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TUESDAY/THURSDAY BIBLE STUDIES
by Dr. Lloyd T. Anderson, Pastor,
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• Bethany Baptist Church, W est Covina, California
W e commonly call this and the prayer in 1:15-23 the prayers of Paul, but we must go deeper. They really represent God our Father re vealing His heart’s desire and longing for His beloved children. May we sat isfy Him who has so bountifully satisfied us! Verse 14— “For this cause.” Dr. Vine declares, “This is not the common Greek expression for “for this cause” or “because of this,” but a peculiar ex pression used only three times (3:1,14; Tit. 1:5). It is the accusative singular of the word for “grace” (charis), used adverbially, or as an improper preposi tion, and it carries the root meaning of unmerited favor. Literally, it would be “in favor of this” or “for the grace of this.” Note Paul’s recognition of divine and unmerited favor throughout. “/ bow my knees,” both knees, a posture for prayer showing humility, concentra tion, earnestness, and unusual emotion (2 Chron. 6:13,14; I Kings 8:54; Dan. 6:10; Matt. 17:14, 15; Mark 1:40; Acts 7:60; 9:40; 20:36; 21:5; compare Luke 22:41 with Matt. 26:39 and Mark 14:5). Standing was also a common posture (I Sam. 1:26; I Kings 8:22; Matt. 6:5; Mark 11:25; Luke 18:11). “I” is repeated from verse 1, and “bow” is the predicate of “I” (v. l). The word “bow” occurs four times (Rom. ,11:4; 14:11; Eph. 3:14; Phil. 2:10). “Unto the Father,” the Head of the family and the one who hears and answers prayer offered in the name of the Son under
the direction of the Spirit (John 14:13, 14; 15:16; 16:23, 24; Rom. 8:26, 27; Jude 20). The word “Father” suggests also a motive for prayer. Verse 15— “Out of whom the whole fam ily in the heavens and upon the earth is named.” The Father is the source of the family. The doctrine of the fatherhood of God (not the univer sal fatherhood) is a precious one. God is a father; He has a family; the family is growing, and people become mem bers of it by the new birth (John 1:12, 13). Some have passed on and are “in heaven”; some are yet “on earth,” but it is the whole family still; death does not break up His family. Delitsch states, “There is a difficulty in translat ing the Greek for ‘the whole family,’ its obvious meaning, because of the ommission of the article. Strictly speak ing, this translation is not correct, un less the article may be understood (we know that in the later, common Greek of the people, in which the New Testa ment was written, the law of the article was not adhered to so closely), yet the context seems to demand it.” The Re vised Version translates “every family,” which is more literal but not so fitting; there is but one family. The margin of the Revised has “all fatherhood,” which is also literal and helps to explain “is named,” but is not so clear. We are not ready to give up the expression “the whole family.” “Is named.” The antece dent of “whom” is father. The Greek (continued on next page) 21
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