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Gal_6:4. But men ought to act in a way entirely different from what is indicated by this δοκεῖ εἶναί τι . “His own work let every man prove, and then” etc.
The emphasis lies on τὸ ἔργον (which is collective, and denotes the totality of the actions, as in Rom_2:7; Rom_2:15; 1Pe_1:17; Rev_22:12), opposing the objective works to the subjective conceit.
δοκιμαζέτω ] not: probatum reddat (Beza, Piscator, Rambach, Semler, Michaelis, Rückert, Matthies), a meaning which it never has (comp. on 1Co_11:28), but: let him try, investigate of what nature it is.
καὶ τότε ] and then, when he shall have done this (1Co_4:5), not: when he shall have found himself approved (Erasmus, Estius, Borger, and others).
εἰς ἑαυτὸν μόνον τὸ καύχημα ἕξει , κ . τ . λ .] does not mean, he will keep his glorying for himself (comp. Hilgenfeld), that is, abstinebit a gloriando (Koppe); for although ἔχειν may, from the context, obtain the sense of keeping back (Hom. Il. v. 271, xxiv. 115; Eur. Cycl. 270), it is in this very passage restricted by καὶ οὐκ εἰς τὸν ἕτερον to its simple meaning, to have; and καύχημα is not equivalent to καύχησις , but must retain its proper signification, materies gloriandi (Rom_4:2; 1Co_5:6, and always). Nearest to the view of Koppe in sense come those of Winer: “non tantas in se ipso reperiet laudes, quibus apud alios quoque glorietur;” of Usteri: “then will he have to glory towards himself alone, and not towards others,”—a delicate way of turning the thought: “then he will discover in himself faults and weaknesses sufficient to make him think of himself modestly;” and of Wieseler, “he will be silent toward others as to his καύχημα .” But in accordance with the context, after the requirement of self-examination, the most natural sense for εἰς (on account of the antithesis, εἰς ἑαυτὸν
εἰς τὸν ἕτερον ) is: in respect to, as regards; moreover, in the above-named interpretations, neither the singular nor the article in τὸν ἕτερον obtains its due weight. The sentence must be explained: then will he have cause to glory merely as regards himself, and not as regards the other; that is, then will he have cause to boast merely in respect of good of his own, which he may possibly find on this self-examination, and not in reference to the other, with whom otherwise he would advantageously compare himself. Castalio aptly remarks: “probitas in re, non in collatione;” and Grotius: “gaudebit recto sui examine, non deteriorum comparatione,”—as, for instance, was done by the Pharisee, who compared himself with robbers, adulterers, etc., instead of simply trying his own action, and not boasting as he looked to others, whom he brought into comparison. Comp. Calvin and others; also Reithmayr. καύχημα with the article denotes, not absolute glory (Matthies), which no one has (Rom_3:23), but the relevant cause for the καυχᾶσθαι which he finds in himself, so far as he does so, on that trial of his own work. It is therefore the καύχημα , supposed or conceived by Paul, as the result of the examination in the several cases; Bernhardy, p. 15. This relative character of the idea removes the seeming inconsistency with Gal_6:3; Gal_6:5 (in opposition to de Wette), and excludes all untrue and impious boasting; but the taking καύχημα ἔχειν ironically (against which Calvin justly pronounces), or as mimesis (Bengel and others; also Olshausen: “a thorough self-examination reveals so much in one’s own heart, that there can be no question of glory at all”),1[251] is forbidden even by ΚΑῚ ΟὐΚ ΕἸς ΤῸΝ ἝΤΕΡΟΝ . Hofmann interprets, although similarly in the main, yet without irony, and with a more exact unfolding of the purport: “while otherwise he found that he might glory as he contrasted his own person with others, he will now in respect to the good which he finds in himself, seeing that he also discovers certain things in himself which are not good, have cause to glory only towards himself—himself, namely, who has done the good, as against himself, who has done what is not good.” But in this interpretation the ideas, which are to form the key to the meaning, are gratuitously imported; a paraphrase so subtle, and yet so clumsy, especially of the words εἰς ἑαυτὸν μόνον , could not be expected to occur to the reader. More simply, but introducing a different kind of extraneous matter, de Wette interprets: “and then he will for himself alone (to his own joy) have the glory (if he has any such thing, which is evidently called in question) not for others (in order thereby to provoke and challenge them).” But how arbitrary it is to assign to εἰς two references so entirely different, and with regard to ΚΑΎΧΗΜΑ to foist in the idea: “if he has aught such”! A most excellent example of the εἰς ἑαυτὸν ΜΌΝΟΝ ΤῸ ΚΑΎΧΗΜΑ ἜΧΕΙΝ is afforded by Paul himself, 2Co_10:12. Comp. 2Co_1:12 ff.
[251] 1 So in substance Chrysostom and Theophylact hold, that Paul has spoken συγκαταβατικῶς , in order to wean his readers gradually from the habit of glorying; ὁ γὰρ ἐθισθεὶς μὴ τοῦ πλησίον ὡς ὁ Φαρισαῖος , κατακαυχᾶσθαι , ταχέως καὶ τοῦ καθʼ ἑαυτὸν ἐναβρύνεσθαι ἀποστήσεται , Theophylact. Comp. Oecumenius, according to whom the substantial sense is: ἑαυτοῦ καταγνώσεται , καὶ οὐχὶ ἑτέρων .