Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.
Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.
desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say, nor whereof they confidently affirm.
Desiring to be teachers of the law, though they have no knowledge of what they say or of the statements which they make so certainly.
Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor concerning what they affirm.
desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say, nor about what they strongly affirm.
desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say, nor whereof they confidently affirm.
Teachers of the law - To be esteemed or celebrated as rabbins; to be reputed cunning in solving knotty questions and enigmas, which answered no end to true religion. Of such the rabbinical teaching was full.
Understanding neither what they say - This is evident from almost all the Jewish comments which yet remain. Things are asserted which are either false or dubious; words, the import of which they did not understand, were brought to illustrate them: so that it may be said, They understand not what they say, nor whereof they affirm. I will give one instance from the Jerusalem Targum, on Genesis 1:15 : And God made two great lights, and they were equal in splendor twenty-one years, the six hundred and seventy-second part of an hour excepted: and afterwards the moon brought a false accusation against the sun, and therefore she was lessened; and God made the sun the greater light to superintend the day, etc. I could produce a thousand of a similar complexion.
Desiring to be teachers of the law - That is, to have the credit and reputation of being well versed in the law of Moses, and qualified to explain it to others. This was a high honor among the Jews, and these teachers laid claim to the same distinction.
Understanding neither what they say - That is, they do not understand the true nature and design of that law which they attempt to explain to others. This was true of the Jewish teachers, and equally so of those in the church at Ephesus, who attempted to explain it. They appear to have explained the law on the principles which commonly prevailed among the Jews, and hence their instructions tended greatly to corrupt the faith of the gospel. They made affirmations of what they knew nothing of, and though they made confident observations, yet they often pertained to things about which they had no knowledge. One needs only a slight acquaintance with the manner of teaching among Jewish rabbies, or with the things found in their traditions, to see the accuracy of this statement of the apostle. A sufficient illustration of this may be found in Allen's "Modern Judaism."
1:7 Understanding neither the very things they speak, nor the subject they speak of.