Clement the consul, who is here said to have been condemned for embracing the Jewish institutions, is known to have been a convert to the Gospel; and we might suspect, if we had no further evidence, that Epaphroditus, who shared his fate, had been guilty of the same crime. This very man, who was a secretary of state to Nero, and the master of Epictetus, some years afterwards became the friend and patron of Josephus: and to his encouragement and assistance the world is indebted for the Jewish Antiquities and the books against Apion. The author in his Introduction thus acknowledges his obligations to this illustrious benefactor:

"There were some, who from their love to this subject have encouraged me to undertake it, and beyond all others Epaphroditus, a man who excels in every branch of literature, and especially in the knowledge of historical facts; as having been himself engaged in the management of important affairs, and having experienced various vicissitudes of fortune; in all of which he has displayed a mind wonderfully powerful, and an inflexible adherence to virtue. By the admonition of this man, whose example and persuasion call upon all who have the power to engage in whatever is honourable and useful, I prosecuted this undertaking with more alacrity and decision, being at the same time not unmindful of my ancestors, who cheerfully imparted the knowledge of these things, nor of those Gentiles who are eager to know the customs established among us.'

The main object of the works which Epaphroditus encouraged Josephus to execute, was assuredly to establish the truth of the Gospel. And are we not hence warranted in concluding that he was himself a convert to what he wished to propagate?

We have the authority of the apostle Paul for saying that in the reign of Nero the Gospel was made known to the whole palace, and to all others: Phil. i. 12. Epaphroditus was a learned and inquisitive man; and he appears to have been in the number of those illustrious persons whom Paul had the honour and bliss of converting in Cæsar's household. The conclusion drawn from the above passages is thus directly supported by the testimony of Paul, Phil. ii. 25: "Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and companion in labour, and fellow-soldier, an apostle to you, and minister to my wants. For he longed after all, and was full of anguish (adnov) because that ye had heard that he had been sick. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death; but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I sent him therefore the more carefully, that when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such in reputation; because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life to supply your lack of service towards me.

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In this passage there are very palpable incongruities, which can be removed only by one delicate circumstance in the history of Epaphroditus. The Philippians might be allowed to say that they were full of anguish to hear that Epaphroditus was sick; but it is an idle use of language to say that he, when now recovered, was full of anguish because they had heard he had been sick. Besides, if the Christians at Philippi felt such interest in Epaphroditus, was it necessary in the apostle to advise them to receive him with gladness in the Lord, and to hold such in

reputation? Does not this advice imply, that they were disposed to receive him with reluctance, or not to receive him at all in the Lord, and to hold such in contempt? How is this incoherence to be removed? At the first promulgation of the Gospel, those of the pagans who embraced it were expected to withdraw from their stations, which they had before occupied, especially if such stations were inconsistent with genuine piety and benevolence. Thus such converts as bore arms, or were engaged in any department of paganism in general, gave up their profession as immoral; and thus with their opinions they changed their modes of living. It may be gathered from Suetonius and Dion, that Epaphroditus showed his attachment to the new religion, not by any profession, but by his conduct, having had the prudence to remain at his post. Clement, it is evident, acted a different part; and hence, while he is branded for inertness and atheism, the same charge is not made in words against Epaphroditus, who was even put to death without the imputation of being a Christian.

As the emperor was at the head of the army, every man in his service was at least nominally a soldier; and his continuance in the court of so odious a monster as Nero, and in a profession so repugnant to the spirit of the Gospel, must have necessarily sunk him, as weak and timid in the estimation of his more ardent but less prudent brethren. And it is highly interesting to observe that this is the point of light in which he is placed and defended by the apostle of the Gentiles. The original term means weakness either in mind or body; and the writer, after using it in the first of these senses, uses it again in the second; agreeably to a

custom familiar to the Jewish and Christian writers, of employing the same word in the same place, in a literal and metaphorical acceptation*."

The Christians at Philippi had heard that Epaphroditus had the weakness not to give up his connection with the emperor, and perhaps in words not to have made a public avowal of his faith: such a report of him was doubtless propagated by some envious nominal believers; and this must have proved to that good man cause of unfeigned sorrow. The clause therefore should be thus rendered, "For he longs to see you, and is full of anguish, because ye have heard that he has proved weak; and indeed he was weak, being by sickness nigh unto death." This sickness is explicitly said to have proceeded from the service of Christ, that is, from exposing his life to defend and supply the apostle, while a prisoner of Nero. Epaphroditus must have naturally wished to visit the churches, in order to remove the prejudices which were cherished against him; and hence we perceive the propriety of the admonition, to receive him with gladness in the Lord, and to hold such in estimation. At Rome, as in other places, there were men loud in their profession of the Gospel, while they had yet no danger or difficulty to encounter. These changed their tone, and left the apostle to shift for himself, when the hour of trial arrived. Epaphroditus acted quite an opposite part. He made no profession, and continued in office as if he had not been a believer; but when the season arrived, when he was called upon

The word which the apostle here uses, he uses also in a double sense in Rom. iv. 19. και μη ασθένησας τη πιστεί, meaning," though now, in consequence of his age, Abraham was weak in body, he was nevertheless not weak in faith."

to honour or to betray his faith, he stands forth and supports the apostle at the hazard of his life. Touched with his generosity and firmness, the apostle bears him in return the most honourable testimony, rendering prominent his character as a man not of words but of deeds, and recommending him, and such persons as resembled him, to reverence and admiration, in opposition to those pretenders who were men not of deeds but of words. Such men hold in estimation, because, for the work of Christ, he was nigh unto death.

As the Philippians had the temerity to censure Epaphroditus for weakness, the apostle scruples not to remind them that they had been deficient in liberality towards him now in bonds, and as such unable to supply his own wants; whilst he, whom they had injured, had supplied that deficiency at the risk of his life. To soften the odium which attached to Epaphroditus as a nominal soldier under Nero, Paul calls him my fellow-soldier; and in reference to his being a minister of the emperor, he styles him a minister of my wants.

In his Epistle to the Colossians, Paul has further these words: "Epaphras, your countryman, a slave of Christ, saluteth you." Grotius and some others have observed that Epaphras is but an abbreviation of Epaphroditus, not to mention that in this place some copies have the latter reading. Epaphroditus then was a native of Colossi, and at this time a slave of the emperor. To this circumstance the apostle alludes; and he endeavours to do away the odium which attached to him as a slave of Nero, by holding him forth as a slave of Christ; as though he had said, "Do not have any prejudice against him for being engaged in the service of the emperor :