ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν μερίδα τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ φωτί· ^{13}ὃς ἐρύσατο ἡμᾶς
ἐκ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ
τὴν μερίδα τοῦ κλήρου] ‘_the parcel of the lot_,’ ‘the portion which
consists in the lot,’ τοῦ κλήρου being the genitive of apposition: see
Winer § lix. p. 666 sq., and comp. Ps. xv (xvi). 5 Κύριος μερὶς τῆς
κληρονομίας μου. In Acts viii. 21 μερὶς and κλῆρος are coordinated; in
Gen. xxxi. 14, Num. xviii. 20, Is. lvii. 6, μερὶς and κληρονομία. The
inheritance of Canaan, the allotment of the promised land, here presents
an analogy to, and supplies a metaphor for, the higher hopes of the new
dispensation, as in Heb. iii. 7-iv. 11. See also below, iii. 24 τὴν
ἀνταπόδοσιν τῆς κληρονομίας, and Ephes. i. 18. St Chrysostom writes, διὰ
τί _κλῆρον_ καλεῖ· δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐδὲις ἀπὸ κατορθωμάτων οἰκείων
βασιλείας τυγχάνει, referring to Luke xvii. 10. It is not won by us, but
allotted to us.
ἐν τῷ φωτί] best taken with the expression τὴν μερίδα κ.τ.λ. For the
omission of the definite article, [τὴν] ἐν τῷ φωτὶ, see above, vv. 2, 4,
8. The portion of the saints is situated in the kingdom of light. For
the whole context compare St Paul’s narrative in Acts xxvi. 18 τοῦ
ἐπιστρέψαι _ἀπὸ σκότους εἰς φῶς_ καὶ _τῆς ἐξουσίας_ τοῦ Σατανᾶ
ἐπὶ τὸν Θεόν, τοῦ λαβεῖν αὐτοὺς _ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν_ καὶ _κλῆρον ἐν
τοῖς ἡγιασμένοις_, where all the ideas and many of the expressions
recur. See also Acts xx. 32, in another of St Paul’s later speeches. As
a classical parallel, Plato _Resp._ vii. p. 518 A, ἔκ τε φωτὸς εἰς
σκότος μεθισταμένων καὶ ἐκ σκότους εἰς φῶς, is quoted.
13. ‘We were slaves in the land of darkness. God rescued us from this
thraldom. He transplanted us thence, and settled us as free colonists
and citizens in the kingdom of His Son, in the realms of light.’
ἐρύσατο] ‘_rescued, delivered us_’ by His strong arm, as a mighty
conqueror: comp. ii. 15 θριαμβεύσας. On the form ἐρύσατο see A.
Buttmann, p. 29: comp. Clem. Rom. 55, and see the note on ἐξερίζωσεν,
_ib._ 6.
ἐξουσίας] here ‘arbitrary power, tyranny.’ The word ἐξουσία properly
signifies ‘liberty of action’ (ἔξεστι), and thence, like the
corresponding English word ‘license,’ invokes two secondary ideas, of
which either may be so prominent as to eclipse the other; (1)
‘authority,’ ‘_delegated_ power’ (e.g. Luke xx. 2); or (2) ‘tyranny,’
‘lawlessness,’ ‘_unrestrained_ or _arbitrary_ power.’ For this second
sense comp. e.g. Demosth. _F.L._ p. 428 τὴν ἄγαν ταύτην ἐξουσίαν,
Xenoph. _Hiero_ 5 τῆς εἰς τὸ παρὸν ἐξουσίας ἕνεκα (speaking of tyrants),
Plut. _Vit. Eum._ 13 ἀνάγωγοι ταῖς ἐξουσίαις καὶ μαλακοὶ ταῖς διαίταις,
_Vit. Alex._ 33 τὴν ἐξουσίαν καὶ τὸν ὄγκον τῆς Ἀλεξάνδρου δυνάμεως,
Herodian ii. 4 καθαίρεσιν τῆς ἀνέτου ἐξουσίας. This latter idea of a
capricious unruly rule is prominent here. The expression ἡ ἐξουσία τοῦ
σκότους occurs also in Luke xxii. 53, where again the idea of disorder
is involved. The transference from darkness to light is here represented
as a transference from an arbitrary tyranny, an ἐξουσία, to a
well-ordered sovereignty, a βασιλεία. This seems also to be St
Chrysostom’s idea; for he explains τῆς ἐξουσίας by τῆς τυραννίδος,
adding χαλεπὸν καὶ τὸ ἀπλῶς εἶναι ὑπὸ τῷ διαβόλῳ· τὸ δὲ καὶ μετ’
ἐξουσίας, τοῦτο χαλεπώτερον.
μετέστησεν] ‘_removed_,’ when they were baptized, when they accepted
Christ. The image of μετέστησεν is supplied by the wholesale
transportation of peoples (ἀναστάτους or ἀνασπάστους ποιεῖν), of which
the history of oriental monarchies supplied so many examples. See
Joseph. _Ant._ ix. 11. 1 τοὺς οἰκήτορας αἰχμαλωτίσας μετέστησεν εἰς τὴν
αὐτοῦ βασιλείαν, speaking of Tiglath-Pileser and the Transjordanic
tribes.
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