496
d iv. 3,
e With ev, Gal. iii. 26; Eph i. 15; 1 Tim. iii.
13:2 Τἶπ,ς, διὰ τὴν ‘édwida τὴν " ἀποκειμένην ὑμῖν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς,
ili. 15. f Objective, Rom. viii. 24; Gal. v. 5; Tit. ii. 14.
1 So W.H., R.V. with ΒΟ", possibly by assimilation to 6. π. (ver. 2). T., Tr. with AC?DcKLP, probably to avoid unusual expression.
3. Εὐχαριστοῦμεν τῷ Θεῷ πατρὶ ! τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν ᾿Ιησοῦ 3 πάντοτε δ περὶ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι, 4. ἀκούσαντες τὴν "πίστιν ὑμῶν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην ἣν ἔχετε! εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους,
ἣν
g 2 Tim. iv. 8.
και Tarp: τω πατρι: Ln.,
Ws. with D*FG, Chrys. inserted for similar reason.
2So Ws, with Β. MSS.
Ιησον Χριστου: Ln., T., Tr. [W.H.], Lft., R.V. with other
So T., W.H., Lft. with ACDcKLP. νπερ: Ln., Tr., W.H. mg., Ws. with
BD*FG 17, probably from ver. 9.
‘mv εχετε: Ln., T., Tr., [W.H.] with NACD*FGP 17, possibly conformed to
Philm. 5. perhaps rightly.
in the passive sense (as by Ew., ΕΙΙ., Lightf., Abb., R.V.) =“ steadfast,” “‘ faith- ful,” with tacit reference to the falling away to false doctrine. Combined with ἀδελφ. its meaning would be faithful to Paul, which would have no point here. It should be taken here, as by most com- mentators, in the sense of “ believing’’. —év Χριστῷ. Itis significant that Χρισ- τός occurs alone very frequently in this Epistle, but ᾿Ιησοῦς never (though Κυρίου ἡμ. Ἰησοῦ, ver. 3; Kup. Ἴησ., iil. 17). No doubt this is to be accounted for by the need for emphasis on the doctrine of the Person of Christ.—ydpis ὑμῖν κ. εἰρήνη. This combination is found in all the Epistles that claim to be Paul's except the Pastorals, where it is modified. The formula, which was probably constructed by Paul, combines the Greek and Hebrew forms of salutation.—a7ds Θεοῦ μή, -- ἡμῶν. This is not added in τ Thess. The other Epistles add καὶ Κνρίον ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ. No importance is to be attached to their omission here. Cf. the similarly shortened form ἡ χάρις μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν (iv. 18).
Vv. 3-8. PAUL’S THANKSGIVING FOR THE TIDINGS HE HAS RECEIVED OF THE SPIRITUAL WELFARE OF THE COLOSSIANS. According to his usual custom (so in Thess., 1 Cor., Rom., Phil., Philm.), Paul begins his letter with an expression of his thankfulness to God for the Chris- tian graces of his readers. There is, however, a certain conventional element in these greetings, as may be seen from a comparison of similar formulz in letters found among recently discovered papyri (see articles by Prof. Rendel Harris in The Expositor for Sept. and Dec., 1898). Eph. i. 15-17 is parallel to wv. 3, 4 and
την: Ws. with DcKL, perhaps by assimilation to Eph. i. 15; B omits,
g.—Ver. 3. τῷ Θεῷ πατρὶ x.7.A.: “to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus”, Even if Θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ were read, we should probably not make Κυρίου de- pendent on Θεῷ as well as πατρὶ, since this is not Paul’s usual language, though it is found in Eph. i. 17 (6 Θεὸς τ. Kup. ἡμ. ᾿1. Χ.).-- πάντοτε is connected Ὁ several commentators (Beng., Alf., Ell., Findl., R.V.) with προσευχ. In favour of this is ob πανόμεθα ὑπ. Up. προσενχ. (ver.g). But more probably it should be taken with εὐχαριστ. (Μεγ., Lightf., Οἱ, Haupt, Weiss, Abb.), as this is the usual collocation in Paul, But wept ὑμῶν be- longs to προσενχ., not (as Lightf., Ol.) to εὐχαριστ. ‘ We always give thanks when we pray for you.”
Ver. 4. Paul now introduces the grounds of his thankfulness, the good report he has heard as to the faith and love of the Colossians. He refers to it again (νετ. ϱ).---πίστιν ἐν X. ἐν may be equivalent to els, but probably indicates “the sphere in which their faith moves rather than the object to which it is directed" (Lightf.). This faith rests upon Christ. πίστ. is wrongly taken by Ewald to mean “fidelity "".--πάντας, {.ε., all Christians throughout the world, whose unity in the universal Church was a thought much in Paul’s mind at this time.