ἀπὸ τῶν αἴωνων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν γενεῶν, νῦν δὲ ἐφανερώθη τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ,
^{27}οἷς ἠθέλησεν ὁ Θεὸς γνωρίσαι τί τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης τοῦ μυστηρίου
τούτου ἐν τοῖς
ἀπὸ τῶν αἴωνων κ.τ.λ.] The preposition is doubtless temporal here, being
opposed to νῦν, as in the parallel passage, Ephes. iii. 9: comp. Rom.
xvi. 25 κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν μυστηρίωυ _χρόνοις αἰωνίοις_ σεσιγημένου, 1
Cor. ii. 7 Θεοῦ σοφίαν ἐν μυστηρίῳ τὴν ἀποκεκρυμμένην ἣν προώρισεν ὁ
Θεὸς _πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων_. So too ἀπ’ αἰῶνος, Acts iii. 21, xv. 18, Ps.
xcii. 3, etc.; ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, Matt. xiii. 35, xxv. 34, etc.
τῶν γενεῶν] An αἲων is made up of many γενεαί; comp. Ephes. iii. 21 εἰς
πάσας τὰς γενεὰς τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων, Is. li. 9 ὡς γενεὰ αἰῶνος (where
the Hebrew has the plural ‘generations’). Hence the order here. Not only
was this mystery unknown in remote periods of antiquity, but even in
recent generations. It came upon the world as a sudden surprise. The
moment of its revelation was the moment of its fulfilment.
27. ἠθέλησεν] ‘_willed_,’ ‘_was pleased_.’ It was God’s grace: it was no
merit of their own. See the note on i. 1 διὰ θελήματος Θεοῦ.
νῦν δὲ κ.τ.λ.] An indicative clause is substituted for a participial,
which would otherwise have been more natural, for the sake of
emphasizing the statement; comp. ver. 22 νυνὶ δὲ ἀποκατηλλάγητε, and see
Winer § lxiii. p. 717.
τὸ πλοῦτος] The ‘_wealth_ of God,’ as manifested in His dispensation of
grace, is a prominent idea in these epistles; comp. ii. 2, Ephes. i. 7,
18, iii. 8, 16; comp. Rom. xi. 33. See above p. 43 sq. St Paul uses the
neuter and the masculine forms indifferently in these epistles (e.g. τὸ
πλοῦτος Ephes. i. 7, ὁ πλοῦτος Ephes. i. 18), as in his other letters
(e.g. τὸ πλοῦτος 2 Cor. viii. 2, ὁ πλοῦτος Rom. ix. 23). In most
passages however there are various readings. On the neuter forms τὸ
πλοῦτος, τὸ ζῆλος, etc., see Winer § ix. p. 76.
τῆς δόξης] i.e. ‘of the glorious manifestation.’ This word in
Hellenistic Greek is frequently used of a bright light; e.g. Luke ii. 9
περίελαμψεν, Acts xxii. 11 τοῦ φωτός, 1 Cor. xv. 41 ἡλίου, σελήνης, etc.
2 Cor. iii. 7 τοῦ προσώπου [Μωυσέως]. Hence it is applied generally to a
divine _manifestation_, even where there is no physical accompaniment of
light; and more especially to the revelation of God in Christ (e.g. Joh.
i. 14, 2 Cor. iv. 4, etc.). The expression πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης occurs
again, Rom. ix. 23, Ephes. i. 18, iii. 16. See above ver. 11 with the
note.
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