1. | would that ye knew (9é\@ tuas etdévar). Paul’s more usual form of expression is, 7 would not have you to be ignor- ant. See on Rom. i. 13.
What great conflict | have (7Aixkov dyava éyw). Rev., how greatly I strive. “Hdtxov what great, only here and Jas. iii. 5. Conflict, continuing the metaphor of ch.i. 29. Here of inward conflict, anxiety, prayer, as ch. iv. 12.
Laodicaea. See on Apoc. iii. 14.
And for as many as («ai dco). Including all who come under the same category as the Colossians and Laodicaeans. Hence equivalent to all who, like yourselves, have not seen, etc. See, for a similar usage, Acts iv. 6; Apoc. xviii. 17. Indicat- ing that the Colossians and Laodicaeans were both personally unknown to Paul.
2. Comforted (apaxAndJoow). Not so much tranquillized as braced. See on John xiv. 16.
Knit together (cupPiBaoSévtes). See on proving, Acts ix. 22. In the Septuagint it means Zo instruct, as Exod. xviii. 16; Deut. iv. 9; Isa. xl. 138 (compare 1 Cor. ii. 16); Ps. xxxi. 8. Used of putting together in one’s mind, and so to conclude by comparison. Thus Acts xvi. 10, asswredly gathering, Rev., concluding.
* In the middle voice when the human agent, the mind, or a faculty of the mind is represented as working (Rom. vii. 5; Eph. iii. 20; Gal. v. 6, etc.). In the active voice when God or some evil power works on the man (1 Cor. xii. 6, 11; Gal. ii. 8; Eph. i. 20, etc.).
Cu. IL] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 483
Full assurance (xAnpodgopias). Or fulness. See Heb. vi. iW Dee ey
Of understanding (cuvécews). See on Mark xii. 33 ; Luke il. 47,
To the acknowledgment (eis ériyvwow). Wrong. °Eniy- vwots is the full knowledge, as ch. i. 9 (note). Rev., that they may know.
Of God. The best textual authorities add Xpictod of Christ. So Rev., of God, even Christ. Christ is in apposition with mystery. Compare ch. i. 27.
3. Hid (azroxpugor). Only here, Mark iv. 22; Luke viii. 17. Compare 1 Cor. ii. 7. Not to be joined with are, as A. V. Its position at the end of the sentence, and so far from are, shows that it is added as an emphatic secondary predicate. Hence, as Rev., in whom are all the treasures, ete., hidden. For a similar construction, see ch. iii. 1, “where Christ is on the right hand of God seated (there).” Jas. i. 17, “ Every per- fect gift is from above, coming down.” * Grammatically, hidden may be taken as an attribute of treasures ; “in whom the hid- den treasures are contained ;” but the other is preferable. The words which immediately follow in ver. 4, suggest the possibility that A¢dden may convey an allusion to the Apocrypha or secret writings of the Essenes, whose doctrines entered into the Colos- sian heresy. Such writings, which, later, were peculiar also to the Gnostics, contained the authoritative secret wisdom, the esoteric teaching for the learned few. If such is Paul’s allus- ion, the word suggests a contrast with the treasures of christ- ian wisdom which are accessible to all in Christ.
Wisdom and knowledge. See on Rom. xi. 33.
4. Beguile (7rapadoyifnra). Only here and Jas. i. 22. See note. Rev., delude. So Ignatius, speaking of the duty of obedience to the bishop, says: “He that fails in this, does not deceive the visible bishop, but attempts to cheat (mapanoyite- tat) the Invisible” (Epistle to Magnesians, iii.). The word is
* I take this opportunity to correct my own note on Jas. i. 17, cometh down.
4.84 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. (Cu, IL
fotind in the Septuagint, Josh. ix. 22; 1 Sam. xixekh o2 Sam. xxi. 5.,
Enticing words (i9avoroyia). Rev., persuasiveness of speech. Only here in the New Testament. In classical Greek, of probable argument as opposed to demonstration. So Plato : “Reflect whether you are disposed to admit of probability (r.9avoroyia) and figures of speech in matters of such import- ance” (“ Theaetetus,” 163). Compare 1 Cor. ii. 4.