Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Matthew 16:26 - 16:26

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Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Matthew 16:26 - 16:26


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26. ἐὰν τὸν κόσμον ὅλον κερδήσῃ. One of the false Messianic notions was that the Christ should gain the whole world, i.e. the Roman Empire. This was the very temptation presented to our Lord Himself ‘the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.’ What is the value of universal dominion, of the whole power of Cæsar, compared with life? ψυχὴ had a wide range of meaning to the Greek; it was ‘life’ in all its extent, from the mere vegetative existence to the highest intellectual life. Christianity has deepened the conception by adding to the connotation of ψυχὴ the spiritual life of the soul in union with Christ.

The higher and the lower sense are both present in these verses, it is true that the world is worthless if life be lost, still more true if the union of the soul with Christ should be sacrificed. The Greek poet discerned that there is a greater gain than external prosperity, ἐπεί σʼ ἐφεύρηκα μοίρᾳ μὲν οὐκ ἐπʼ ἐσθλᾷ | βεβῶσαν· ἃ δὲ μέγιστʼ ἔβλαστε νόμιμα, τῶνδε φερομέναν | ἄριστα τᾷ Ζηνὸς εὐσεβείᾳ. Soph. El. 1094.

κερδήσῃ ζημιωθῇ. κέρδος and ζημία … are often thus opposed in the classics. Cp. Php 3:7, ἀλλʼ ἄτινα ἦν μοι κέρδος ταῦτα ἥγημαι διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν ζημίαν—a passage which reflects the thought of this.

ἀντάλλαγμα. Cp. κέκρισθε … μήδʼ ἀνταλλάξασθαι μηδεμίας χάριτος μήδʼ ὠφελείας τὴν εἰς τοὺς Ἕλληνας εὔνοιαν (Dem. Phil. II. 10); no external gain, it was felt, would tempt Athens to abandon her loyal and pro-Hellenic policy—for that she would make every sacrifice.