human
The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, bring when thou comest, and the books, especially the parchments. Here the arguments against the probability of forgery reach a climax; and this verse should be remembered side by side with
gpt
Be no longer a drinker of water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake in the First Epistle (v. 23). What writer of a fictitious letter would ever have dreamed of inserting either passage? To an unbiassed mind they go a long way towards producing the impression that we are dealing with real letters and not with inventions. And this argument holds good equally well, whatever meaning we give to the word (φελόνη) which is rendered
human
It probably means a cloke, and is a Greek form of the Latin _penula_. It appears to have been a circular garment without sleeves, but with a hole in the middle for the head. Hence some persons have made the astounding suggestion that it was a eucharistic vestment analogous to a chasuble, and have supposed that the Apostle is here asking, not for warm clothing
gpt
but for a sacerdotal dress for ritualistic purposes. But since Chrysostom's day there has been a more credible suggestion that the word means a bag or case for books. If so, would the Apostle have mentioned both the book-bag and the books, and would he have put the bag before the books? He might naturally have written,
human
Bring the book-bag, --of course with the books in it; or,
gpt
Bring the books and the bag also. But it seems a strange way of putting the request to say,
human
The book-bag that I left at Troas with Carpus, bring when thou comest; the books also, especially the parchments, as if the bag were the chief thing that he thought about. It seems better to abide by the old rendering
gpt
and, if this is correct, then it fits in well with
human
Do thy diligence to come _before winter_.