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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - 2 Corinthians 1:3 - 1:3
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3. Εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰ. Χρ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (R.V.), as in the A.V. of Eph 1:3 and 1Pe 1:3. Comp. 2Co 11:31; Rom 15:6. It is He Who is both the God of Jesus (Joh 20:17) and the Father of Jesus (Joh 2:16; Joh 5:17, &c.) that is blessed by the Apostle. The Evangelist who tells us most about the Divinity of Christ tells us that He Himself spoke of the Father as His God, and we need not think that either S. Paul or S. Peter would shrink from expressing the same truth. Had they shrunk from it, they would have avoided language which is most naturally interpreted as meaning ‘the God of Jesus Christ.’ With this expression comp. Ὁ θεός μου (Mar 15:34), ὁ θεὸς τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰ. Χρ. (Eph 1:17), ἔχρισέν σε ὁ θεός, ὁ θεός σου (Heb 1:9), τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ (Rev 1:6), τοῦ θεοῦ μου (Rev 3:2; Rev 3:12). The wording here is identical with Eph 1:3 and 1Pe 1:3, where see Hort’s note. S. Paul commonly says εὐχαριστῶ (or εὐχαριστοῦμεν) τῷ θεῷ. Only here and Eph 1:3 does he substitute εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεός. In the LXX. εὐλογητός is more often used of God than of men; in the N.T. always (eight times) of God. A benediction of God immediately after the address seems to have been common in Jewish letters. See Bigg, St Peter and St Jude, p. 16.
Not ἐστι, but ἔστω, is to be supplied with εὐλογητός.
ὁ πατὴρ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν καὶ θεὸς πάσης παρακλήσεως. ‘The merciful God who is the Source of all true comfort’ is the meaning: but ‘of mercies’ is perhaps stronger than ‘merciful.’ Comp. ὁ θεὸς τῆς ἐλπίδος (Rom 15:13). ‘Mercies’ (Rom 12:1) for ‘mercy’ is probably a Hebraism. Comp. ὁ πατὴρ τῆς δόξης (Eph 1:17) and ὁ π. τῶν φώτων, (Jam 1:17). See Ellicott on Eph 1:8.