Whereas angels, which are greater in power Some of the MSS. omit the words "before the Lord." The words as they stand here leave it uncertain of what instance the Apostle speaks, but it is probable that he refers to the tradition mentioned by St Jude (see notes on Judges 9), or possibly to the words spoken by the Angel of the Lord to Satan as the accuser of Joshua the son of Josedech in Zechariah 3:2. In the "railing" accusation, we have a distinct reference to the "reviling" or "speaking evil" of the previous verse. The Vulgate rendering "non portant adversus se execrabile judicium" is probably meant to convey the sense "against each other," but it has been strangely interpreted by Lyra and other Roman Catholic commentators as meaning that as "evil angels cannot endure the accursed doom that falls on them from the Lord," how much less will ungodly men be able to endure it. The true sequence of thought is obviously that if good angels refrain from a railing judgment (not "accusation") against evil ones, how much more should men refrain from light or railing words in regard to either.

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