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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - 2 Corinthians 7:1 - 7:1
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These promises (tautas tas epaggelias). So many and so precious (2Pe 2:4 epaggelmata; Heb 11:39.).
Let us cleanse ourselves (katharisōmen heautous). Old Greek used kathairō (in N.T. only in Joh 15:2, to prune). In Koiné[28928]š katharizō occurs in inscriptions for ceremonial cleansing (Deissmann, Bible Studies, p. 216f.). Paul includes himself in this volitive aorist subjunctive.
From all defilement (apo pantos molusmou). Ablative alone would have done, but with apo it is plainer as in Heb 9:14. Molusmos is a late word from molunō, to stain (see note on 1Co 8:7), to pollute. In the lxx, Plutarch, Josephus. It includes all sorts of filthiness, physical, moral, mental, ceremonial, “of flesh and spirit.” Missionaries in China and India can appreciate the atmosphere of pollution in Corinth, for instance.
Perfecting holiness (epitelountes hagiosunēn). Not merely negative goodness (cleansing), but aggressive and progressive (present tense of epiteleō) holiness, not a sudden attainment of complete holiness, but a continuous process (1Th 3:13; Rom 1:4; Rom 1:6).