20. 'H 3o'ga, glory) in return for His gift, 2 Cor. ix. 15. The doxology flows from the joy that pervades the whole epistle.
21. nai/ra ay/ov, every saint) individually. So presently in ver. 22, All the saints. %ai oi, and the, viz. saints, so called in a wide sense. Therefore, brethren, ver. 21, may rather be under stood of the Jews, (comp. Acts xxviii. 21), and these too be lievers.
1 ' Apocha. ' may either be his acknowledgment of having received in full the debt of kindness due to him from them, or else Beng. uses d7ro%v) as Epictetus for forbearance, moderation in desires. In the ' a-pocha' there is a direct allusion to the d^A-^u of the text. — ED.
2. 5Ev KoXo<r<ra%, at Colosse) a city of Phrygia. — dy/o/£, to the saints) This has the force of a substantive. It implies union with God : to the faithful brethren, implies union with Christian men. The word brethren suggests union. These were be lievers.
3. Eu^apiffTov/^sv — dxovffavrsg, we give thanks — since we heard) Comp. Eph. i. 15, 16. For the Epistle to the Colossians bears considerable resemblance to the two epistles to which it is sub joined : to the Epistle to the Ephesians, in its general subject (thesis) and mode of exhortation (paraclesis) ; to the Epistle to the Philippians, in its opposition to the false teachers, and in their refutation. More of these coincidences will be noticed in their proper places. The Epistles to the Ephesians and Colos sians were sent at the same time by Tychicus, iv. 7 ; Eph. vi. 21. — -Trdvrors, always) Construed with praying: Rom. i. 10; Phil. i. 4.
4. ndvras, all) present and absent.
5. A/a, for) From [the greatness of the object of] hope, it is evident how great a cause of thanksgiving there is for the gift of faith and love ; for (did) is construed with we give thanks, ver. 3. [Faith, hope, love, ver. 4, 5, the sum of Christianity. Comp. ver. 9, 10, 11. — V. g.] — d^oxsi^vriV, laid up) so as to be without danger [of its being lost]. — w, which) hope, comp. ver. 23. —