[by and from Him] with wisdom and power. — ^ xep aXy vatrqs, the head of all) Eph. i. 10. — ndtrw apxys, of all principality) There fore we ought to present our petitions to Christ, not to angels.
11. Kai) also. Paul now enumerates the steps in the pro gress of those, who have become partakers of the fulness of Christ. — rttpisrwQqrs, ye are circumcised) As circumcision, so baptism, refers to initiation. — veepirofwi, with the circumcision) of the heart. — a^sipo^oi^r^, not made with hands) An epithet very suitable for the New Testament ; comp. Eph. ii. 11 ; Heb. ix. 11, 24. — atfsxdvff&i) a word most significant ; ver. 15. — roD ffu/tarog, of the body) This, as a whole, is opposed to the part, uncircumcision : aTrsxduovg ffw^aroj, the putting (stripping) off the body, a mild definition of death. It is different therefore from baptism : it is the circumcision of the heart ; it is death spiritual, in a good sense, whereas baptism is compared to burial. [Com munion with (joint participation in) the death and burial and resurrection of Christ is described in this and the following verse.
— V.g.] — r5jc ffapKbg, of the flesh) There is an apposition between the body of sins and the flesh [not the body of the sins of the flesh, as Engl. Yers., but the body of the sins, that is to say, the flesh],
— sv ry irepirofjwi rou Xpiffrou) by the circumcision of Christ, which accords with the New Testament ; a circumcision, to which that of Moses, in the flesh, gives place.
12. Bacrr/V/Aar/, in baptism) As death is before the resurrec tion, so in this third or middle term of the comparison, baptism naturally precedes matured (full-grown) faith. — sv <£, in which) An Anaphora [the frequent repetition of the same words in the beginnings], comp. ver. 11. — dta rijg niffrtug r%$ evipytiag rov 0soD) A remarkable expression : faith is of Divine operation, and Divine working is in believers ; Eph. i. 19, ii. 8 ; 1 Thess. ii. 13.
13. Kai vftag, and you) The discourse, ver. 10—12, was inde finite under the form of the second person, whereas now he speaks strictly in the second person ; and, indeed, there is a re markable Asyndeton [want of the copulative conjunction], by which ver. 13, 14, 15, are connected, — vexpolg ovrag, being dead) Eph. ii. 1, 2. — ry axpofivtrtq r5js ffapxbs, in the imcircumcision of the flesh) An exquisite term for original sin. — <rvve£uoirofi>i<re <riv ai/rw) God hath quickened you together with Christ; comp