Romans 12:15

Rom_12:15

Rejoice with them that do rejoice.

The Christians joy and grief

There are some who only rejoice over their own happiness, only weep at their own miseries. They are ruminating animals--always chewing the cud of their own private joy or grief. If they are in good health, if they are getting on in business, if the world smiles upon them, they are happy. If they are unwell, or poor, or in bad reputation, they are miserable, a thoroughly selfish man would grieve more over an attack of dyspepsia, or the loss of a five-pound note, than over the destruction of a nation, or the ruin of a world. Note--

I. The Christians joy.

1. He rejoices in all the happy lower creatures. God looked upon all that He had made, and behold it was very good. In this the Christian man is a follower of God as a dear child. He prayeth well, who loveth well, both man and bird and beast, etc.

2. He rejoices in all the pure human joys of his fellow-men, like Him who attended the wedding-feast of Cana of Galilee.

3. He rejoices in the progress of the kingdom of God. Every conversion, every time of hallowed fellowship, every act of kindness, all tidings of good being done in any part of the world, fill his heart with joy.

II. The Christians grief. He grieves--

1. Over the special sins and sorrows with which he is brought into contact.

2. Over the sin and sorrow of the world, when he enters into the fellowship of Christs sufferings. The more shallow any nature is, the less capacities it has for joy and grief; the finer and deeper a nature, the more sensitive it is to both. A racehorse is more sensitive both to pleasure and pain than a dray-horse. The Christian has both a deeper joy and a deeper grief than others, because he lives a deeper and a wider life, because his heart trembles into sympathy with human gladness and sorrow all over the world. (R. Abercrombie, M.A.)

The cordial interest in the events that befall our fellow-creatures

I. What we are to do, and how we are to be disposed, for taking a cordial interest in the prosperous or adverse contingencies of our fellow-creatures.

1. Would we rejoice with the joyful and weep with the sorrowful, or, would we take a cordial interest in the good and ill that happens to other persons, we should before all things seriously consider in what a variety of ways mankind are connected together, and how great an influence the happiness or the misery of one has upon the happiness or the misery of others. We should therefore call to mind how many things we possess in common, and how much more important these things are than those whereby we are distinguished from each other. We have all the same rational, immortal nature, the same origin and the same destination. We are likewise obnoxious to the same wants, infirmities, passions, errors, follies, and failings, and the greater or less degree in which we are obnoxious to there evils, depends not so much on our behaviour and our deserts, as on the circumstances in which the Ruler of the world has placed us. Can or should differences weaken or dissolve the ties of affinity and the social benefit that connect us all together? Are there not similar discrepancies even between the children of one father, who were born and brought up in the same house?

2. Would we farther rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep, would we take a cordial interest in the good and ill that happens to others; we must understand the good and the ill that befalls them, that which occasions them joy or sorrow. We must therefore pay attention not only to what passes among our friends or acquaintance, or in the place and the country where we happen to live, but likewise to what is going forward in the rest of the great world, in order to form just and lively conceptions of it. How many opportunities and motives will then occur to the Christian philanthropist to rejoice with them that rejoice, and to weep with them that weep, as he perceives here the light of knowledge, of the sciences, and of true religion making progress, and there still the clouds of ignorance, of superstition and error, hanging heavily over a country; if he here see courage, liberty, generous sentiments, there pusillanimity, bondage, and a servile disposition prevail; if he in this place hear a happy people rejoicing in the blessings of the harvest, or the vintage, and yonder another groaning beneath the sword of the destroyer or under the arrows of pestilence. Is he, however, unable or unwilling to travel in his imagination so far; yet vivid representations of what passes in his place, among his neighbours, in his district, will warm his heart to charity, and one while inspire him with joy, at another bring tears into his eyes.

3. In order to this we must thirdly take a real interest in the good and ill that befall others. We must consider their joys and sorrows, their prosperous or disastrous adventures not as objects irrelative to us, and about which it would be absolute folly in us to be either glad or sorry, because we, perhaps, can discern only an exceeding remote connection, or even none at all, between their situations and ours.

II. How we should express and evince, both in word and deed, our cordial participation in the good and ill that befall others.

1. That we may rejoice with them that rejoice, we should not disapprove, not condemn, not scare away their joy, if it be but rational and innocent, by dark looks and churlish gestures, not censure it as being incompatible with virtue and godliness.

2. Neither should we kill nor diminish the joy of others by requiring that it should always be exactly proportionate to the value of the objects at which they rejoice, and indeed to the worth that we attribute to them. Joy is a matter of sensation, and the feelings admit not of being rigidly restricted to those regulations which cold-hearted philosophers lay down for them.

3. Would we rejoice with them that rejoice, let us rather put ourselves in their situation, view the good and agreeable that happens to them, as it were with their eyes, and in this respect too become all things to all men.

4. Would we be of the number of such as rejoice with them that rejoice, we should show it in action or by works. We should try to promote the satisfaction and happiness of others by all manner of means. We should procure them encouragements, opportunities and means for the enjoyment of a harmless and genial pleasure, according to their inclinations, their circumstances, their wants, and capacities.

5. Parallel duties lie on us in regard to the afflicted and unhappy. Throw no violent obstruction in the way of that flood of tears which relieves their heart; rather mingle your tears with theirs. Have indulgence and compassion for them, even though the expression of their grief be really excessive. (G. J. Zollikofer.)

Fellowship in joy

Sympathy is a duty of our common humanity, but far more of our regenerated manhood. Those who are one in the higher life should show their holy unity by true fellow-feeling. Joyful sympathy is doubly due when the joy is spiritual and eternal. Rejoice--

I. With the converts.

1. Some delivered from lives of grievous sin. All saved from that which would have ruined them eternally, but certain of them from faults which injure men in society.

2. Some of them rescued from agonising fear and deep despair. Could you have seen them under conviction you would indeed rejoice to behold them free and happy.

3. Some of them have been brought into great peace and joy. The blissful experience of their first love should charm us into sympathetic delight.

4. Some of them are aged. These are called at the eleventh hour. Rejoice that they are saved from imminent peril.

5. Some of them are young, with years of happy service before them.

6. Each case is special. In some we think of what they would have been, and in others of what they will be. There is great gladness in these new-born ones, and shall we be indifferent?

II. With their friends.

1. Some have prayed long for them, and now their prayers are heard.

2. Some have been very anxious, have seen much to mourn over in the past, and feared much of evil in the future.

3. Some are relatives with a peculiar interest in these saved ones. Parents, children, brothers, etc.

4. Some are expecting, and in certain cases already receiving, much comfort from these newly saved ones. They have already brightened the family circle, and made heavy hearts glad. Holy parents have no greater joy than to see their children walking in the truth. Do we not share their joy?

III. With those who brought them to Jesus. The spiritual parents of these converts are glad. The pastor, relative, teacher, or friend, who wrote or spoke to them of Jesus. What a joy belongs to those who by personal effort win souls! Endeavour to win the same joy for yourself, and meanwhile be glad that others have it.

IV. With the Holy Spirit. He sees--

1. His strivings successful.

2. His instructions accepted.

3. His quickening power operating in new life.

4. The renewed mind yielding to His Divine guidance.

5. The heart comforted by His grace. Let us rejoice in the love of the Spirit.

V. With the angels.

1. They have noted the repentance of the returning sinner.

2. They will henceforth joyfully guard the footsteps of the pilgrim.

3. They expect his life-long perseverance, or their joy would be premature. He is and will be for ever their fellow-servant.

4. They look one day to bear him home to glory. The evil angel makes us groan; should not the joy of good angels make us sing in harmony with their delight?

VI. With the Lord Jesus. His joy is proportioned--

1. To the ruin from which He has saved His redeemed ones.

2. To the cost of their redemption.

3. To the love which He bears to them.

4. To their future happiness, and to the glory which their salvation will bring to Him.

Conclusion: Do you find it hard to rejoice with these newly baptized believers? Let me urge you to do so, for you have your own sorrows, and this communion of joy will prevent brooding too much over them. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Fellowship in joy

Mr. Haslam, telling the story of his conversion, says, I do not remember all I said, but I felt a wonderful light and joy coming into my soul. Whether it was something in my words, or my manner, or my look, I know not; but all of a sudden a local preacher, who happened to be in the congregation, stood up, and putting up his arms, shouted out in Cornish manner, The parson is converted! the parson is converted! Hallelujah! And in another moment his voice was lost in the shouts and praises of three or four hundred of the congregation. Instead of rebuking this extraordinary brawling, as I should have done in a former time, I joined in the outburst of praise; and to make it more orderly, I gave out, Praise God from whom all blessings flow, which the people sung with heart and voice, over and over again.

Sympathy

1. Sympathy, it may be said, is an accident of temperament, and cannot be a duty. There are those who cannot help being distressed by the troubles of others, and being made happier for the happiness of others. On the other hand there are those who are naturally cold and cannot help it. But the same objection might be urged against other duties. Indolence and intemperance may be largely the result of hereditary tendencies, but as industry and temperance are manifest duties it is unsafe to regard their opposites merely as diseases. Some children are naturally docile and affectionate, others the reverse; but to be obedient and loving are duties and their opposites grave faults. Some have naturally a kind disposition, others have a bad temper. And yet good temper is not a mere fortunate accident, nor is a bad one a mere constitutional calamity--it is a vice. So while some men find it easier than others to rejoice, etc., sympathy is one of the great moral virtues.

2. There is nothing about it in the Ten Commandments, but in the Christian code it stands side by side with justice, truthfulness, etc. It is not merely an ornament of character, but as essential a part of Christian life as worship. The obligation must not be so qualified as to be practically suppressed. There are people with whom it is easy to sympathise, but as it is our duty to be honest to all, the obligations of sympathy are equally general. This precept is only an application of the great commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The duty arises from the discovery that has come to us through Christ of the intimacy of our relations to all mankind. All men are dear to the heart of God, and therefore they must be dear to us.

3. We owe sympathy to other men because it is an effective means of contributing to their moral perfection, and because by withholding it we inflict on them grave moral inquiry. In men and women who have many admirable qualities there are grave defects of temper and spirit. They remind one of noble trees that require warmth and sunshine, but which have been discouraged by gloomy skies, and chilled, tormented, by cold, harsh winds. We may not be able to do much to recover those who are morally lost, but we may all do something to lessen the hardness and add to the moral grace of those with whom we live. Sympathise with a man in his prosperity and you do much to protect him from its perils. If you know that a man is carrying on his business on dishonourable principles, whether he is getting richer or poorer, you are bound to refuse him your moral approval. But if you begin to have hard thoughts of him, and if he feels that you have no delight in his honest prosperity, you are not only unjust to him, you may do him serious moral harm. If you are cold to him because he is richer than you, he will be cold to you because you are poorer than he is. If you think of his wealth with discontent, he will think of it with exaggerated complacency. There is always danger that when a man gets rich he will cease to have a brotherly heart towards other men; it is the duty of his old friends to do what they can to save him from that, not by preaching to him, unless they are sure they can preach well, but by rejoicing with him in his riches. The same law holds in relation to success in public life, etc. So when trouble comes upon men your sympathy may lessen the bitterness of their grief, and may prevent them from yielding to a hard resentment against God and the whole order of the world. But remember that what they want is not your ingenious philosophy, but just a touch of your heart.

4. Some people have what is called the gift of sympathy, and a charming gift it is, but it is necessary to distinguish between the gift and the grace. Sympathy with misfortune may be followed by no endeavour to lessen it, and sympathy with joy may be followed in an hour by a sarcasm or a sneer.

5. If it is a duty to give sympathy, it is also a duty to receive it. By rejecting it we harm the person who offers it, for we check the growth of a form of moral perfection. It is a sin to discourage a man who wants to be truthful; it is also a sin to discourage the man who wants to show that he shares our trouble or our gladness. And we wrong ourselves, for we confirm our unbrotherly selfishness.

6. This sympathetic spirit has not really to be created even in those whose natural temperament is unsympathetic. It is in our heart somewhere, and would show itself if it had a fair chance. But it must be cultivated, and it is only by a deliberate effort to measure the magnitude of a great trouble, and to realise some of the innumerable elements of misery in it, that some of us can ever come to feel adequate sympathy with it. And a similar effort is necessary to sympathise perfectly with a great happiness. But self-discipline is not enough. If we abide in Christ we may come to have that sensitiveness to suffering which moved Him to compassion when He saw the blind, etc., and which made Him weep over the grave of Lazarus; and we may come to have that sympathy with common joys which prompted Him to change water into wine. (R. W. Dale, LL.D.)

Benefit of sympathy

Every man rejoices twice when he has a partner of his joy. A friend shares my sorrow, and makes it but a moiety; but he swells my joy, and makes it double. For so two channels divide the river, and lessen it into rivulets, and make it fordable, and apt to be drunk up by the first revels of the Syrian star; but two torches do not divide, but increase the flame. And though my tears are the sooner dried up when they run on my friends cheeks in the furrows of compassion, yet, when my flame hath kindled his lamp, we unite the glories and make them radiant, like the golden candlesticks that burn before the throne of God, because they shine by numbers, by light, and joy.

Human sympathy

Though the lower animals have feeling, they have no fellow-feeling. Have not I seen the horse enjoy his feed of corn when his yoke-fellow lay a-dying in the neighbouring stall, and never turn an eye of pity on the sufferer? They have strong passions, but no sympathy. It is said that the wounded deer sheds tears; but it belongs to man only to weep with them that weep, and by sympathy to divide anothers sorrows, and double anothers joys. When thunder, following the dazzling flash, has burst among our hills, when the horn of the Switzer has rung in his glorious valleys, when the boatman has shouted from the bosom of a rock-girt loch, wonderful were the echoes I have heard them make; but there is no echo so fine or wonderful as that which, in the sympathy of human hearts, repeats the cry of anothers sorrow, and makes me feel his pain almost as if it were my own. They say, that if a piano is struck in a room where another stands unopened and untouched, who lays his ear to that will hear a string within, as if touched by the hand of a shadowy spirit, sound the same note; but more strange how the strings of one heart vibrate to those of another; how woe weakens woe; how your grief infects me with sadness; how the shadow of a passing funeral and nodding hearse casts a cloud on the mirth of a marriage party; how sympathy may be so delicate and acute as to become a pain. There is, for example, the well-authenticated case of a lady who could not even hear the description of a severe surgical operation, but she felt all the agonies of the patient, grew paler and paler, and shrieked and fainted under the horrible imagination. (T. Guthrie, D.D.)

Law of sympathy

As in the electric shock every one feels the same shock who holds the same chain; or as in the singular acoustic law by which several instruments have a sympathetic vibration, so that, if one note be struck violently on one, there will be a faint vibration on the other; or like the still more delicate and mysterious tracery of nerves which run throughout the whole human body, the meanest member cannot suffer without all the members feeling with it.

Sympathy

I want to tell you how, a few years ago, I got up sympathy with a family in Chicago, where I was living. It is very unhealthy in the summer, and I attended the funerals of a good many children. I got hardened to it, like a doctor, and could go to them without sympathy. One of my little scholars was drowned, and word was sent by the mother that she wanted to see me. I went. The dripping body was there on the table. The husband was a drunkard, and was then in the corner drunk. The mother said she had no money to buy a shroud or coffin, and wanted to know if I could not bury Adeline. I consented. I had my little girl with me then. She was about four years old. When we got outside she asked: Suppose we were poor, pa, and I had to go down to the river after sticks, and should fall in and get drowned, and you had no money to bury me, would you be sorry, papa? and then she looked up into my eyes with an expression I had never before seen, and asked: Did you feel bad for that mother? I clasped her to my heart and kissed her, and my sympathy was aroused. My friends, if you want to get in sympathy with people, consider how you would feel in their place. Let us, working for the Master, have compassion on the unfortunate, and sympathy for those who need our sympathy. (D. L. Moody.)

The demands of Christian sympathy

1. Joy and sorrow are the two chief elements of life. They often meet in the one event; what is sorrowful to one is joyful to the other. They are often very near each other in this life of uncertainty and change. An hour beyond the present time may transfer us from one to the other. Often the morning is bright, but the evening dull and cloudy and vice versa.

2. Joy and sorrow modify each other, and life requires both to make it complete. Continual sorrow would make men sad and sour; and perpetual joy would make men too light in character, and disqualify them as the comforters of the afflicted; but by their co-operation they make men more fit in this world to work and sympathise. The sweet makes the bitter tolerable; and the bitter imparts a kind of tonic quality to the sweet. Confining ourselves to the latter clause, we shall view calamities--

I. Through some of their causes.

1. A willing ignorance of law. Many fevers, explosions, shipwrecks, etc., arise from ignorance of the laws of things; and there is no excuse for our ignorance of most of them.

2. Presumption. Repeated transgression of law, because it has often happened hitherto without any calamity, often costs men dearly.

3. Mercenary selfishness and ambition. From a love of money sanitary improvements are neglected; and in our mines means of safety are neglected because there is a little expense in the introduction of them.

4. Careless indifference. We by custom become used to things, and act carelessly; where others, unused to the same things, are timid and careful, and often save themselves.

II. Through some of their harrowing distresses and results. Calamities, by reason of their frequent occurrence, lose their impression upon us. Like the loss of life in times of war, they become things of little power because of their frequent occurrence. However we view and feel them, it is clear that the results from them are grave and glaring.

1. They reduce our estimate of human life. We value our own life above all things, and the simplest duty of religion is, to do to others as we would that others should do unto us. We too often reverse this, and by blindness and selfishness make human life the meanest of all things.

2. They harden men religiously. People are amazed that they do not change the heart and life of men. But can the widow melt into tenderness of religious emotions when she broods over her great loss and hard lot, and all the while attributes it to the carelessness of others? Can the orphan be made more religious when he thinks of the way his nearest friend in life has been taken away? If they attribute their calamities to God do they present Him in that amiable character as to attract the heart in love to Him?

3. They diminish the goodness and enjoyment of life.

4. They increase the burden of society. Who are to provide for the widows and the fatherless?

5. But the distress of such calamities to the immediate individuals themselves is beyond language to describe.

III. On Christian ground and in Christian light. Christianity--

1. Brings out the purest and the noblest sympathies of the soul to meet and comfort distress. All done to the distressed under its influence is done by love, hence it is both pleasurable and lasting. It leads the afflicted to an ever-living Father, to the sympathy and love of a Saviour, and the comfort of His Spirit; it brings them into fellowship with all the good; and gives a hope of a heaven of happiness after the sorrows of life will end.

2. Teaches men to make earthly things subordinate to the want and support of persons in their woes and sorrows.

3. Makes it a part of Christian life to assist the needy and ameliorate the woes of men. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy is its first and last teaching.

4. Is catholic and impartial in its aid and comfort to distress and misery. It asks no questions as to nationality, rank, sect, and creed; it views all as human creatures in want and distress.

5. Lessens the misery of humanity. It does this to the mind of men by its spiritual provisions, and to their bodies and outward wants by making all material things subordinate to human want and woe.

6. Unites men so closely to each other as to make them responsible for the good and comfort of one another.

IV. Through their lessons to us. Calamities as these teach us--

1. To be more submissive and satisfied with the ordinary ills and misfortunes of life.

2. The necessity of studying the laws of human life more, and understanding them better.

3. That we are so nearly related to one another that the life and interest of all are very much in the hands of each other.

4. That great calamities all result from the repeated neglect of small things.

5. To do all we can to comfort and help those in distress. (T. Hughes.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 12:15. Χαίρειν, rejoice) the infinitive for the imperative, a thing not unfrequent among the Greeks, and here a gentle mode of expression [moratus, indicative of ἦθος, a feeling, viz. here the avoidance of the authoritative Imperative]. I exhort is understood, taken from Rom 12:1. Laughter is properly opposed to weeping, but in this passage as in 1Co 7:30, joy is used, not laughter, which is less suitable to Christians in the world.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_12:15. Χαίρειν] i.e. χαίρειν ὑμᾶς δεῖ, infinitive, as a briefly interjected expression of the necessary behaviour desired. See on Php_3:16. On the subject-matter, comp. Sir_7:34. Rightly Chrysostom brings into prominence the fact that κλαίειν κ.τ.λ., γενναίας σφόδρα δεῖται ψυχῆς, ὥστε τῷ εὐδοκιμοῦντι μὴ μόνον μὴ φθονεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ συνήδεσθαι.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 12:15 . χαίρειν μετὰ χαιρόντων κ . τ . λ . The infinites give the expression the character of a watchword (see Hofmann in Weiss). For the grammar see Winer, 397, n. 6. To weep with those that weep is easier than to rejoice with those who rejoice. Those who rejoice neither need, expect, nor feel grateful for sympathy in the same degree as those who weep.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vv. 15, 16. “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, weep with them that weep: aspiring after the same aim for one another; not minding high things, but associating with men of low estate. Be not wise in your own eyes.”

The connection between Rom 12:14-15 is the idea of self-forgetfulness. As self-forgetting is needed to bless him who hates us, we must also be freed from self to identify ourselves with the joy of others when our heart is full of grief, and with his grief when we ourselves are filled with joy. In Greek the two verbs are in the infinitive. This form is rightly explained by understanding δεῖ, it is necessary. But here we may be permitted to mark a shade of distinction; the infinitive is the indication of an accidental fact: to act thus every time that the case presents itself. It is less pressing than the imperative; it is, as it were, a virtue of the time being.

The following precept is commonly applied to good feeling between the members of the church. But in that case there would require to be ἐν ἀλλήλοις, among you, and not εἰς ἀλλήλους, in relation to one another, and the following precept would have no natural connection with this. The only possible meaning is: “aiming at the same object for one another as for yourselves;” that is to say, having each the same solicitude for the temporal and spiritual well-being of his brethren as for his own: comp. Php 2:4. As this common disinterested aspiration naturally connects itself with sympathy, Rom 12:15, so it is easily associated with the feeling of equality recommended in the following verse. There frequently forms in the congregations of believers an aristocratic tendency, every one striving by means of the Christian brotherhood to associate with those who, by their gifts or fortune, occupy a higher position. Hence small coteries, animated by a proud spirit, and having for their result chilling exclusiveness. The apostle knows these littlenesses, and wishes to prevent them; he recommends the members of the church to attach themselves to all alike, and if they will yield to a preference, to show it rather for the humble. The term ὑψηλά therefore denotes distinctions, high relations, ecclesiastical honors. This neuter term does not at all oblige us, as Meyer thinks, to give a neuter sense to the word ταπεινοῖς in the following proposition: “humble things;” the inferior functions in the church. The prep. with, in the verb συναπαγόμενοι, letting yourselves be drawn with, does not admit of this meaning. The reference is to the most indigent and ignorant, and least influential in the church. It is to them the believer ought to feel most drawn.

The antipathy felt by the apostle to every sort of spiritual aristocracy, to every caste distinction within the church, breaks out again in the last word. Whence come those little coteries, if it is not from the presumptuous feeling each one has of his own wisdom? It is this feeling which leads you to seek contact especially with those who flatter you, and whose familiar intercourse does you honor.

This precept is taken from Pro 3:7, but it evidently borrows a more special sense from the context.

Already, in Rom 12:14, the apostle had made, as it were, an incursion into the domain of relations to the hostile elements which the believer encounters around him. He returns to this subject to treat it more thoroughly; here is the culminating point in the manifestations of love. He has in view not merely the enmity of the unbelieving world. He knew only too well from experience, that within the church itself one may meet with ill-will, injustice, jealousy, hatred. In the following verses the apostle describes to us the victory of love over malevolent feelings and practices, from whatever quarter they come, Christians or non-Christians. And first, Rom 12:17-19, in the passive form of forbearance; then, Rom 12:20-21, in the active form of generous beneficence.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_12:15

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Love produces not only the forgiveness of enemies, but a general sympathy in the joys and sorrows of our fellow men, and especially of our fellow Christians. The disposition here enjoined is the very opposite of a selfish indifference to any interests but our own. The gospel requires that we should feel and act under the impression that all men are brethren; that we have a common nature, a common Father, and a common destiny. How lovely is genuine sympathy. How much like Christ is the man who feels the sorrows and joys of others, as though they were his own!

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rejoice with them that rejoice; and weep--the "and" should probably be omitted.

with them that weep--What a beautiful spirit of sympathy with the joys and sorrows of others is here inculcated! But it is only one charming phase of the unselfish character which belongs to all living Christianity. What a world will ours be when this shall become its reigning spirit! Of the two, however, it is more easy to sympathize with another's sorrows than his joys, because in the one case he needs us; in the other not. But just for this reason the latter is the more disinterested, and so the nobler.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 15. Rejoice with them that do rejoice] Take a lively interest in the prosperity of others. Let it be a matter of rejoicing to you when you hear of the health, prosperity, or happiness of any brother.

Weep with them that weep.] Labour after a compassionate or sympathizing mind. Let your heart feel for the distressed; enter into their sorrows, and bear a part of their burdens. It is a fact, attested by universal experience, that by sympathy a man may receive into his own affectionate feelings a measure of the distress of his friend, and that his friend does find himself relieved in the same proportion as the other has entered into his griefs. "But how do you account for this?" I do not account for it at all, it depends upon certain laws of nature, the principles of which have not been as yet duly developed.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. Rejoice with those who rejoice, etc. A general truth is in the third place laid down, — that the faithful, regarding each other with mutual affection, are to consider the condition of others as their own. He first specifies two particular things, — That they were to “rejoice with the joyful, and to weep with the weeping.” For such is the nature of true love, that one prefers to weep with his brother, rather than to look at a distance on his grief, and to live in pleasure or ease. What is meant then is, — that we, as much as possible, ought to sympathize with one another, and that, whatever our lot may be, each should transfer to himself the feeling of another, whether of grief in adversity, or of joy in prosperity. And, doubtless, not to regard with joy the happiness of a brother is envy; and not to grieve for his misfortunes is inhumanity. Let there be such a sympathy among us as may at the same time adapt us to all kinds of feelings.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(15) Rejoice with them that do rejoice.—The feeling of sympathy is perhaps more under the control of the will than might be supposed. It becomes so, however, not so much by isolated efforts as by a conscious direction given to the whole life. The injunction in this verse is one of those that have been perhaps most fully carried out in modern times. It has entered into the social code, and belongs as much to the gentleman as the Christian. The danger, therefore, is that the expression of sympathy should be unreal and insincere. This will be prevented by the presence of the Christian motive.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. Rejoice, &c.] On this beautiful and precious precept, cp. 1Co_12:26; and see the Lord’s example, at Cana and at Bethany. St Paul himself knew how to practise his own precept. (2Co_2:2-4.)

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rejoice with them that do rejoice,.... Not in anything sinful and criminal, in a thing of nought, in men's own boastings; all such rejoicing is evil, and not to be joined in; but in things good and laudable, as in outward prosperity; and to rejoice with such, is a very difficult task; for unless persons have a near concern in the prosperity of others, they are very apt to envy it, or to murmur and repine, that they are not in equal, or superior circumstances; and also in things spiritual, with such who rejoice in the discoveries of God's love to their souls, in the views of interest in Christ, and of peace, pardon, and righteousness by him, and in hope of the glory of God; when such souls make their boast in the Lord, the humble hearing thereof will be glad, and will, as they ought to do, join with them in magnifying the Lord, and will exalt his name together:

and weep with them that weep; so Christ, as he rejoiced with them that rejoiced, at the marriage in Cana of Galilee, wept with them that wept, with Mary at the grave of Lazarus. The design of these rules is to excite and encourage sympathy in the saints with each other, in all conditions inward and outward, and with respect to things temporal and spiritual; in imitation of Christ their great high priest, who cannot but be touched with the infirmities of his people; and as founded upon, and arising from, their relation to each other, as members of the same body; see Co1 12:26;

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

Ver. 15. Weep with them that weep] St Cyprian’s compassion is remarkable, Cum singulis pectus meum copulo, maeroris et funeris pondera luctuosa participo: cum plangentibus plango, cum deflentibus defleo, &c. I partake in every man’s grief, and am as much affected and afflicted as if it were mine own case.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rejoice with them ... - This command grows out of the doctrine stated in Rom 12:4-5, that the church is one; that it has one interest; and therefore that there should be common sympathy in its joys and sorrows. Or, enter into the welfare of your fellow-Christians, and show your attachment to them by rejoicing that they are made happy; compare 1Co 12:26, “And whether .... one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.” In this way happiness diffuses and multiplies itself. It becomes expanded over the face of the whole society; and the union of the Christian body tends to enlarge the sphere of happiness and to prolong the joy conferred by religion. God has bound the family of man together by these sympathies, and it is one of the happiest of all devices to perpetuate and extend human enjoyments.

Weep ... - See the note at Joh 11:35. At the grave of Lazarus our Saviour evinced this in a most tender and affecting manner. The design of this direction is to produce mutual kindness and affection, and to divide our sorrows by the sympathies of friends. Nothing is so well suited to do this as the sympathy of those we love. All who are afflicted know how much it diminishes their sorrow to see others sympathizing with them, and especially those who evince in their sympathies the Christian spirit. How sad would be a suffering world if there were none who regarded our griefs with interest or with tears! if every sufferer were left to bear his sorrows unpitied and alone! and if all the ties of human sympathy were rudely cut at once, and people were left to suffer in solitude and unbefriended! It may be added that it is the special duty of Christians to sympathize in each other’s griefs:

Because their Saviour set them the example; Because they belong to the same family; Because they are subject to similar trials and afflictions; and, Because they cannot expect the sympathy of a cold and unfeeling world.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

i.e. Be touched with your neighbour’s good or evil, as if it were your own. The reason of this sympathy, or fellow feeling, is rendered by the apostle, 1Co 12:26,27; Because we are members one of another, therefore, if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; and if one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Examples hereof we have in Luk 1:58; 2Co 11:29; see Heb 13:3.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 15-17. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another (denoting mutual good feeling and unanimity of sentiment; not, of course, agreement in opinion on all subjects). Mind not high things, but condescend to (literally, being led away with) men of low estate. It is a question whether toiv tapeinoiv should not be understood as neuter, so as to correspond with ta uqhla ; the meaning thus being that, instead of being ambitious, we should let ourselves be drawn willingly to the lowlier spheres of usefulness to which we may be called. The main objection to this view is that the adjective tapeinov is not elsewhere applied to things, but to persons. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide (in the sense of take forethought for) things honest (or fair, or honourable) in the sight of all men. This is a citation from Pro_3:4, where the LXX has, Pronoou kala anwpion Kuriou kai anyrwpwn . We are not only to do what we know to be right in the sight of God, but also to have regard to the view that will be taken of our conduct by other men; we must not give any just cause for our good being evil spoken of. (cf. ver. 16 and 1Pe_2:12)

Christian sympathy.

Joy and sorrow are great facts of human life. If there is such an element as purpose in the universe, it is clear that men were made to experience gladness and grief, and that both experiences are intended to act as discipline by which human character may be tested and trained. Both emotions are experienced in childhood, and manifest themselves most strikingly in early life, when what the mature think trivial causes are wont to awaken feeling. In manhood, feeling is less easily enkindled, and it less easily dies away. To the selfish, causes of rejoicing must diminish, both in frequency and in force, with advancing years; whilst, probably to most, occasions of sorrow are multiplied, for bereavements, the causes of bitterest sorrow, naturally befall the most frequently those who have trodden the path of life the longest. The religion of the Lord Jesus does not seek either to subdue or to blame these natural emotions; it aims at controlling them, at enlarging their scope, at purifying them, at making them all minister to our spiritual good. To quote from the Old Testament, "There is a time to weep, and a time to laugh." To quote from the New Testament, "Is any among you suffering? let him pray. Is any cheerful? let him sing praise." And, to bring out the special lesson of the text, Christianity teaches us that both joy and sorrow are to be shared, and yet extended; to be heightened, sanctified, and blessed, by true Christian sympathy.

I THE NATURE OF SYMPATHY. This habit of mind is simply sharing the feelings of others, entering into the experiences of their hearts, making them our own. We do this by virtue of a natural principle. Sinful selfishness often overcomes this principle, checks it, and prevents it from, displaying itself. Yet sympathy may sometimes be observed where there is no reverence or faith toward our Saviour; and, alas! is sometimes absent where there is a loud profession of such faith. When we participate in a brother"s feelings, a Divine law appoints that such participation shall be for his good; we relieve him of some of the burden of his grief and anxiety, or we heighten his happiness. This quality of sympathy is, perhaps, more natural to some minds than to others; yet it may be either cultivated or repressed. It may be manifested in various ways by the expression of the countenance, by the language of congratulation or condolence, by the tones of the voice, by the offer of companionship, by the extension of such assistance as the case may render possible. If there be two stringed instruments in a room, and a note of one be struck, it is said that the corresponding string of the neighbouring instrument responds to the sister tone. When the horn is wound among the rocks of the winding river, the cliffs give back the music in repeated and orderly response. "Our echoes roll from soul to soul, And grow for ever and for ever; Blow, bugles, blow! set the wild echo flying; And answer, echo! answer, dying, dying, dying!" "As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.

II THE FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY. Our religion lays the deep basis of all virtues in the character of God and in the redemption of Christ. The New Testament always, in admonitions as to conduct, either states or assumes this principle. Whatever is right is commended to us as the will of God. Christ died to redeem us from iniquity, and to sanctify us unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works; and the Holy Spirit is the power of life whose fruit is holiness.

1. In Christ"s mediation we have an instance the highest and most wonderful of all instances of true sympathy. Why did our Lord visit this world? Why did he take the form of a servant, and become obedient unto death? It was because he was impelled by Divine compassion, which is one part of sympathy. He wept with those who weep because of sin and misery and helplessness. He "bore our sins and carried our sorrows:" was not that practical sympathy? He "tasted death for every man," and "gave himself for us:" what more could he have done? Yet the other side of sympathy was present in his nature. He rejoiced in the joy of our deliverance, in the prospect of our participation in the blessings of life eternal. For the joy that was set before him which was joy over us he endured the cross!

2. In Christ"s ministry we have beautiful examples of sympathy. He pitied the widow of Nain; he wept at the grave of Lazarus; he shed tears over the doomed Jerusalem; he commiserated the distressed daughters of the city: On the other hand, he rejoiced with those who rejoiced; he came eating and drinking; he was present at a marriage-feast, and contributed to its festivity. And when any poor wandering sinner was by his compassion recovered to the fold, the language of his heart was this: "Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

3. The religion of Christ provides for mutual sympathy among those who in common acknowledge him. In restoring peace between man and God, Jesus has virtually restored peace between man and man. As the Head, he brings all the members into a unity living, organic, mutually helpful, and mutually sympathetic. Hence one great peculiarity of his Church, "Whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

III THE RANGE OF CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY. We may sympathize with another"s anxieties, fears, faith, fortitude, or hopes. But the apostle here refers to the two widest and commonest forms of emotion joy and sorrow.

1. We are admonished to participate in one another"s rejoicing. Thank God, there are very many occasions on which this is possible; the cup of gladness is handed round, and few are those who have not tasted. When our neighbour experiences some piece of good fortune, when after sickness he is restored to health, when he is spared in the midst of danger, when he is happy in his family life, prosperous in his business, honoured among his associates, let us rejoice with him. The mind that cannot so rejoice must indeed be grudging and envious. Of all vices, envy and jealousy are the pettiest and vulgarest, the remotest from a liberal, generous, Christian nature. No excuse or extenuation can be imagined for these faults, as for some others. And how shall we rejoice over the spiritual happiness of our fellow-men! When an undecided friend has yielded heart and life to the Saviour, when a disobedient one has been brought to contrition and repentance, when a brother has been enabled to exercise some Christian virtue by which good has been done to others, on such occasions it is meet and right, divinely natural and beautiful, to rejoice in our brother"s joy. Paul would say, "I joy and rejoice with you all," and John had "no greater joy than to see his children walk in the truth.

2. We are admonished to participate in one another"s grief to "weep with those who weep." This is said to be easier than the former exercise of sympathy; for the other seems to imply our inferiority; this, our superiority. We are said to sympathize more easily with the greater sorrows, and with the lesser joys, of our neighbours. If envy refuses to rejoice with the happy, inhumanity refuses to sorrow with the afflicted. What a depth of malice does that heart reveal which can rejoice in the misfortunes and griefs of others! Yet, though this extreme of malignity is uncommon, it is not an uncommon thing even for Christians to be unmoved by others" woes. Naturally, sympathy will be more intense towards those in closest association with ourselves; those of widest sympathies can with difficulty weep for the woes of the distant and unknown. With our own family and congregation, with our own circle of friends, sympathy will, in time of trial, be ready, tender, and warm. With the widow and the fatherless, the aged and the infirm, the unfortunate and the deserted, the oppressed and the persecuted, with the sons and daughters of affliction, let us sympathize with Christian forwardness and sincerity. And let it not be forgotten that sympathy will, in many cases, evince itself in practical forms. There are some, who are in elevated positions, towards whom we can show, when they are in grief, no other sympathy than such as expresses itself in demeanour and in words. But there are others, in poverty and in need, with whom it would be a mockery to express sympathy and yet to withhold from them relief and help.

IV THE BLESSINGS OF CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY. Not only is such a disposition, as is commended here, in harmony with the Divine will, and in itself beautiful and admirable, but it is contributive to the welfare and happiness of all concerned.

1. Sympathy is the occasion of happiness to those who exercise it. Those who are sympathetic need not be told this; those who are not, and are incredulous, may make the trial. To lose sight, as far as may be, of personal pleasure and trouble; to interest ourselves in the emotions of our neighbours; this is the sure way to happiness.

2. Sympathy is the occasion of relief and of profit to those to whom it is extended. The burdened spirit parts with half its load when a kindly friend extends a ready and tender sympathy. The tear is dried, the heart is cheered, when the sufferer feels that he is not left to suffer all alone. And joy, when the rejoicing spreads, is purified from selfishness, and is heightened tenfold. A torch burns brightly; but let ten torches be applied to it, and you have eleven flames instead of one. Thus gladness spreads from heart to heart. And in the Church of Christ, what is more beautiful than to behold the gleam of gladness on a hundred faces, to hear the song of gladness from a hundred harmonious lips! One soul afire with love to Jesus calls upon other souls to share the devotion and the praise; sympathy spreads, and general joy prevails.

3. Thus the Church of Christ is edified. The purposes of Divine grace in appointing Christian fellowship are fulfilled when each bears his brother"s burdens and joins his brother"s song. There is no surer sign of the Saviour"s spiritual presence, of his gracious work, than the prevalence of such sympathy.

4. What a testimony is thus offered to the world! Men complain of the world that it is heartless; that every one is engrossed in his own pursuits, his own interests, his own pleasures, his own troubles. It should be otherwise in the Church. And when it is otherwise, a proof is given of a Divine presence, a superhuman power. An energy of attraction is recognized; and men are drawn to the society of those who feel the winning and consolatory power of the emphatically Christian spirit of love and mutual sympathy.

Sympathy.

The two clauses of this verse remind us of the two main emotions of the human breast, of their diverse nature, and their common association.

Sorrow ever treads at the heels of joy. The sigh and the laugh may be heard at once. Scarce has prosperity brightened one threshold than adversity overshadows another. As in the plagues, there is light in Goshen and darkness in Egypt. If every house were painted to reveal the condition of the inmates, what startling contrasts would be seen side by side! It is of little use to try and measure the sum of happiness and of misery, to calculate which preponderates in life; better is it to adapt ourselves to these two prevailing states, and by appropriate words and deeds to evince our sympathy both with those who mourn and those who exult, not shrinking from distress nor envying the fortunate. Many reasons concur in recommending the apostle"s injunction.

I GOD HAS MADE MAN A SOCIAL BEING. He is the "God of the families of Israel." The Law commanded convocations, social observances; the people encamped not as individuals, but as households and tribes. Besides the appetites and affections that concern ourselves personally, there are others which respect our fellows and cannot be gratified without their presence. Love, gratitude, pity, all suppose their existent objects, so that the moral constitution of man exhibits the social capacities with which he has been endowed. There is a basis for sympathy in our physical nature. The appearance of one man acts and reacts on his companions. The mirthful induces merriment in the company, and the entrance of a gloomy countenance damps the spirits of a whole party. Infants are quickly affected by the attitude of those near them; and the lower animals are prone to frisk and leap when their masters are glad, and to be depressed by their melancholy. To shut one"s self up in solitude, to take no notice of the circumstances of others, is therefore to sin against the laws of our being.

II JESUS CHRIST HAS PROVIDED FOR THESE SOCIAL INSTINCTS IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HIS CHURCH. He has instituted a community of believers, united for mutual counsel and support. One by one we resort to the Saviour for individual teaching and healing, but "those that are being saved" are "added to the Church," and the visibility of the fact assists in that redemption from selfishness which is the essence of sin. "Bear ye one another"s burdens" is the recognition of our unity. The limb which shares not in the thrill of pain or pleasure is on the way to atrophy, disunion, death. Love and service to the Head of the body bind the members together as an organism, and love ministers to trouble and enhances joy. Such sympathy cannot, however, be restricted to the members of the Church. Family ties lead to efforts for the salvation of outsiders, and a desire for the glory of the Lord and the enlarging usefulness of his kingdom prompts to imitation of his beneficence who came to lighten our woes and to augment our gladness.

III OUR DEVELOPMENT UNTO PERFECTION DEMANDS THE CULTIVATION OF SYMPATHY. It was not "good" for Adam to be alone. A high pitch of civilization cannot be reached or maintained in isolation. Left to ourselves, we grow careless of refinement or progress. To shut ourselves up like flowers that close their petals at the rude blast, to crawl inside our shell, and, closing the aperture, to dwell simply on our own satisfactions and uneasinesses, is the pleading of mistaken self-love that overreaches itself and misses the pure happiness of sharing others" delights and of doing good. Spiritual growth is not attainable any more than physical strength by a life within-doors. Avoid the heat and the icy wind, and health suffers by too-great confinement. What lessons may be learnt from the successes and misfortunes of our neighbours! Their lot may be ours soon; it were well to be wise betimes. To look on others is to gaze at a mirror that reflects our own image.

IV THE FULFILMENT OF THIS PRECEPT WOULD MATERIALLY LIGHTEN THE WRETCHEDNESS OF THE WORLD. The savageness of unrestricted competition vanishes where a due regard is paid to the happiness or suffering of our companions. Nothing like a visit from the employer to the homes of his servants, or a sight by the speculator of the misery his unjust gains have entailed, to abate the fierceness of greed and to remedy grievances and wrongs. The world sorely needs brotherly kindness. Then would men and nations realize that what elevates one raises all, what depresses one truly enriches none. We may note that obedience to the latter clause of the text is perhaps more needful than compliance with the former. The distressed require help, the prosperous can do without it. But any separation of the two duties weakens both. It is not always easy to congratulate a fortunate compeer, any more than to assist the unlucky. No doubt we like to bask in the sunshine, and to withdraw from gloom. But the "elder brother" refused to join in the household felicitations, and the Levite and the Pharisee "passed by" the wounded traveller. Guard against the mere indulgence of passive sympathy. The rejoicing and mourning of the text imply an active sympathy, and action forms habits of good will and benevolence as Butler has described. Copy the Redeemer. No ascetic or misanthrope was he, who multiplied the innocent gaiety of the marriage feast, and mingled his tears with those of the weeping sisters of Lazarus. Even a hearty grasp of the hand adds to joy, and a moistened eye comforts those that mourn. The poorest in point of worldly goods may be rich in God-like sympathy. Many a man has been saved from utter despair by the knowledge that another was interested in his welfare. S.R.A.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rejoice - The direct opposite to weeping is laughter; but this does not so well suit a Christian.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The next duty required, is Christian sympathy and mutual affection between brethren, both in prosperity and adversity, to rejoice in the one, and to mourn together in the other, as being members of the same body. Teaching us,that it is a Christian’s duty to rejoice in those good things, whether inward or outward, which befall his brethren; and also to mourn and lay to heart all those afflictions and sorrows, whether inward or outward, which come upon them.

But, Lord! how far are they from this duty, who, instead of mourning for the sufferings of others, are glad at calamity, rejoice at the downfall of others!

O, help us to lay the troubles of others to heart, when we ourselves are freest and farthest from trouble: let us weep with them that weep, and rejoice with, &c. The gospel acquaints us with the pity of God towards us, and presseth us to pity one another.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. “Rejoice with them that rejoice, weep with them that weep.” Thus you see that we are to be sympathetic with our environments, ready in a moment to run to an altar and lead the way with the weeping penitent, showing him how to get down to the bottom of humiliation and contrition; then to raise the uproarious shout with the new-born soul, thus giving impetus to the rising tide of spiritual life now beginning to flow into his heart. We should seek the house of mourning, and condole their griefs by weeping with them.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rejoice with them that rejoice [ 1Co_12:26 ]; weep with them that weep . ["One might think," says Chrysostom, "it was no difficult task to rejoice with others. Put it is harder than to weep with them. For that is done even by the natural man when he beholds a friend in distress. There is need of grace, however, to enable us, not merely to abstain from envying, but even with all our hearts to rejoice at the good fortune of a friend." Love is to bind us to God's people in full sympathy, both in their prosperity and adversity.]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, etc. Sympathize with the joys and sorrows of others.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

15. χαίρειν κ.τ.λ., for infin. = imper. cf. Php 3:16, “familiar in Greek, esp. with laws and maxims,” Moulton, l.c[251]; here used in preference to the participle perh. on grounds of euphony.

[251] l.c. locus citatus

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15.] Inf. for imperative: see Php 3:16: and Winer, edn. 6, § 43. 5. d.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. χαίρειν μετὰ χαιρόντων κ.τ.λ. On the infinitive cf. Winer, § xliii. 5 d, p. 397, E. T. But it seems more forcible and less awkward to take it, as in Php 3:16, as the infinitive used for the emphatic imperative than to suppose a change of construction. ‘But that requires more of a high Christian temper, to rejoice with them that do rejoice, than to weep with them that weep. For this nature itself fulfils perfectly: and there is none so hardhearted as not to weep over him that is in calamity: but the other requires a very noble soul, so as not only to keep from envying, but even to feel pleasure with the person who is in esteem. And this is why we placed it first. For there is nothing that ties love so firmly as sharing both joy and pain one with another,’ Chrys. ad loc. Cf. Ecclus. 7:34.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.