Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Ver. 29. With all unrighteousness] The mother of all the ensuing misrule.
Wickedness] The Syrian saith, "bitterness." SeeJeremiah 2:19. The word πονηρια may be rendered troublesomeness, as the devil is called ο πονηρος, the troublesome one, the molester of God's people; restless in himself and disquieting others.
Envy, murder] Three such alliterations are found in this black beadroll. a b The apostle seems delighted with them, as was likewise the prophet Isaiah. Of which noble two, I may well say as one doth of Demosthenes and Cicero, Demosthenes Ciceroni praeripuit ne esset primus orator, Cicero Demostheni, ne solus.
Malignity] Or, morosity, crossness, ill conditions; or an evil disposition, that taketh everything the worst way; whereas a better disposition would make a better exposition, and take things by the right handle.
Whisperers] These are worse than backbiters, because they work underground, like as the wind that creeps in the chinks and crevices in a wall, or the cracks in a window, prove commonly more dangerous than a storm that meets a man in the face upon the champaign. A vento percolato, et ab inimico reconciliato libera nos.
a πορνεια, πονηρια. φθονου, φονου. ασυνετους, ασυνθετους. κακοηθεια, κακια.
b A list of persons to be specially prayed for ŒD