VINCENT'S WORD STUDIES

COLOSSIANS 3

CHAPTER III

vers 1.
Be risen (sunhgerqhte). Rev., correctly, were raised. See ch. ii. 12. In their baptism in which they died (ch. ii. 20). Compare Rom. vi. 2 sqq. Sitteth (estin kaqhmenov). According to the A.V. the literal rendering would be is sitting. Is, however, must be taken separately; where Christ is, seated. Seated is a secondary predicate, as hidden in ch. ii. 3. Compare Eph. ii. 4-6; Apoc. iii. 21.

vers 2.
Set your affection (froneite). Lit., be minded, think. As Rev., set your mind. Seek marks the practical striving; set your mind, the inward impulse and disposition. Both must be directed at things above. "You must not only seek heaven, you must think heaven" (Lightfoot). Compare Philip. iii. 19, 20.

vers 3.
Ye are dead (apeqanete). Rev., correctly, ye died, as ch. ii. 20. Is hid (kekruptai). Your new spiritual life is no longer in the sphere of the earthly and sensual, but is with the life of the risen Christ, who is unseen with God. Compare Philip. iii. 20.

vers 4.
Who is our life (zwh). See on John i. 4. The life is not only with Christ, it is Christ. Compare John xiv. 6; 2 Cor. iv. 10, 11; 1 John v. 11, 12. For the change of person, our for your, see on ch. ii. 13.

Shall appear (fanerwqh). Rev., correctly, shall be manifested. Compare 1 John iii. 2, note. See on Rom. iii. 21.

In glory. Compare Rom. viii. 17.

vers 5.
Mortify (nekrwsate). Only here, Rom. iv. 19; Heb. xi. 12. Mortify is used in its literal sense of put to death.

So Erasmus: "Christ was mortified and killed." And Shakespeare:

" - his wildness mortified in him, Seemed to die too."

"I Henry v., 1, 26"

Members (melh). See on Rom. vi. 13. The physical members, so far as they are employed in the service of sin. The word falls in with the allusions to bodily austerities in ch. 2.

Which are upon the earth. Compare ver. 2. The organs of the earthly and sensuous life.

Fornication, etc. In apposition with members, denoting the modes in which the members sinfully exert themselves.

Inordinate affection, evil concupiscence (paqov, ejpiqumian kakhn). See on Rom. i. 26.

And covetousness (kai pleonexian). And has a climactic force; and especially; see on Rom. i. 29.

Which is (htiv estin). The compound relative, explanatory and classifying. Seeing it stands in the category of. Compare Eph. v. 5. Idolatry. See on 1 Cor. v. 10.

vers 6.
Wrath - cometh. Compare Rom. i. 18. The present tense denotes the certainty of the future event, as Matt. xvii. 11; John iv. 21. The best texts omit upon the children of disobedience.

vers 7.
In the which (en oiv). The omission of upon the children, etc., necessitates the reference to which things (ver. 6) Otherwise we might render among whom.

Walked - lived. Walked, referring to their practice, lived, to their condition. Their conduct and their condition agreed. Compare Galatians v. 25.

vers 8.
Put off (apoqesqe). Compare Rom. xiii. 12; Eph. iv. 22, 25; Heb. xii. 1; Jas. i. 21; 1 Pet. ii. 1.

Anger, wrath (ojrghn, qumon). See on John iii. 36.

Malice (kakian). See on naughtiness, Jas. i. 21.

Blasphemy (blasfhmian). See on Mark vii. 22. Compare Rom. iii. 8; xiv. 16; 1 Cor. iv. 13; Eph. iv. 31. Rev. railing.

Filthy communication (aiscrologian). Only here in the New Testament. Not merely filthy talking, as A.V., but foul-mouthed abuse. Rev., shameful speaking.

Out of your mouth. Construe with the preceding word. As ch. ii. 20-22 suggests Christ's words in Matt. xv. 1-20, this phrase suggests Matt. xv. 11, 18.

vers 9.
Seeing that ye have put off (apekdusamenoi). See on ch. ii. 15. The old man. See on Rom. vi. 6.

vers 10.
New (neon). See on Matt. xxvi. 29. Compare Eph. v. 24. Is renewed (anakainoumenon). Rev., better, giving the force of the present participle, is being renewed: in process of continuous renewal. The word kainov new, which enters into the composition of the verb, gives the idea of quality. Compare 2 Cor. iv. 16, and the contrast in Eph. iv. 22.

In knowledge (eiv epignwsin). Rev., correctly, unto knowledge, the end to which the renewal tended. Compare Eph. iv. 13.

After the image. Construe with renewed. Compare Eph. iv. 24, and see Gen. i. 26, 27.

Where there is (opou eni). Where, in the renewed condition; there is, better, as Rev., can be: eni strengthened from ejn in signifies not merely the fact but the impossibility: there is no room for.

Greek, Jew, etc. Compare Gal. iii. 28. National, ritual, intellectual, and social diversities are specified. The reference is probably shaped by the conditions of the Colossian church, where the form of error was partly Judaistic and ceremonial, insisting on circumcision; where the pretense of superior knowledge affected contempt for the rude barbarian, and where the distinction of master and slave had place as elsewhere.

Circumcision. For the circumcised. So Rom. iv. 12; Eph. ii. 11; Philip. iii. 3.

Barbarian, Scythian. See on 1 Cor. xiv. 11. The distinction is from the Greek and Roman point of view, where the line is drawn by culture, as between the Jew and the Greek it was drawn by religious privilege. From the former stand-point the Jew ranked as a barbarian. Scythian. "More barbarous than the barbarians" (Bengel). Hippocrates describes them as widely different from the rest of mankind, and like to nothing but themselves, and gives an absurd description of their physical peculiarities. Herodotus describes them as living in wagons, offering human sacrifices, scalping and sometimes flaying slain enemies, drinking their blood, and using their skulls for drinking-cups. When a king dies, one of his concubines is strangled and buried with him, and, at the close of a year, fifty of his attendants are strangled, disemboweled, mounted on dead horses, and left in a circle round his tomb.203 The Scythians passed through Palestine on their road to Egypt, B.C. 600, and a trace of their invasion is supposed to have existed in the name Scythopolis, by which Beth Shean 204 was known in Christ's time. Ezekiel apparently refers to them (xxxviii., 39.) under the name Gog, which reappears in Revelation. See on Apoc. xx. 8. 205 Bowels of mercies (splagcna oiktirmou). See on 1 Pet. iii. 8; 2 Corinthians i. 3. Rev., a heart of compassion.

Kindness (crhstothta). See on Rom. iii. 12.

Meekness (prauthta). See on Matt. v. 5.

Long-suffering (makroqumian). See on Jas. v. 7.

vers 13.
One another - one another (allhlwn - eautoiv). Lit., one another - yourselves. For a similar variation of the pronoun see Eph. iv. 32; 1 Pet. iv. 8-10. The latter pronoun emphasizes the fact that they are all members of Christ's body - everyone members one of another - so that, in forgiving each other they forgive themselves. Quarrel (momfhn). Only here in the New Testament. Cause of blame. Rev., complaint. The A.V. uses quarrel in its earlier sense of cause of complaint. So Shakespeare:

"The lady Beatrice hath a quarrel to you." "Much Ado," ii., 1.

"Against whom comest thou, and what's thy quarrel?" "Richard II.," i., 3, 33.

Holinshed: "He thought he had a good quarrel to attack him." It was used of a plaintiff's action at law, like the Latin querela.

vers 14.
Above all (ejpi pasin). According to the metaphor of the garment. Over all, like an upper garment, put on, etc.

Charity. See on 1 Cor. xiii. 1.

Bond of perfectness (sundesmov thv teleiothtov). Love embraces and knits together all the virtues. Teleiothv perfectness is a collective idea, a result of combination, to which bond is appropriate. Compare Plato: "But two things cannot be held together without a third; they must have some bond of union. And the fairest bond is that which most completely fuses and is fused into the things which are bound" ("Timaeus," 31).

vers 15.
Peace of Christ. Which comes from Christ. See John xiv. 27; Eph. ii. 14.

Rule (brabeuetw). Lit., be umpire. Only here in the New Testament. See on ch. ii. 18. The previous references to occasions for meekness, long-suffering, forbearance, forgiveness, etc., indicate a conflict of passions and motives in the heart. Christ is the one who adjusts all these, so that the metaphorical sense is appropriate, as in ch. ii. 18.

Called in one body. See Eph. iv. 4. So that ye are in one body according to your call.

vers 16.
The word of Christ. The only occurrence of the phrase. The word spoken by Christ.

Richly. See on Rom. ii. 4, and compare ch. i. 27.

In all wisdom. Some connect with the preceding words, others with the following - in all wisdom, teaching, etc. The latter seems preferable, especially in view of ch. i. 28, where the phrase occurs teaching and admonishing in all wisdom; because the adverb richly forms an emphatic qualification of dwell in, and so appropriately terminates the clause; and because the whole passage is thus more symmetrical. "Dwell in has its single adverb richly, and is supported and expanded by two coordinate participial clauses, each of which has its spiritual manner or element of action (in all wisdom, in grace) more exactly defined" (Ellicott).

Admonishing. See on ch. i. 28. The participles teaching and admonishing are used as imperatives, as Rom. xii. 9-13 16-19; Eph. iv. 2, 3; Heb. xiii. 5; 1 Pet. iii. 1, 7, 9, 16.

One another (eautouv). Yourselves. See on ver. 13.

Psalms. See the parallel passage, Eph. v. 19. A psalm was originally a song accompanied by a stringed instrument. See on 1 Cor. xiv. 15. The idea of accompaniment passed away in usage, and the psalm, in New-Testament phraseology, is an Old-Testament psalm, or a composition having that character. A hymn is a song of praise, and a song (wdh ode) is the general term for a song of any kind. Hymns would probably be distinctively Christian. It is supposed by some that Paul embodies fragments of hymns in his epistles, as 1 Corinthians 13; Eph. v. 14; 1 Tim. iii. 16; 2 Tim. ii. 11-14. Jas. i. 17, and Apoc. i. 5, 6; xv. 3, are also supposed to be of this character. In both instances of his use of wjdh song, Paul adds the term spiritual. The term may, as Trench suggests, denote sacred poems which are neither psalms nor hymns, as Herbert's "Temple," or Keble's "Christian Year." 206 This is the more likely, as the use of these different compositions is not restricted to singing nor to public worship. They are to be used in mutual christian teaching and admonition.

With grace (en th cariti). Lit., the grace. The article limits the meaning to the grace of God. With grace begins the second participial clause.

vers 17.
In the name. See on Matt. xxviii. 19.

Giving thanks. Notice the emphasis on the duty of thanksgiving placed at the close of the exhortations. See ch. i. 12; ii. 7; iii. 15; iv. 2.

vers 18.
Wives, etc. Compare the parallel passages, Eph. v. 22-vi. 9. See also 1 Pet. ii. 18-iii. 7; Tit. ii. 1-5.

Is fit (anhken). See on Philemon 8. The imperfect tense, was fitting, or became fitting, points to the time of their entrance upon the christian life. Not necessarily presupposing that the duty remained unperformed.

Lightfoot illustrates by ought, the past tense of owed, and says, "the past tense perhaps implies an essential a priori obligation."

In the Lord. Connect with is fitting, and compare well-pleasing in the Lord, ver. 20.

vers 19.
Be not bitter (mh pikrainesqe). Lit., be not embittered. Used only here by Paul. Elsewhere only in Revelation. The compounds parapikrainw to exasperate, and parapikrasmov provocation, occur only in Heb. iii. 16; iii. 8, 15. Compare Eph. iv. 31.

vers 20.
This is well pleasing. Expanded in Eph. vi. 2, 3. Unto the Lord should be in the Lord.

vers 21.
Provoke to anger (ereqizete). Only here and 2 Cor. ix. 2, where it is used of stirring up to good works. To anger is added by A.V. Be discouraged (ajqumwsin). Only here in the New Testament. Lose heart, or become dispirited.

vers 22.
Masters (kurioiv). See on Lord, 2 Pet. ii. 1, and Matt. xxi. 3. Kuriov Lord and despothv master came to be used interchangeably in the New Testament, though originally the latter involved such authority as is implied in our use of despot, or in the relation of a master to a slave. The Greeks applied despothv only to the gods.

With eye-service (en ofqalmodouleiaiv). Only here and Ephesians vi. 6. The word seems to have been coined by Paul.

Men pleasers (anqrwpareskoi). Only here and Eph. vi. 6.

Compare Plato: "And this art he will not attain without a great deal of trouble, which a good man ought to undergo, not for the sake of speaking and acting before men, but in order that he may be able to say what is acceptable to God, and always to act acceptably to Him as far as in him lies. For there is a saying of wiser men than ourselves, that a man of sense should not try to please his fellow-servants (at least this should not be his first object), but his good and noble masters" "Phaedrus," 273).

Singleness (aplothti). See on Rom. xii. 8. Without duplicity or doubleness.

Fearing the Lord (ton Kurion). The one Master contrasted with the masters (kurioiv) according to the flesh. The parallel in Eph. vi. 5, has as unto Christ.

vers 23.
Ye do - do it (poihte - ergazesqe). Rev., correctly, ye do - work; the latter being the stronger term as opposed to idleness. See on Jas. ii. 9. An idle man may do. Compare ejrgasia diligence, Luke xii. 58. Heartily (ek yuchv). Lit., from the soul. With a personal interest. Note that the apostle uses both heart (kardiav, ver. 22) and soul (yuchv); and in Eph. vi. 7, adds met' eujnoiav with good disposition (A.V., good will). See on Rom. xi. 3; vii. 23; i. 21. Compare sumyucoi of one accord, Philip. ii. 2; ijsoyucon like-minded, Philip. ii. 20; mia yuch with one mind, Philip. i. 27.

vers 24.
Of the inheritance. Which consists or is in the inheritance. Compare the similar construction, ch i. 12. See Matt. xxi. 35-38, where the doulov bond-servant and the klhronomov heir are contrasted; and Rom. viii. 15-17; Gal. iv. 1-7.

For ye serve (gar douleuete). Omit for. Some take the verb as imperative, serve ye; but the indicative is better as explaining from the Lord.

vers 25.
He that doeth wrong (o adikwn). Compare Philemon 18. The reference is primarily to the slave; but the following clause extends it to the master. If the slave do wrong, he shall be punished; but the master who does wrong will not be excused, for there is no respect of persons. Tychicus, who carried this letter to Colossae, carried at the same time the letter to Philemon, and escorted Onesimns to his master.

Shall receive (komisetai). See on 1 Pet. i. 8. Compare Eph. vi. 8. Respect of persons. See on Jas. ii. 1. In the Old Testament it has, more commonly, a good sense, of kindly reception, favorable regard. In the New Testament always a bad sense, which came to it through the meaning of mask which attached to proswpon face.

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