 Corinthians 8:5) but their deity. Emphasis on by nature. Comp. 1 Corinthians 10:20.

Rather are known of God

Rather corrects the first statement, have known God, which might seem to attach too much to human agency in attaining the knowledge of God. The divine side of the process is thrown into the foreground by are known, etc. Known does not mean approved or acknowledged, but simply recognized. Saving knowledge is doubtless implied, but is not expressed in the word. The relation of knowledge between God and his sons proceeds from God. The Galatians had not arrived at the knowledge of God by intuition nor by any process of reasoning. "God knew them ere they knew him, and his knowing them was the cause of their knowing him" (Eadie). Comp. 1 Corinthians 13:12; 2 Timothy 2:19; Matthew 7:23. Dean Stanley remarks that "our knowledge of God is more his act than ours." If God knows a man, that fact implies an activity of God which passes over to the man, so that he, as the subject of God's knowledge, comes into the knowledge of God. In N.T. γινώσκειν often implies a personal relation between the knower and the known, so that knowledge implies influence. See 1 Corinthians 2:8; John 1:10; John 2:24; John 17:3. For a parallel to this interchange between the active and the passive, see Philippians 3:12.

How (πῶς)

"A question full of wonder" (Bengel). Comp. I marvel, Galatians 1:6.

Turn ye again (ἐπιστρέφετε πάλιν)

Better, the continuous present, are ye turning, as of a change still in progress. Comp. Galatians 1:6. Πάλιν again, according to N.T. usage, and corresponding with πάλιν ἄνωθεν in the following clause. Not back, which is the earlier sense and the usual classical meaning.

Weak and beggarly elements (ἀσθενῆ καὶ πτωχὰ στοιχεῖα)

For elements see on Galatians 4:3. For πτωχὰ beggarly, see on Matthew 5:3. The two adjectives express the utter impotence of these "elements" to do and to bestow what was done and given by God in sending his Son into the world. Comp. Romans 8:3; Hebrews 7:18.

Again (πάλιν ἄνωθεν)

Ἄνωθεν (ἄνω above) adds to πάλιν the idea of going back to the beginning. Its primary meaning is from above; thence, from the first, reckoning in a descending series. So Luke 1:3; Acts 26:5. Such combinations as this are not uncommon in N.T. and Class. See, for instance, Acts 18:21; Matthew 26:42; Acts 10:15; John 21:16. But these additions to πάλιν are not pleonastic. They often define and explain it. Thus, John 21:16, πάλιν marks the repetition of Jesus' question, δεύτερον the number of the repetition. He asked again, and this was the second time of asking.

Ye desire (θέλετε)

It was more than a mere desire. They were bent on putting themselves again into bondage. See on Matthew 1:19.

Ye observe (παρατήρεισθε)

See on Mark 3:2, and see on John 18:12, and comp. Joseph. Ant. 3:5, 5, παρατηρεῖν τὰς ἑβδομάδας to watch the weeks. The word denotes careful, scrupulous observance, an intent watching lest any of the prescribed seasons should be overlooked. A merely legal or ritual religion always develops such scrupulousness.

Days

Sabbaths, fast-days, feast-days, new moons. Comp. Romans 14:5, Romans 14:6; Colossians 2:16.

Months

Sacred months. Comp. Isaiah 66:23. In the preexilic time the months were mostly not named but numbered first, second, third, etc., and this usage appears also in the post-exilic writings of the O.T. Only four months had special names: the first, Abib, the ear month, which marked the beginning of harvest (Exodus 13:4; Exodus 23:15; Exodus 34:18): the second, Sif or Zv, the flower month (1 Kings 6:1, 1 Kings 6:37): the seventh, Ethanum, the month of streaming rivers fed by the autumnal rains (1 Kings 8:2): the eighth, Bul, the month of rain (1 Kings 6:38). In the post-exilic time names for all the months came into use, the most of which appear in the Palmyrene inscriptions and among the Syrians. According to the Talmud, the returning Jews brought these names from Babylon. The names of all are found in a month table discovered at Nineveh. Nsan corresponds to Abib (Nehemiah 2:1; Esther 3:7), answering to the latter part of March and April. Jjar answered to Ziv (Targ. 2 Chronicles 30:2), our May. Tisri to Ethanim, the seventh month of the ecclesiastical, and the first of the civil year, corresponding to October. Marcheschwan (see Joseph. Ant. 1:3, 3) answered to Bul and November. Tisri, being the seventh or sabbatical month, was peculiarly sacred, and the fourth (Sivan, June), fifth (Ab, August), and tenth (Tebeth, January) were distinguished by special fasts.

Times (καιροὺς)

Better, seasons. See on Matthew 12:1; see on Ephesians 1:10, and comp. Leviticus 23:4. The holy, festal seasons, as Passover Pentecost, Feast of Tabernacles. See 2 Chronicles 8:13.

Years (ἐνιαυτούς)

Sabbatical years, occurring every seventh year. Not years of Jubilee, which had ceased to be celebrated after the time of Solomon.

I am afraid of you (φοβοῦμαι ὑμᾶς)

Not a felicitous translation, though retained by Rev. Rather, "I am afraid for you or concerning you." The second ὑμᾶς is not attracted into the principal clause so as to read, "I am afraid lest I have bestowed labor," etc. The two clauses are distinct. I am afraid about you: then the reason for the fear is added, lest I have bestowed, etc.

Upon you (εἰς ὑμᾶς)

Lit. into you. The labor, though in vain, had born directly upon its object. See the same phrase Romans 16:6.

In vain (εἰκῇ)

Comp. Galatians 3:4; 1 Corinthians 15:2, and εἰς to no purpose, Philippians 2:16; 2 Corinthians 6:1; Galatians 2:2; 1 Thessalonians 3:5. After all my labor, you may return to Judaism. Luther says: "These words of Paul breathe tears."