revelation at all’. But this conception, besides having rather dubious biblical support, is too general for the context, where ‘the word’ is described as having the power to save (v. 21) and to regenerate (v. 18). These references indicate rather plainly that ‘the implanted word’ must depict the proclaimed word of God, not an innate quality within man. In this case, emphytos would refer to something that has become implanted.3 This striking conception of the word may be dependent on the famous ‘new