0' as Erasmus renders the passage, Sive quod ad gentes quoque fidei dogmata seminars fuerint, et hanc ob causam complures ex iis aderant ut memorarent qua audierant. It can hardly be supposed that St. Chryostom meant to represent that some of these Parthians, Medes, etc. were Gentiles who had heard in their own country the tidings of the Faith of Christ, and therefore were present at Jerusalem: yet this is what he is made to say in this text.
0' forsooth:" but perhaps it should be kai efilosofhsen ina: "this was the upshot of his philosophizing." 'H tou filosofou yuxh: "the soul of the philosopher himself (A tou didaskalou), viz. equally with the souls of other men, becomes, for instance, a fly," etc. Comp. infra: "our soul passes into flies and dogs," etc. and Hom. in Ev. Joann. t. viii. 8. D. "they say that the souls of men become flies, gnats, shrubs." -Edd. "For what is the benefit from learning that the soul of the philosopher," etc. The next sentence (ontwj muia-ouk eij muian metepipten (sc. h yuxh), all epebaine (sc. muia th en Plat. oikoush) yuxh seems to mean, `He talks of the soul becoming a fly: and truly the soul in Plato might be claimed by a fly:
0' epeb. thy. as e.g. is epibainein th eparxia to step into possession of, etc. Poiaj gar tauta ou muiaj; Edd. mutaiologiaj; adding, Pofen dh toiauta lhrein epebaleto; "What could put it into his head to rave in this fashion?"
16 It is impossible to gain from this language any clear view of the author's opinion of the gift of tongues. The uncertainty of the text here still further embarrasses the subject. That the narrative means that they received at Pentecost a miraculous gift of speaking foreign languages, is now almost unanimously maintained by modern scholars. The difficult question as to the gift of tongues as referred to in 1 Cor. xiv. should not lead to a weakening or explaining away of such unmistakable expressions as eteraij glwssaij hmeteraij glwssaij (4), hmeteraij glwssaij (II) and th idia dialektw (6, 8). Cf. Mark xvi, 17.-G. B. S.
17 Panu ge (ou gar\) anqwpoi k. t. l. See above, p. 47. note u. and 66, note c. The modern text has, Panu ge: oti anqrwpoi k. t. l. Below, "Since this was improbable, therefore, to impose upon the hearers, and show that the men are drunken, they ascribe, etc." But in the old text it is, oti ouk an emequsqhsan, meaning, "because [so early in the day] they would not have been drinking much," (this is the force of the tense mequsqhnai as in John ii. 10) "therefore they ascribe all to the quality (of the wine);" because as Oecumen. says, explaining is remark of Chrys., the fumes of gleukoj mount more quickly to the brain, etc. Erasmus, seemingly referring this to memestwmenoi, translates hebetudini crapulaeque rem totam ascribunt: Ben. even more strangely, 'agendi et loquendi modo totum ascribunt.
18 'Ekei: referring to ch. i. as expounded in Hom. iii. So Oecumen, in loc. #Anw men thn khdemonian epideiknutai, en oij tw plhqei epitrepei thn eklogh/ k. t. l..
19 Here the modern text (Edd.) enlarges by the additions "to account the wonder of the tongues the work of drunkenness? But not a whir did this annoy the Apostles; nor did it make them less bold at hearing such scoffing. By the presence of the Spirit they were now transformed, and were become superior to all bodily considerations."
20 The change of subject (from the Jews to the Apostles) is not expressed in the original. To remedy the confusion occasioned by this negligence, the modern text (Edd.) transposes this part: viz. after the sentence ending, "so great a multitude:" it has, "For tell me: did they not fight-in a picture? ' And then, "What? I pray you; did they not exhaust, etc." Clearly the other is the original order. It is shown, first, how the Jews were utterly worsted, and how awfully the whole posture of affairs was reversed for them; and then, how victoriously the preachers of the new Faith maintained their ground against the whole world.
21 Edd. "Were they not subjected to the ridicule and mockery of those present? For in their case both these befel together: for some derided them, others mocked." Which is weak enough; but the original text could not be retained, because on the supposition that all this relates to the Jews then present, the mention of "wrath" and "punishment" would be irrelevant.
22 Euqumiaij, i.e. "bursts of self-complacent mirth" (e.g. at Athens), opposed to qumoij "explosions of wrath," Ben. without specifying the authority, notes a various reading aqumiaij, which is found in none of the Paris copies, and is quite unmeaning. Edd. uaniaij.
23 Ben. interprets: "So unlooked for were these trials. that the Apostles seemed to themselves to be dreaming or beholding these things in a picture." But when the true order of the text is restored, no such far-fetched comment is needed.
24 The text is defective here, arxontwn foboi, oplwn isxuj: polesi kai teixesin oxuroij. The text of the Edd. has: "And the wonder is, that with bare body they took the field against armed men. against rulers having power over them: without experience," etc.
25 St. Chrysostom's habitual use of the term philosophy is thus explained in the index of Mr. Field's edition of the Com. on St. Matt. "Philosophy, according to the custom of Chrys. is not Christian piety, not the exercise of any virtue, not a pious and chaste life, not virtue in general, but that part of virtue, which consists in subduing the carnal appetites and affections. Thus to Christian philosophy are to be referred: forbearance and long suffering; humblemindedness; contempt of wealth; an austere and monastic life; every other mortification (apaqeia). Its contraries are: emulation (zhlotupia see below), envy and vainglory, and all other passions."
26 kai filosofa, fhsin, ina: "And `philosophical,
27 The author's depreciation of Plato contrasts unfavorably with the more generous estimates of a long line of Church Fathers from Justin to Augustin.-G. B. S.
28 'Epei ekeino ge kai anhrei. Erasmus translates, Quandoquidem et illud quod Plato docuit, sustulit: whence Ben. Nam illud Platonis hic (Petrus) sustulit: i.e. for Peter's doctrine (of chastity) has made an end of that lewd dogma of Plato's. But the following sentence rather implies that the meaning is as above given.
29 Di' autwn, Ben. per illas, which they seem to refer to gunaikej. Erasm. per illos, which is doubtless right: by means of the philosophers, as below, en taij ekeinwn yucaij.
30 Kai zhloi par autoij o kuwn kata Platwna. Edd. have this after "polity and laws," where it is clearly out of place, whatever it means.
31 Edd. Sfodra ge. on gar frenoj baqdraj. Read Sfodra ge (on gar)\fr. b. as above, p. 22, note 1, and 28, note 2.