《Eadie’s Commentary on Ephesians (Vol. )》(John Eadie) 04 Chapter Introduction Chapter 4

“Quid si scripsissem Mimos obscoena jocantes,

Qui vetiti semper crimen amoris habent,” etc.

τὰ οὐκ ἀνήκοντα—“which are not becoming things”-in opposition to the concluding clause in the previous verse. Another reading- ἃ οὐκ ἀνῆκεν-is supported by A, B, and C, while Chrysostom and Theodoret, following the reading in Romans 1:28, read τὰ μὴ καθήκοντα-but wrongly; for here the apostle refers to an objective reality. Winer, § 55, 5. Buttmann, Gram. des Neutest. Sprach. § 148, 7. Suidas defines ἀνῆκον by πρέπον. The Vulgate confines the connection of this clause to the term immediately preceding-scurrilitas quae ad rem non pertinet. All the three vices-but certainly, from the contrast in the following clause, the two previous ones - may be included. Such sins of the tongue are to be superseded by thanksgiving-

ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον εὐχαριστία, “but rather giving of thanks.” There is a meaning which may attach to εὐχαριστία, which is plausible, but appears to be wholly contrary to Pauline usage. It signifies, in the opinion of some, pleasant and grateful discourse, as opposed to that foolish and indecorous levity which the apostle condemns. Jerome says-Forsitan igitur gratiarum actio in hoc loco non ista nominata juxta quam gratias agimus Deo, sed juxta quam grati, sive gratiosi et salsi apud homines appellamur. So Clement of Alexandria - χαριεντιστέον τε οὐ γελωτοποιητέον. This opinion has been followed by Calvin, Cajetan, Heinsius, Salmasius, Hammond, Semler, Michaelis, Meier, and by Wahl, Wilke, and Bretschneider. However consonant to the context this interpretation may appear, it cannot be sustained by any analogies. Such examples as γυνὴ χάριτος or γυνὴ εὐχάριστος belong not to New Testament usage. We therefore prefer the ordinary signification, “thanksgiving,” and it is contrary to sound hermeneutical discipline on the part of Bullinger, Musculus, and Zanchius, to take the term in both acceptations. The verb usually supplied is ἔστω—“but let there be rather thanksgiving.” Examples of such brachylogy are numerous. Kühner, § 852, i.; Jelf, § 895; Winer, § 66, 1, 2. But why may not ὀνομαζέσθω still guide the construction? “Rather let thanksgiving be named”-let there be vocal expression to your grateful emotions. Bengel, justified by Stier, supplies ἀνήκει, which is not a probable supplement. For the apostolic idea of the duty of thanksgiving, the reader may compare Ephesians 5:20; Colossians 2:7; Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:18. The Christian life is one of continuous reception, which should prompt to continuous praise. Were this the ruling emotion, an effectual check should be given to such si ns of the tongue as are here condemned.

Verse 5

(Ephesians 5:5.) τοῦτο γὰρ ἴστε γινώσκοντες, “For this ye know-being as you are aware.” Winer, § 45, 8. γάρ states a reason, and an awful and solemn one it is. For the ἐστε of the Textus Receptus, found in D³, E, H, L, and the Syriac, ἴστε is now generally acknowledged to be the genuine reading, as having the preponderance of authority, as A, B, D¹, F, G, the Vulgate (scitote intelligentes), Coptic, and several of the Fathers. ῎ιστε γινώσκοντες is a peculiar construction, and is not wholly identical with the Hebrew usage of connecting two parts of the same Hebrew verb together, or with the similar usage in Greek. Kühner, 675, 3; Jelf, § 708, 3. The instances adduced from the Septuagint, Genesis 15:13 - γινώσκων γνώσῃ, and Jeremiah 42:19 - γνόντες γνώσεσθε, are therefore not in point, as ἴστε is the second person plural of οἶδα. We take the phrase to be in the indicative-as is done by Calvin, Harless, Meyer, and de Wette, for the appeal in the participle is to a matter of fact-and not in the imperative, as is found in the Vulgate, and is thought by Estius, Bengel, Rückert, Matthies, and Stier. Wickliffe renders—“Wite ye this and vndirstonde” (see under Ephesians 5:3). Ye know-

ὅτι πᾶς πόρνος, ἢ ἀκάθαρτος, ἢ πλεονέκτης, ὅς ἐστιν εἰδωλολάτρης—“that every whoremonger or unclean person, or covetous man who is an idolater.” Colossians 3:5. πλεονέκτης is explained under the preceding verse. See under Ephesians 4:19. The differences of reading are these:-Griesbach, Lachmann, and Alford read ὅ after B and Jerome who has quod. Other MSS., such as F, G, have εἰδωλολατρεία, which reading is found in the Vulgate, Cyprian, and Ambrosiaster. The first reading, found in A, D, E, K, L, the Syriac, and Coptic, seems to be the correct one-the others are merely emendations. Harless, Meier, von Gerlach, and Stier, suppose the relative to refer to the three antecedents. Harless can adduce no reason for this opinion save his own view of the meaning of πλεονεξία. As in Colossians 3:5, the apostle particularizes covetousness as idolatry. Wetstein and Schoettgen adduce rabbinical citations in proof that some sins were named by the Jews idolatry, but to little purpose in the present instance. The covetous man makes a god of his possessions, and offers to them the entire homage of his heart. That world of which the love and worship fill his nature, is his god, for whose sake he rises up early and sits up late. The phrase is not to be diluted into this—“who is as bad as an heathen,” as in the loose paraphrase of Barlee-but it means, that the covetous man deifying the world rejects the true Jehovah. Job 8:13; Matthew 6:24. Every one of them-

οὐκ ἔχει κληρονομίαν—“has no inheritance,” and shall or can have none; the present stating a fact, or law unalterably determined. Winer, § 40, 2. πᾶς . . . οὐκ. Winer, § 26; see under Ephesians 4:29 -and for κληρονομία, see under Ephesians 1:11, Ephesians 3:6. And the very name of the inheritance vindicates this exclusion; for it is-

ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ χριστοῦ καὶ θεοῦ—“in the kingdom of Christ and God.” Philippians 3:19. F and G read εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ χριστοῦ-an evident emendation. The genitive χριστοῦ has its analogy in the expressions used Matthew 16:28; 2 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 4:18. βασιλεία and ἐκκλησία have been sometimes distinguished, as if the first referred to the church in heaven, and the other to the church on earth, while others reverse this opinion. Usteri, Paulin. Lehrbeg. 352; Koppe, Excursus I. ad Thessalon. But such a distinction cannot be sustained. βασιλεία is used with perfect propriety here; ἐκκλησία is the church called and collected together, into which one of these bad characters may intrude himself; but βασιλεία is the kingdom under the special jurisdiction of its King, and no one can or dare enter without His sanction; for it is, as Origen calls it, πόλις εὐνομουμένη. That kingdom which begins here, but is fully developed in the heavens, is that of Christ and God, the second noun wanting the article. Winer, § 19, 4. We do not apprehend that the apostle means to identify Christ and God, though the latter noun wants the article. Though Christ is possessed of Divinity, yet He is distinct from God. Jerome, indeed, says-ipsum Deum et Christum intelligamus . . . ubi autem Deus est, tam Pater quam Filius intelligi potest. Such is the general view of Beza, Zanchius, Glassius, Bengel, Rückert, Harless, Hodge, and Middleton. Others, such as Meyer, Stier, Olshausen, and Ellicott, suppose the apostle to mean that the kingdom of Christ is also the kingdom God—“in the kingdom which is Christ's and God's.” θεός often wants the article, and the use of it here would have seemed to deny the real Divinity of Christ. Christ is called God in other places of Paul's writ ings; but the idea here is, that the inheritance is common to Christ and God. The identity of the kingdom is the principal thought, and the apostle does not formally say- καὶ τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ, as such phraseology might imply that there were two kingdoms; nor, as Stier remarks, does he even say- τοῦ θεοῦ, as he wishes to show the close connection, or place both nouns in a single conception. Bishop Middleton's canon does not therefore apply, whatever may be thought of its application to such passages as Titus 2:13, 2 Peter 1:1, Judges 1:4, in all of which the pronoun ἡμῶν is inserted, while in two of them σωτήρ is an attributive, and in one of them δεσπότης has a similar meaning. θεοῦ appears to be added, not merely to exhibit the authority by which the exclusion of selfish and covetous men is warranted, but principally to show the righteous doom of the idolater who has chosen a different deity. It is baseless to say, with Grotius, Vatablus, Gerhardt, Moldenhauer, and Baumgarten, that Christ's kingdom exists on earth and God's in heaven. The kingdom is named Christ's inasmuch as He secures it, prepares it, holds it for us, and at length conveys us to it; and it is God's as it is His originally, and would have remained His though Christ had never come; for He is in Christ, and Christ's mediation is only the working out of His gracious purposes-God having committed the administration of this kingdom into His hands. Into Christ's kingdom the fornicator and sensualist cannot come; for, unsanctified and unprepared, they are not susceptible of its spiritual enjoyments, and are filled with antipathy to its unfleshly occupations; and specially into God's kingdom “the covetous man, who is an idolater,” cannot come, for that God is not his god, and disowning the God of the kingdom, he is self-excluded. As his treasure is not there, so neither there could his heart find satisfaction and repo se.

Verse 6

(Ephesians 5:6.) ΄ηδεὶς ὑμᾶς ἀπατάτω κενοῖς λόγοις—“Let no one deceive you with vain words.” Whatever apologies were made for such sensual indulgences were vain words, or sophistry-words without truth, pernicious in their tendency, and tending to mislead. See examples from Kypke, in loc.; Septuagint-Exodus 5:9; Hosea 12:1. The Gothic reads-uslusto, concupiscat. It is a refinement on the part of Olshausen to refer such opinions to antinomian teachers, and on that of Meier to confine them to heathen philosophers. Harless admits that the precise class of persons referred to by the apostle cannot now be defined; but we agree with Meyer in the idea, that they appear to be their heathen neighbours; for they were not to associate with them (Ephesians 5:7), and they were to remember that their present profession placed them in a state of perfect separation from old habits and confederates (Ephesians 5:8). Such vices have not wanted apologists in every age. The language of Bullinger, quoted also by Harless, has a peculiar power and terseness-Erant apud Ephesios homines corrupti, ut hodie apud nos plurimi sunt, qui haec salutaria Dei praecepta cachinno excipientes obstrepunt: humanum esse quod faciant amatores, utile quod foeneratores, facetum quod joculatores, et iccirco Deum non usque adeo graviter animadvertere in istiusmodi lapsus.They were to be on their guard-

διὰ ταῦτα γὰρ ἔρχεται ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῆς ἀπειθείας—“for because of these things cometh the wrath of God on the sons of disobedience.” The phrase διὰ ταῦτα, emphatic in position, refers not to the “vain words,” but more naturally to the vices specified—“on account of these sins.” Colossians 3:6. The Greek commentators, followed by Stier, combine both opinions, but without any necessity. The noun stands between two warnings against certain classes of sins and sinners, and naturally refers to them by ταῦτα. ᾿οργή has been illustrated, and so has υἱοὶ ἀπειθείας, under Ephesians 2:2-3. Suicer, sub voce. Many, such as Meyer, restrict the manifestation of the Divine anger to the other world. His argument is, that ὀργὴ θεοῦ is in contrast with βασιλεία θεοῦ. Granted, but we find the verb ἔχει in the present tense, as indicating a present exclusion-an exclusion which, though specially to be felt in the future, was yet ordained when the apostle wrote. So this anger, though it is to be signally poured out at the Second Coming, is descending at this very time- ἔρχεται. It is thus, on the other hand, too narrow a view of Calvin, Meier, and Baumgarten-Crusius, to confine this ὀργή to the present life. It begins here-the dark cloud pours out a few drops, but does not discharge all its terrible contents. Such sins especially incur it, and such sinners receive in themselves “that recompense of their error which is meet.” Romans 1:27. The wrath of God is also poured out on impenitent offenders in the other world. Revelation 21:8.

Verse 7

(Ephesians 5:7.) ΄ὴ οὖν γίνεσθε συνμέτοχοι αὐτῶν—“Become not then partakers with them.” The spelling συνμέτοχοι has the authority of A, B¹, D¹, F, G see also under Ephesians 3:6. The meaning is not, as Koppe paraphrases, “Take care lest their fate befall you,” but, “become not partakers with them in their sins;” Ephesians 5:11. Do not through any temptation fall into their wicked courses. οὖν is collective: because they are addicted to those sins on which Divine judgment now falls, and continued indulgence in which bars a man out of heaven-become not ye their associates.

Verse 8

(Ephesians 5:8.) ῏ητε γὰρ ποτὲ σκότος—“For ye were once darkness.” As Chrysostom says, he reminds them τῆς προτέρας κακίας. γάρ introduces a special reason for an entire separation between the Church and the Gentile world. Their past and present state were in perfect contrast- ἦτε ποτὲ σκότος—“ye were once darkness- ἦτε-emphatic;” and deeds of darkness were in harmony with such a state. σκότος is the abstract-darkness itself-employed to intensify the idea expressed. See Ephesians 4:18. Darkness is the emblem and region of ignorance and depravity, and in such a miserable condition they were “once.” But that state was over—“the dayspring from on high” had visited them-

νῦν δὲ φῶς ἐν κυρίῳ—“but now ye are light in the Lord.” No μέν precedes, as the first clause is of an absolute nature. Klotz, ad Devarius, vol. ii. p. 356. δέ is adversative, “now” being opposed to “once.” Chrysostom says, ἐννοήσαντες τι ἦτέ ποτε ὑμεῖς καὶ τι γεγόνατε νῦν. φῶς, an abstract noun also, is the image of knowledge and purity. See under Ephesians 1:18. Their condition being so thoroughly changed, their conduct was to be in harmony with such a transformation. ᾿εν κυρίῳ—“in fellowship with the Lord;” and light can be enjoyed in no other element. The phrase is never to be diluted as is done by Fritzsche in his allusion to similar phrases. Comment. ad Roman. 8.4; 1 John 1:5-7. For κύριος as applied to Christ, see Ephesians 1:2-3. Such being the case, there follows the imperative injunction-

ὡς τέκνα φωτὸς περιπατεῖτε—“walk as children of light.” There needs no formal οὖν to introduce the inference, it makes itself so apparent, and is all the more forcible from the want of the particle. 2 Corinthians 6:14; 2 Corinthians 6:16. υἱός is often used in a similar connection. See τέκνον under Ephesians 2:3. The genitive is one of source, and neither noun has the article. Middleton, Gr. Art. p. 49. Luke 10:6; Luke 16:8; John 12:36; 1 Thessalonians 4:5. Negatively they were not to be partakers; but neutrality is not sufficient-positively they were to walk as children of the light. “As children of light,” they were to show by their conduct that they loved it, enjoyed it, and reflected its lustre. Their course of conduct ought to prove that they hated the previous darkness, that they were content with no ambiguous twilight, but lived and acted in the full splendour of the Sun of Righteousness, hating the secret and unfruitful deeds of darkness referred to in the following context. περιπατεῖτε, under Ephesians 2:2. First, the apostle has referred to love as an element of Christian walk, Ephesians 5:1-2; and now he refers to light as an element of the same walk; different aspects of the same spiritual purity; love, and not angry and vengeful passions; light, and not dark and unnameable deeds.

Verse 9

(Ephesians 5:9.) This verse is a parenthesis, illustrative and confirmatory of the previous clause.

῾ο γὰρ καρπὸς τοῦ φωτός—“For the fruit of the light.” Instead of φωτός the Textus Receptus has πνεύματος. For φωτός we have the authority of A, B, D, E¹, F, G, and the Vulgate; while the Stephanic text is found in D³, E², K, L, the majority of mss., in the Syriac too, and in two of the Greek commentators. Internal evidence here can have but little weight. One may say that φωτός was inserted in room of πνεύματος, to give correspondence with the φῶς of the preceding verse; or one may say, on the other hand, that πνεύματος supplanted φωτός from a reminiscence of Galatians 5:22. The particle γάρ is used here, as often, to introduce a parenthetic confirmation. The verse not only explains what is meant by walking as children of light, but really holds out an inducement to the duty. “The fruit is”-

ἐν πάσῃ ἀγαθωσύνῃ—“in all goodness.” We cannot say, with so many expositors, that ἐστι being supplied, the meaning is-the fruit of the Spirit is in, that is-ponitur-consists in, all goodness, etc. In that case, the simple nominative might have been employed. We understand the apostle to mean, that the fruit is always associated with goodness as its element or sphere. Winer, § 48 (3) a. These qualities uniformly characterize its fruits. No one will assent to the unscholarly remark of Küttner, that the three following nouns are merely synonymous. ᾿αγαθωσύνη does not signify beneficence, properly so called, but that moral excellence which springs from religious principle (Galatians 5:22; Romans 15:14), and leads to kindness, generosity, or goodness. It here may stand opposed to the dark and malignant passions which the apostle has been reprobating- κακία.

καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ—“and righteousness.” This is integrity or moral rectitude (Romans 6:13; 1 Timothy 6:11), and is in contrast not only with the theft and covetousness already condemned, but with all defective sense of obligation, for it rules itself by the Divine law, and in every relation of life strives to be as it ought to be-and is opposed to ἀδικία. For the spelling of this and the preceding noun, see Etymol. Mag. sub voce δίκαιος. See under Ephesians 4:24.

καὶ ἀληθείᾳ - “and truth.” Truth stands opposed to insincerity and dissimulation- ψεῦδος. These three ethical terms characterize Christian duty. We cannot agree with Baumgarten-Crusius, who thus distinguishes the three nouns: the first as alluding to what is internal, the second as pertaining to human relations, and the third as having reference to God. For the good, the right, and the true, distinguish that fruit which is produced out of, or belongs to, the condition which is called “light in the Lord,” and are always distinctive elements of the virtues which adorn Christianity.

Verse 10

(Ephesians 5:10.) δοκιμάζοντες τί ἐστιν εὐάρεστον τῷ κυρίῳ—“Proving what is well-pleasing to the Lord.” Romans 12:2; Philippians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:21. The participle agrees with the previous verb περιπατεῖτε, as a predicate of mode, and so used in its ordinary sense-trying-proving. Philippians 1:10. As they walked, they were to be examining or distinguishing what is pleasing to the Lord. εὐάρεστον—“well-pleasing”-what the Lord has enjoined and therefore approves. The obedience of Christians is not prompted by traditionary or unthinking acquiescence, but is founded on clear and discriminative perception of the law and the will of Christ. And that obedience is accepted not because it pleases them to offer it, but because the Lord hath exacted it. The believer is not to prove and discover what suits himself, but what pleases his Divine Master. The one point of his ethical investigation is, Is it pleasing to the Lord, or in harmony with His law and example? This faculty belongs, as Theophylact says, to the perfect- τῶν τελείων ἐστὶ τῶν κρίνειν δυναμένων.

Verse 11

(Ephesians 5:11.) καὶ μὴ συνκοινωνεῖτε τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς ἀκάρποις τοῦ σκότους—“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.” The spelling συνκοινωνεῖτε is found in A, B¹, D¹, F, G, L, and the reason for preferring it is given by Tischendorf, with many examples, in his Prolegomena, page xlvii. καί connects this clause with περιπατεῖτε. Philippians 4:14; Revelation 18:4. ῎ακαρπος is plainly in contrast with καρπός in Ephesians 5:9. These ἔργα have no good fruits-their only fruit, as Theophylact says, is death and shame. See the contrast between ἔργα and καρπός in Galatians 5:19; Galatians 5:22. σκότος has been explained under the 8th verse. This admonition is much the same as that contained in the 7th verse. Romans 6:21; Romans 8:12; Galatians 6:8. A line of broad demarcation was to separate the church from the world; and not only was there to be no participation and no connivance, but there was in addition to be rebuke-

μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἐλέγχετε. ΄ᾶλλον δὲ καί—“Yea, much more”-or better, “but rather even”-a formula which gives special intensity to the antithesis. Fritzsche, ad Romans 8:34; Hartung, 1.134; Galatians 4:9. It was a duty to have nothing to do with the deeds of darkness; but it was a far higher obligation to reprimand them. There was to be not simply negative separation, but positive rebuke-not by the contrast of their own purity, but by formal and solemn reproof. 1 Corinthians 14:24; 2 Timothy 4:2; Xen. Symp. 8.43.

Verse 12

(Ephesians 5:12.) τὰ γὰρ κρυφῆ γινόμενα ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν αἰσχρόν ἐστιν καὶ λέγειν—“for the things in secret done by them it is shameful even to speak of.” Such a use of καί discursive is explained in Hartung, vol. 1.136, and more fully by Klotz, ad Devarius, vol. 2.633, etc. The adverb κρυφῆ occurs only here, and according to some should be written κρυφῇ, with iota subscribed. Ellendt, Lex. Soph. sub voce; Passow, sub voce. Deuteronomy 28:57; Wisdom of Solomon 18:9. The connection of this verse with the preceding has led to no little dispute:-1. Baumgarten-Crusius regards it as a hyperbole of indignation, and easily evades the difficulty. 2. Koppe and Rückert give γάρ the sense of “although,” as if the apostle meant to say-Rebuke these sins, even though you should blush to mention them. But γάρ cannot bear such a meaning. 3. Von Gerlach fills in such a supplement as this-It is a shame even to speak of their secret sins, yet that should not keep us from exposing and rebuking them. 4. On the other hand, Bengel, Baumgarten, and Matthies, preceded, it would seem, by OEcumenius, take the clause as giving a reason why the deeds of darkness are not specified like the fruit of the light: “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; I pause not to name them-it is a shame to mention them.” But such sentimental qualms did not trouble the apostle, as may be seen from many portions of his writings. Romans 1:24-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; 1 Timothy 1:9-10. This opinion also identifies “deeds of darkness” with “the things done of them in secret.” Now such an opinion cannot be sustained, as it changes the meaning of σκότος from a moral into a material sense. It is used in a moral sense in Ephesians 5:8, and we know that many of the sins of this darkness were not committed in secret, but were open and public vices. 5. The opinions of Meier and Holzhausen are somewhat allied. Meier's notion is, that λέγειν means to speak in a loose and indecorous way, and he supposes the apostle to say, “Rebuke these sins openly, for it is a shame to make mention of them in any other way than that of reproof;” or as Alford says—“Your connection with them must only be that which the act of ἔλεγξις necessitates.” 6. Holzhausen imagines that in the phrase τὰ κρυφῆ γινόμενα there is reference to the heathen mysteries, and that the apostle warns Christians not to unveil even in speech their hideous sensualities. But both interpretations give an emphatic and unwonted meaning to the clause. Nor is there the remotest proof that the so-called mysteries are referred to. 7. Stier's idea, which is that of Photius, Theophylact, and Erasmus, is, that ἐλέγχειν cannot mean verbal reproof, for this verse would forbid it-it being a shame to speak of those secret sins-but that it signifies reproof conveyed in the form of a consistent life of light. Matthew 5:16; Philippians 2:15. “The only rebuke you can give must be in the holy contrast of your own conduct, for to speak of their secret vices is a shame.” Such is virtually also the exegesis of Bloomfield and Peile. But that ἐλέγχω signifies other than verbal rebuke, cannot be proved. Where the verb may be rendered “convince”-as in 1 Corinthians 14:24, James 2:9 - language is supposed to be the medium of conviction. The word, in John 3:20, has the sense of—“exposed,” but such a sense would not well suit the exegesis of Stier. This exposition thus requires more supplementary ideas than sound interpretation will warrant. 8. Anselm, Piscator, Zanchius, Flatt, and Harless take the verse not in connection with ἐλέγχετε, but with συγκοινωνεῖτε, that is—“Have no fellowship with such deeds, for it is a shame even to speak of them, surely much more to do them.” This opinion identifies too strongly ἔργα σκότους with τὰ κρυφῆ γινόμενα-the latter being a special class of the former. Lastly, Musculus, de Wette, Meyer, and Olshausen, connect the verse immediately with μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἐλέγχετε-the meaning being, “By all means reprove them, and there is the more need of it, for it is a shame even to speak of their secret sins.” This connection is on the whole the simplest, and follows, we think, most naturally the order of thought and earnest admonition. That these “things done in secret” have any reference to the foul orgies of the heathen mysteries, is a position that cannot be proved, though it has been advanced by Grotius, Elsner, Wolf, Michaelis, Holzhausen, Macknight, and Whitby. But there were in heathendom forms of sins so base and bestial, that they shunned the light and courted secrecy.

Verse 13