308
Ill.
ο Col. i. 26;° αἰώνων 1 » ἐν τῷ θεῷ τῷ τὰ πάντα “ κτίσαντι,2 το. ἵνα * γνωρισθῇ
plur., Rom. i.
r Ch. i. 9 reff. s Ch. i. 21 reff. t Ch. i.
1 After τ. atwy. insert και απο των Ύενεων FG, g, Syr.
vov® ταῖς " ἀρχαῖς καὶ ταῖς " ἐξουσίαις ἐν τοῖς ᾿ ἐπουρανίοις διὰ τῆς
25, ix. 5 ke 1 Cor. ii. 7, x. 11; ch. ii. 7; 1 Tim. i. 17; _ i. 2, xi. 4. 3 reff.
p Col. iii. 3. q Ch. ii. ro refi.
2 After κτισαντι insert δια Incov Χριστου D°EKL, etc., Syr., al., Chr., Thdrt.,
ΤΗΙ., Oec.; om. SABCDFGP 17, 73, 177-8, al., It., Vulg., Syr., Ar
--erp., Copt.,
Eth., Arm., Dial., Bas., Cyr., Tert., Jer., Ambr., Aug., Ambrst., Vig., Pel. 3 yvv om. FG, Syr., all Orig., Tert., all; insert (etc.) Ath., Chr., Thdrt., Dam., al.,
Jer...
which Paul is to be a preacher. The main thought in the verse in question is the thought with which it starts, véz., the marvel of that Apostolic commission of which Paul had been put in trust by the grace of God; and the majesty and the wonder of that commission are made the greater by the grandeur of the “‘ mys- tery” the Divine disposition of which he was appointed to declare toallmen. This “mystery,” though long hidden, had been in the Divine mind from the first, and it had been there in such a sense that the whole scheme of created things had it in view, and in such wise that the know- ledge of it was to be imparted even to the angelic world (cf. Haupt). Or, as it may be better put, the “mystery” now at last revealed by God and proclaimed by Paul to all men in all the sovereign and surpassing wisdom of the Divine dispensation by which it was hidden long and in the fulness of time at last disclosed, was one of God's own eternal secrets, one of His unsearchable thoughts, a thing that had its place from the begin- ning in His creative plan, a reserve in the Eternal mind that purposed and formed all that exists. And to Paul’s hands did the surpassing grace of God commit the proclamation of a truth of such magni- tude, the illumination (φωτίσαι) of so unsearchable a disposition of the Divine wisdom |
Ver. το. ἵνα γνωρισθῇ viv ταῖς ἀρχαῖς κὰὶ ταῖς ἐξουσίαις ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις : in 0 at now unto the principalities and the παρόν in the heavenlies might be made known. To make the manifold wisdom of God known where formerly it was not understood is now declared to be the object in view. But the object of what? The creation of all things, says Harless ; who connects the ἵνα ῇ immediately with the τῷ τὰ πάντα κτί- σαντι. But, while it is true that τε- demption is sometimes exhibited in re- lation to creation (John i, 1-14, etc.), and while Christ Himself is presented at
times not only as the author and ground of creation but also as its end or object (Col. i. 16), the idea resulting here on that view would be that the hyp xg of God in creating all things was the pro- clamation of His wisdom to the angelic world by the Church. This, however, would be a statement without any par- allel elsewhere in the NT. It is better, therefore, to connect the sentence im- mediately with the τοῦ μυστη τοῦ ἀποκεκρυμμένον, as is done wore and many more. In that case the idea would be that the “ mystery’ was long hidden indeed, but hidden only with the design of being made known, and that on the widest possible scale—to angels no less than to men—in due time (cf. the general statement of principle in Mark iv. 22). There is much to be said in support of this, Ὁ ἢ the antithesis of the νῦν to the ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων, and the γναρισθῇ to the ἀποκεκρυμμένον, etc. But it is best