1. Inthe Lord. See on Philip. i. 14.
2. Lowliness—meekness. See on Matt. xi. 293 v. 5. Long-suffering. See on Jas. v. 7.
Forbearing (dveyopevor). See on Luke ix. 41.
3. Endeavoring (czovddfovres). Not strong enough. Orig- inally the verb means to make haste. So the kindred noun atrovon haste, Mark vi. 25; Luke i. 39. Hence diligence. Rev., here, giving diligence.
To keep (rnpeiv). See on reserved, 1 Pet. i. 4.
Unity of the Spirit. Wrought by the Holy Spirit.
Bond of peace. The bond which is peace. Compare ch. ii. 14, owr peace—made both one. Christ, our peace, is thus a bond of peace. Others, however, treat in the bond as parallel with in love of ver. 2, and cite Col. iii. 14, “love the bond of perfectness.”
4, The connection with the preceding verses is as follows: I exhort you to wnity, for you stand related to the Church, which is one body in Christ; to the one Spirit who informs it; to the one hope which your calling inspires; to the one Lord,
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Christ, in whom you believe with one common Jaith, and re- ceive one common sign of that faith, baptism. Above all, to the one God and Father.
Body—Spirit. Zhe body is the invisible Church, the mystical body of Christ: the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. ITveidpa spirit, is never used in the New Testament of temper or disposition.
Even as. To the facts of one body and one Spirit corre- sponds the fact of their calling in one hope. Compare Col. iii. 15.
In one hope of your calling (é pd édaride THs Krjoews tpav). In, not by. Their calling took place in the one hope as its moral element or sphere, since they were called to fellow- ship with Christ who is the one object and the one inspirer of hope. Compare called in peace, 1 Cor. vii. 15; im sanctifica- tion, 1 Thess. iv. 7 (Rev.). Hope here is not the object but the principle of hope. The phrase hope of your calling signifies hope which is characteristic of God’s call to salvation, and is engendered by it. See on ch. i. 18.
5. Faith. The principle of faith; not that which is believed —the body of Christian doctrine, which does not promote unity. See on Acts vi. 7.
Baptism. The external sign of faith, but of no significance without the Lord and the faith. Baptism is emphasized in- stead of the Eucharist, because the latter assumes and recog- nizes unity as an established fact; while faith and baptism precede that fact, and are essential to it. Baptism, moreover, is not administered to the Church as a body, but to individuals, and therefore emphasizes the exhortation to each member to be in vital union with the whole body.
6. One God and Father. The fundamental ground of unity. Note the climax: One Church, one Christ, one God.
Above all (éi wdvrwv). Rev., over: as ruler.
Through—in (dua—év). Through, pervading: in, indwell- ing. Compare ch. ii. 22; iii. 17.
388 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. IV.
7. Every one (évl éxdot@). Rev., each. From the Church as a whole, he passes to its individual members. In the gen- eral unity the individual is not overlooked, and unity is con- sistent with variety of gifts and offices.
Grace (4 ydpis). The article, omitted by A. V., is import- ant: the one grace of God, manifesting itself in the different gifts.
8. Wherefore. Confirming by Scripture what has just been said.
When He ascended, etc. Quoted from Ps. lxviii. 19 (Sept. Ixvii. 18). The Hebrew reads: “ Ascending to the height thou didst lead captive captivity, and received gifts in man.” So Sept. Paul changes ¢how didst lead, didst recewve, into he lead and he gave. The Psalm is Messianic, a hymn of victory in which God is praised for victory and deliverance. It is freely adapted by Paul, who regards its substance rather than its let- ter, and uses it as an expression of the divine triumph as ful- filled in Christ’s victory over death and sin.