συνέσει πνευματικῇ, IO. περιπατῆσαι ἀξίως τοῦ Κυρίου εἰς πᾶσαν
Ρ ἀρεσκείαν, ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ ἀγαθῷ καρποφοροῦντες καὶ αὐξανόμενοι ρ ᾽ PY’ Ὗ τ ρ ρ 9 υ μ
τῇ ἐπιγνώσει τοῦ Θεοῦ, 11. ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει “ δυναμούμενοι κατὰ
τὸ κράτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ, εἰς πᾶσαν ὑπομονὴν καὶ μακροθυμίαν
Eth, Eud., ii., 3; Pol., vi., 2, εἰς. ; Diod., xiii., 53.
499
p Only here in N.T.;in Philo of pleasing God ; in bad sense, Theoph., Char., 5; Arist.,
q Only here, Heb. xi. 34 and (?) Eph. vi. 10
in N.T., or Gk. vss. of Ο.Τ. Elsewhere in Paul, ενδυν.
1 So edd. with NABCD*EFGP 17. εἰς τὴν επιγνωσιν: DcKL, probably to simplify the constr., perhaps assisted by τὴν επιγνωσιν (ver. 9).
the definite request. Soden thinks the middle (αἰτούμενοι) is chosen to express Paul’s personal interest, but there seems to have been no distinction between the middle and active of this verb in later Greek.—iva πληρωθῆτε τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν. After verbs of praying, etc., ἵνα is used in a weakened sense to express the con- tent of the prayer. πληρ. with the accusative is not precisely the same as with the genitive or dative. So here “filled with respect to”. ἐπίγνωσις is stronger than γνῶσις. Meyer defines it as the knowledge which grasps and pene- trates into the object.—rod θελήματος αὐτοῦ. This does not mean God’s coun- sel of redemption (Chrys., Beng., De W., ΚΙ.), nor ‘‘the whole counsel of God as made known to us in Christ” (Findl.), but, as the context indicates (ver. 10), the moral aspect of God’s will, ‘‘ His will for the conduct of our lives”’ (Mey., Sod., Haupt, Abb.).—év πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καὶ συνέσει πνευματικῇ : to be taken with the preceding, not (as by Hofm.) with the following words. σοφία is general, σύνεσις special. σοφία embraces the whole range of mental faculties; σύνεσις is the special faculty of intelligence or insight which discriminates between the false and the true, and grasps the τε]α- tions in which things stand to each other. The addition of mvevp. shows that both are to proceed from the inspiration of the Holy’ Spirit. They thus stand in opposition to fleshly wisdom (2 Cor. i. 12), and especially, it would seem, though Haupt denies this, to the false wisdom, by which the Colossians were in danger of being ensnared (cf. tot νοὸς τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ, ii, 18). The repetition of πᾶς in this context should be noticed. The early part of the Epistle is strongly marked by repetition of particular words and phrases.
Ver. το. περιπατῆσαι ἀξίως τοῦ Κυρίου (cf. Eph, iv. 1). This lofty wisdom and insight is not an end in itself, It must issue in right practice.
Doctrine and ethics are for Paul insepar- able. Right conduct must be founded on right thinking, but right thinking must also lead to right conduct. The infinitive expresses result ‘so as to walk”. τοῦ Κυρ., {.6., of Christ, not of God (Hofm., Ol.). Ini Thess. ii. 12 τοῦ Θεοῦ is used, but ὁ Kup. in Paul means Christ.—dapeo- κείαν in classical Greek used generally in a bad sense, of obsequiousness. But it often occurs in Philo in a good sense; see the note on the word in Deissmann’s Bible Studies, p. 224. καρποφοροῦντες καὶ αὐξανόμενοι. For the collocation cf. νετ. 6. The participles should prob- ably be connected with περιπατῆσαι, not (as by Beng., Hofm., Weiss) with πληρωθῆτε, which is too far away. The continuation of an infinitive by a nomi- native participle instead of the accusative is frequent in classical Greek, and occurs several times in Paul (ii. 2, iii. 16, Eph. iv. 2, 3). They should not be separated. The whole clause should be translated ‘bearing fruit and increasing in every good work by the knowledge of God’’. Fruit bearing is one of Paul’s favourite metaphors.—tq ἐπιγνώσει: not as ΚΕΝ. and Moule ‘‘in the knowledge,” for Paul has already spoken of this in ver. 9, but “by the knowledge,” the knowledge of God being the means of their spiritual growth. Meyer, against the overwhelm- ing weight of evidence, reads εἰς τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν, “45 regards the knowledge ”, This would make knowledge the goal of conduct (cf. John vii. 17), whereas previously the relation is reversed. Ver. 11. ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει: ‘ with all power,” ἐν being instrumental. κατὰ τὸ κράτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ. The equip- ment with power is proportioned not simply to the recipient’s need, but to the Divine supply. God’s glory is His manifested nature, here as manifested in might.—eis πᾶσαν ὑπομονὴν καὶ µακρο- θυμίαν. This equipment with Divine power is not, as we might have expected, said to be given with a view to deeds