Colossians · Chapter 2

V. 1. How great a conflict-Of care, desire, prayer. As many as have not seen my face-Therefore, in writing to the Colossians, he refrains from those familiar appellations, "Brethren," "Beloved."

Verse 1. What great conflict] The word agwn, which we here render conflict, is to be understood as implying earnest care and solicitude, accompanied, undoubtedly, with the most fervent application to the throne of grace in their behalf. The agwnizomenov of the preceding verse gave the apostle occasion to use the word agwn here. He agonized with God, and his agony was for them.

Laodicea] A city of Asia Minor, on the borders of Caria, Phrygia, and Lydia. It was originally called Diospolis, or the city of Jupiter, and afterwards Rhoas; but obtained the name of Laodicea from Laodice, the wife of Antiochus. It is now called Ladik. It was formerly celebrated for its commerce, and the fine black wool of its sheep. Colosse, or the city of the Colossians, lay between it and Hierapolis. This Hierapolis was also a town of Phrygia, famous for its hot baths: it is now called Bambukholasi. As many as have not seen my face in the flesh] From this it has been conjectured that St. Paul had never been at either Colosse or Laodicea, and this, from the letter of the text, appears probable; and yet, his having passed more than once through this country, preaching and strengthening the Churches, renders it very improbable. It is, therefore, most likely that we should understand the apostle as speaking collectively; that he had the most earnest concern, not only for the welfare of those Churches with which he was acquainted, such as Colosse and Laodicea, but also for those to whom he was not personally known.

Verses 1-3. I would, &c. — The apostle having declared, in the latter part of the preceding chapter, the commission which Christ had given to his apostles to preach salvation to the Gentiles through his death, and having described his own labours as an apostle in preaching that great blessing, and thereby having shown what great obligations mankind were under to him for communicating and perpetuating such interesting discoveries; he begins this second chapter with expressing an earnest desire that the Colossians knew what a great concern he was under for their establishment in grace, and that of others, to whom he had not personally ministered. That ye knew what great conflict — Of care, desire, prayer; I have — The original expression is taken from the athletic exercises of the Greeks, and expresses the great solicitude, or agony of mind, the apostle was in on their account. For you — Not only for the members of such churches as I myself have been the instrument of planting, and among whom I have exercised my ministry in person, but for those among whom I have not so ministered; and for them at Laodicea, and as many as have not seen my face, &c. — For my concern for the spread of the gospel, and the salvation of the heathen, is influenced, not by considerations of personal friendship for those whom I particularly know and love, but by a benevolent regard for the good of mankind in general, known or unknown, that they may receive and retain this glorious revelation, and have it delivered to them with all possible advantage. It appears to have grieved the apostle to think how incapable he was rendered of serving them otherwise than by his letters and prayers. And should not this language inspire every minister who reads this, with an earnest desire to use his liberty to the best of purposes, and to exert himself as much as, under such confinement, he would wish he had done? That their hearts may be comforted — With the consolations of the Holy Ghost, and animated to every holy affection and beneficent action. This the original word implies, signifying, not only to have consolation administered under affliction, but to be quickened and excited to zeal and diligence; being knit together — Sumbibasqentwn, compacted; in mutual Christian love — To the whole body, and to Christ the head of it; unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding — That is, unto the fullest and clearest knowledge of the gospel, here termed the mystery of God, even of the Father, and of Christ, in whom — Or in which mystery, (as may be intended,) and not in any or all of the heathen mysteries; are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge — Christ being himself the wisdom of God incarnate, and his gospel the most perfect and glorious revelation which God ever made, or will make to mankind.

Verse 1, 2. I would that ye knew what great conflict I have, in the inward feelings of my heart and wrestlings of prayer, for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many, in the adjacent districts, as have not seen my face in the flesh. I want you to be comforted in the Lord by the strong bonds of unity, concord, and love. I want the gospel to be preached to you in all its excellence and extent, to the full assurance of understanding and prudence in the knowledge of the mystery of God, even of the Father, and of Christ. It is the plenitude of divine knowledge which alone can command the heart to concord, in all piety and divine enjoyment.

1. What great conflict—His deep anxiety of soul; an agony of striving. Laodicea was a wealthy commercial city on the border of Phrygia and Lydia, about eighteen miles west of Colosse, the seat of one of the seven Churches of Asia. (See on Revelation 3:14.) The Christians there were evidently exposed to the same danger with those at Colosse. Most of them, in both cities, seem never to have seen their apostle, as was doubtless true of other neighbouring Churches.

Ver. 1. For I wish etc.; supports the foregoing assertion by a proof case, viz. Paul’s inward struggle for his readers’ good.

Struggle, or conflict: the substantive from which is derived the verb rendered contend in the last verse. It is the Greek original of our word agony; and is the technical term for the Greek athletic contests. The verb and substantive are together also in 1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7. From the aim stated in Colossians 2:2 we learn that this struggle was practically the same as that of Epaphras mentioned in Colossians 4:12, agonizing on your behalf in his prayers that ye may stand mature and fully assured.

On your behalf: i.e. for your benefit: cp. Colossians 1:24, sufferings on your behalf.

Laodicea: see Intro. iv. 3. Grammatically, the words have not seen my flesh might or might not include Colossæ as well as Laodicea. But these words seem to give a reason for Paul’s anxiety. And the reason must be valid for both Churches. Moreover, they were so near that if Paul had visited one he would almost certainly have visited the other. We therefore infer with confidence that Paul had never been in the valley of the Lycus. But he knew that there were Christians there. And so anxious was he for their good, while unable directly to help them, that his thoughts about them became a spiritual conflict. Naturally he says I wish you to know this: same words in 1 Corinthians 11:3; similar words in 1 Corinthians 10:1; 12:1, etc.

In flesh; gives greater definiteness to the bodily presence involved in seen my face. Cp. Ephesians 2:11, the Gentiles in flesh.

V. 2. Unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, unto the acknowledgment of the mystery of God-That is, unto the fullest and clearest understanding and knowledge of the gospel.

Verse 2. That their hearts might be comforted] That they might have continual happiness in God, having constant affiance in him. Being knit together in love] The word sumbibasqentwn, or sumbibasqentev, which is the true reading, but both of equal import here, signifies being united, as the beams or the timbers of a building, by mortices and pins. The visible Church of Christ cannot be in union with God unless it have unity in itself, and without love this unity is impossible. Unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding] That is, that they might have the most indubitable certainty of the truth of Christianity, of their own salvation, and of the general design of God to admit the Gentiles into his Church. This is the grand mystery of God, which was now laid open by the preaching of the Gospel.

And of the Father, and of Christ] These words are variously written in different MSS., versions, and fathers: The mystery of God-of God in Christ-of God who is in Christ-of God concerning Christ-of God who is Christ-of the God Christ-of God and Christ-of God the Father of Christ-of God the Father, and our Lord Christ-of God and the Father of Christ-of God the Father, in Christ-of the God Christ Jesus, Father and Lord, &c., &c., &c.

This great variety of versions leaves the strongest presumption that the words in question are glosses which have crept into the text, and are of no authority. Griesbach has left them out of the text.

Verses 1-3. I would, &c. — The apostle having declared, in the latter part of the preceding chapter, the commission which Christ had given to his apostles to preach salvation to the Gentiles through his death, and having described his own labours as an apostle in preaching that great blessing, and thereby having shown what great obligations mankind were under to him for communicating and perpetuating such interesting discoveries; he begins this second chapter with expressing an earnest desire that the Colossians knew what a great concern he was under for their establishment in grace, and that of others, to whom he had not personally ministered. That ye knew what great conflict — Of care, desire, prayer; I have — The original expression is taken from the athletic exercises of the Greeks, and expresses the great solicitude, or agony of mind, the apostle was in on their account. For you — Not only for the members of such churches as I myself have been the instrument of planting, and among whom I have exercised my ministry in person, but for those among whom I have not so ministered; and for them at Laodicea, and as many as have not seen my face, &c. — For my concern for the spread of the gospel, and the salvation of the heathen, is influenced, not by considerations of personal friendship for those whom I particularly know and love, but by a benevolent regard for the good of mankind in general, known or unknown, that they may receive and retain this glorious revelation, and have it delivered to them with all possible advantage. It appears to have grieved the apostle to think how incapable he was rendered of serving them otherwise than by his letters and prayers. And should not this language inspire every minister who reads this, with an earnest desire to use his liberty to the best of purposes, and to exert himself as much as, under such confinement, he would wish he had done? That their hearts may be comforted — With the consolations of the Holy Ghost, and animated to every holy affection and beneficent action. This the original word implies, signifying, not only to have consolation administered under affliction, but to be quickened and excited to zeal and diligence; being knit together — Sumbibasqentwn, compacted; in mutual Christian love — To the whole body, and to Christ the head of it; unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding — That is, unto the fullest and clearest knowledge of the gospel, here termed the mystery of God, even of the Father, and of Christ, in whom — Or in which mystery, (as may be intended,) and not in any or all of the heathen mysteries; are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge — Christ being himself the wisdom of God incarnate, and his gospel the most perfect and glorious revelation which God ever made, or will make to mankind.

Verse 1, 2. I would that ye knew what great conflict I have, in the inward feelings of my heart and wrestlings of prayer, for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many, in the adjacent districts, as have not seen my face in the flesh. I want you to be comforted in the Lord by the strong bonds of unity, concord, and love. I want the gospel to be preached to you in all its excellence and extent, to the full assurance of understanding and prudence in the knowledge of the mystery of God, even of the Father, and of Christ. It is the plenitude of divine knowledge which alone can command the heart to concord, in all piety and divine enjoyment.

2. Acknowledgment—Rather, full knowledge. The apostle’s struggle was that, being closely united together in Christian love, which is a great safeguard against false doctrine, they might by intellectual conviction and the inward working of the Holy Spirit, have a clear and complete persuasion of the truth, or, in other words, a full knowledge of this great mystery of God, so that in their souls finding conscious rest therein, they would be strong against all attempts to shake their faith. The readings of the MSS. of the concluding words greatly vary. Tou qeou Cristou seems to be the best supported, and we would read, the mystery of God, even Christ; that is, Christ is the mystery.

Ver. 2. Aim of Paul’s struggles on his readers’ behalf. It determines the nature of the struggle.

Encouraged: same word as exhort in Romans 12:1, and very common with Paul: cp. Romans 1:12. It denotes speech designed to rouse men to courage, endurance, or action.

Hearts be encouraged: same words in Colossians 4:8; Ephesians 6:22; 2 Thessalonians 2:17. Paul wishes the encouragement to reach the inmost centre of their emotions and the inmost source of their actions. Their: not your. It suggests that this inward struggle is not specially for the Christians at Colossæ but for all whom Paul has not seen.

Knit-together: same word in Colossians 2:19; Ephesians 4:16. It denotes the harmonious fitting together of various parts into one whole, each part supplementing the others and helping the whole.

In love: mutual Christian love, as in 1 Corinthians 13:1f, where see note. It is the encompassing element and bond of this union: cp. Colossians 3:14. Ye-being (or better having-been) knit together: this loving union one with another being the means by which their hearts are to receive encouragement. To the encompassing element of this union, viz. in love, Paul adds its aim: and for all wealth etc. Cp. Colossians 1:27. This aim is collateral with that already expressed, that their hearts etc. It is another purpose which Paul has in view in his earnest struggle for his readers. The unity which is to bring them encouragement is designed also to lead to the full assurance of the understanding, and indeed to a knowledge of the mystery of God.

Full assurance: same word in 1 Thessalonians 1:5; Hebrews 6:11; 10:22. The cognate verb in Colossians 4:12; Romans 4:21; 14:5; Luke 1:1. It is a certainty which fills us. Understanding: as in Colossians 1:9. The full assurance results from the faculty of interpreting the various objects presented to the mind. Such assurance Paul desires his readers to have in an abundance which will make them rich; and as a condition of it desires for them the unity of mutual love. More fully stated, the aim of this unity is for knowledge of the mystery of God. These last words keep before us, and by keeping so long before us greatly emphasise, the thought embodied in the word mystery in Colossians 1:26, 27.

On the various readings here, see Introd. iii. 2. The last words of Colossians 2:2 may be rendered either the God of Christ or of God, even of Christ, or the mystery of God, even Christ. This last exposition is at once suggested by Colossians 1:27 where Christ in you is Himself the mystery. And it is confirmed by the context; and by the aim of the whole Epistle, which is to set forth the mysterious grandeur of the Son of God. To know Christ, i.e. to comprehend the purpose of His incarnation with an acquaintance derived from personal contact with Him, is to know the mystery of God, i.e. the purpose kept secret during long ages and now revealed, viz. that without respect of nationality God will receive into His favour and cover with eternal glory those who believe the Gospel. The above exposition is confirmed by the word hidden in Colossians 2:3, which recalls the same word in Colossians 1:26.

Knowledge, or full-knowledge: same word in Colossians 1:9, 10: cp. Ephesians 1:17, in knowledge of Him.

Verse 3. In whom are hid] Or rather in which; referring to the mystery mentioned above. In this glorious scheme of Christianity all the treasures-the abundance and excellency, of wisdom and knowledge are contained. No scheme of salvation, or Divine knowledge, ever equalled in its depth and excellency the Gospel plan. A scheme which the wisdom of God alone could devise, and which his power and infinite mercy alone could accomplish.

Verses 1-3. I would, &c. — The apostle having declared, in the latter part of the preceding chapter, the commission which Christ had given to his apostles to preach salvation to the Gentiles through his death, and having described his own labours as an apostle in preaching that great blessing, and thereby having shown what great obligations mankind were under to him for communicating and perpetuating such interesting discoveries; he begins this second chapter with expressing an earnest desire that the Colossians knew what a great concern he was under for their establishment in grace, and that of others, to whom he had not personally ministered. That ye knew what great conflict — Of care, desire, prayer; I have — The original expression is taken from the athletic exercises of the Greeks, and expresses the great solicitude, or agony of mind, the apostle was in on their account. For you — Not only for the members of such churches as I myself have been the instrument of planting, and among whom I have exercised my ministry in person, but for those among whom I have not so ministered; and for them at Laodicea, and as many as have not seen my face, &c. — For my concern for the spread of the gospel, and the salvation of the heathen, is influenced, not by considerations of personal friendship for those whom I particularly know and love, but by a benevolent regard for the good of mankind in general, known or unknown, that they may receive and retain this glorious revelation, and have it delivered to them with all possible advantage. It appears to have grieved the apostle to think how incapable he was rendered of serving them otherwise than by his letters and prayers. And should not this language inspire every minister who reads this, with an earnest desire to use his liberty to the best of purposes, and to exert himself as much as, under such confinement, he would wish he had done? That their hearts may be comforted — With the consolations of the Holy Ghost, and animated to every holy affection and beneficent action. This the original word implies, signifying, not only to have consolation administered under affliction, but to be quickened and excited to zeal and diligence; being knit together — Sumbibasqentwn, compacted; in mutual Christian love — To the whole body, and to Christ the head of it; unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding — That is, unto the fullest and clearest knowledge of the gospel, here termed the mystery of God, even of the Father, and of Christ, in whom — Or in which mystery, (as may be intended,) and not in any or all of the heathen mysteries; are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge — Christ being himself the wisdom of God incarnate, and his gospel the most perfect and glorious revelation which God ever made, or will make to mankind.

Ver. 3, 4. In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Christ is the wisdom of the Father. The Spirit of Jehovah was upon him to preach good tidings to the meek. The whole mystery of grace and glory are hid in his bosom as regards the recovery of man, the revelation of the righteousness of God, and of eternal life. All other knowledge compared with this vanishes away. Under this ministry, oh Colossians, you would be drawn away from the fables of the crafty, who beguile you with enticing words, and be made to feel the powers of the world to come.

3. In whom—Christ, the revealer of God and the truths relating to him. They are in him, hid, until revealed. The great questions of human thought of all the ages centre here, and only in Christ is their solution possible.

Ver. 3. Statement about Christ, proving that He is the mystery of God. In whom: i.e. in Christ, immediately preceding. To refer it to the more distant word mystery would be an impossible leap over the word Christ and over the important implied assertion that He is the mystery of God. And it would make the word hidden almost meaningless: for all mysteries are hidden. Whereas as expounded above the word hidden justifies the assumed equivalence of Christ and the mystery of God.

Wisdom: such acquaintance with the great realities as enables a man to choose the best steps in life. See my Corinthians p. 47. Knowledge: acquaintance with things seen or unseen, great or small. The nearness of the nobler word wisdom, which occupies part of the ground usually covered by the word knowledge, limits somewhat this last word to matters which have come under our immediate observation. The two words are together in Romans 11:33; Ecclesiastes 1:16-18; 2:21, 26; 9:10; in all which places except the last wisdom comes first. The word rendered treasure denotes in Matthew 2:11; 12:35 the place where valuables are kept for safety; in Matthew 6:19-21, the valuables themselves. Here it has the latter sense: for Christ is Himself the personal locality of the laid-up wealth.

All the treasures: all the many forms of spiritual wealth with which wisdom and knowledge enrich their possessors, and which are all to be found in Christ. It is parallel with, and expounds, all wealth of the full assurance of the understanding. Compare Plato, Philebus p. 15e, having found some treasure of wisdom; Xenophon, Memoirs bk. iv. 2, 9, not treasures of silver and gold rather than of wisdom. In Christ this wealth of wisdom lies out of sight: hidden. The idea of concealment, frequently associated with the word treasure, does not necessarily belong to it. For laid-up wealth is not always out of sight. But the mystery of God is essentially hidden: close parallel in 1 Corinthians 2:7, God’s wisdom, in a mystery, the hidden wisdom. Fully to know Christ, is to know the hidden truths of priceless worth which none know except they whom God leads into His secret chamber and whose eyes He opens to see this inner light. They who know this are indeed rich. But this knowledge is possible only to those whom Christian love knits together in a union which fills their hearts with encouragement; and only to those who are themselves in Christ and thus know and possess, in measure, whatever is in Him: in whom are all the treasures… hidden.

Such is Paul’s earnest and agonizing desire for His readers. His tender sympathy longs to cheer their hearts. But for real encouragement there must be loving union among themselves. Such union will open the channels of the inner life, and will enrich them with an assured comprehension of the great realities known only to those who know Christ. In other words, for those whom he has never seen Paul desires the same blessings as for those to whom he has personally preached Christ.

SECTION 7 describes Paul’s relation to the Gospel which has saved his readers. The preaching of the Gospel brings upon him hardship. But this hardship gives him joy: for he remembers its sacred relation to the sufferings of Christ, and its sacred purpose, viz. to benefit the body of Christ. It is inseparably involved in the work, committed to him by God, of making known the great secret, precious and glorious beyond description and hidden during long ages, that Christ dwells in men on earth, a pledge of future glory. This secret Paul proclaims to all within his reach, endeavouring thus to save every one. Hence his strenuous effort for the good not only of those whom he personally teaches but of those Christians who have never seen his face. For all men everywhere, he desires a full knowledge of the profound mystery of God which lies hidden in Christ. DIVISION II., embracing Colossians 1:15-2:3, is Paul’s fullest delineation of the Person and Work of the Son of God. He notes first Christ’s relation to the Father, as an Image of the Invisible One; and as born, whereas all others were created. He then notes His similar relation to the created universe, to the universal Church, and to the Church at Colossæ; viz. as the Agent through whom all things came into being. Consequently, He is earlier than the brightest in heaven, and holds together in His grasp the entire universe. Similarly, He was the first to pass triumphantly through death. As wide as the universe is the purpose of redemption: for its aim is to reconcile to God all things in heaven and earth. And the Gospel which has brought salvation to Colossæ has done so in all the world. Thus throughout DIV. II. we hear again the note of universality already sounded (Colossians 1:6) in DIV. I. All this reminds Paul of the grandeur of the truth which in his own day God had made known to men, a truth hidden during long ages. God had given to men, not truth only, but the living presence in their hearts of Him who made the world, Himself a pledge in them of future blessedness. Remembrance of this moves Paul to strenuous effort to make Christ known everywhere. He has warned his readers that their share in the blessings hidden yet revealed in Christ depends upon their continuance in the word they have already received. How needful was this warning we shall learn from DIV. III.

Notice here (Colossians 1:18, 24) the important metaphor of the body of Christ, and the Gospel described (Colossians 1:26, 27; 2:2) as a mystery; aspects of truth already conspicuous in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 and in 1 Corinthians 2:7; Romans 16:25, and peculiar to Paul.

Verse 4. Lest any man should beguile you] The word paralogizhtai means to deceive by sophistry or subtle reasoning, in which all the conclusions appear to be fairly drawn from the premises, but the premises are either assumed without evidence, or false in themselves; but this not being easily discovered, the unthinking or unwary are carried away by the conclusions which are drawn from these premises. And this result is clearly intimated by the term piqanologia, enticing words, plausible conclusions or deductions from this mode of reasoning. The apostle seems to allude to the Gentile philosophers, who were notorious for this kind of argumentation. Plato and Socrates are not free from it.

Verses 4, 5. And this, I say — Concerning the perfection of Christ and his gospel, and the treasures of wisdom and knowledge contained therein; lest any man should beguile you (see the margin) with enticing words — Of human philosophy, and science falsely so called, and should draw you off from a proper attachment to the truth as it is in Jesus. For though I be absent from you in body, yet I am with you in the spirit — The apostle not only seems to mean that his heart was much interested in all their concerns, but that God now, by the revelation of his Spirit, gave him a particular view of their circumstances, as he gave Elisha to see Gehazi running after Naaman, and receiving a present from him, 2 Kings 5:25, 26. Not that there is any reason to suppose that either the apostle or Elisha possessed any permanent gift, whereby they had the knowledge of all the things done in their absence by those in whose conduct they were particularly concerned. The anxiety which St. Paul felt on various occasions, from his uncertainty as to the affairs of different churches, is inconsistent with such a supposition respecting him; and we have no reason to suppose that Elisha possessed a gift of this kind superior to what was conferred on the apostle. But a particular revelation on some certain occasions either of them might have; and such a one the latter seems to have had at this time concerning the state of the church at Colosse; as other apostles probably had respecting other churches, persons, or things. See Acts 5:3, 8. Joying and beholding — Or, beholding with joy; your order — That is, your orderly walking; and the steadfastness of your faith — Which your enemies in vain endeavour to shake.

Ver. 3, 4. In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Christ is the wisdom of the Father. The Spirit of Jehovah was upon him to preach good tidings to the meek. The whole mystery of grace and glory are hid in his bosom as regards the recovery of man, the revelation of the righteousness of God, and of eternal life. All other knowledge compared with this vanishes away. Under this ministry, oh Colossians, you would be drawn away from the fables of the crafty, who beguile you with enticing words, and be made to feel the powers of the world to come.

4. Beguile you—The statements of the three preceding verses are intended to guard them against being deceived by false reasoning or artful rhetoric.

COLOSSIANS

DIVISION III

WARNING AGAINST ERRORS.

CH. 2:4-3:4.

SECTION 8. — DO NOT FORSAKE THE

TEACHING ALREADY RECEIVED. CH. 2:4-7.

This I say in order that no one may delude you with persuasive speech. For, indeed in the flesh I am absent, yet in the spirit I am with you, rejoicing and beholding your order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. As then ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, rooted and being built up in Him and being established by your faith, according as ye were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Or abounding in it with thanksgiving.)

Ver. 4. Hitherto, although in Colossians 1:9 we have the occasion of Paul’s praise and prayer for his readers, viz. the good news about them brought by Epaphras, and although Colossians 1:23 has suggested a danger of their being moved away from the safe anchorage of their hope, we have had no mention yet of any specific aim of this Epistle. Now for the first time we have a clearly stated and definite aim, viz. to guard the Colossian Christians from erroneous teaching.

I say this: not merely Colossians 2:3; for as we have seen this was added to explain and justify the words preceding. Moreover, Colossians 2:5 bears directly on Colossians 2:1: and the words mystery of God in Colossians 2:2 take up similar words in Colossians 1:26. Thus the words I say this recall the entire teaching of DIV. II., of which indeed Colossians 2:3 is but a compact summing up. In other words, Paul’s invaluable exposition of the nature and work of the Son of God was given, not merely to instruct and edify, but as a safeguard against persuasive error. A good example for us. The only real safeguard against the manifold religious errors is an intelligent and comprehensive knowledge of the central doctrines of the Gospel. Such expositions of truth have abiding worth even when the errors they were designed to combat have passed utterly away. Paul’s method of defence makes all the difference between the living epistle before us and the obsolete Refutation of Irenæus.

Delude you: reason you away from the line. It is a modification of Paul’s favourite word reckon in Romans 2:3, 26, etc.; and denotes perverse reckoning.

With persuasive-speech: cp. Romans 16:18, by means of smooth-speech and fine-speech deceive the hearts of the innocent; 1 Corinthians 2:4 persuasive words of wisdom. This persuasiveness does not in itself imply error. The error lies in the word delude. What specific delusion Paul has in view, we must learn from the specific warnings following.

Verse 5. For though I be absent in the flesh] It is hardly possible that such words as these in this verse could have been used to perfect strangers; they argue a considerable knowledge of the people, and a knowledge founded on personal acquaintance. The original is exceedingly soft and musical:—

ei gar kai th sarki apeimi,

alla tw pneumati sun umin eimi,

cairwm kai blepwn umwn thn taxin, k.t.a.

The whole verse shows that this Church was sound in doctrine, and strict in discipline. They had steadfast faith in Christ, and regular order or discipline among themselves.

Verses 4, 5. And this, I say — Concerning the perfection of Christ and his gospel, and the treasures of wisdom and knowledge contained therein; lest any man should beguile you (see the margin) with enticing words — Of human philosophy, and science falsely so called, and should draw you off from a proper attachment to the truth as it is in Jesus. For though I be absent from you in body, yet I am with you in the spirit — The apostle not only seems to mean that his heart was much interested in all their concerns, but that God now, by the revelation of his Spirit, gave him a particular view of their circumstances, as he gave Elisha to see Gehazi running after Naaman, and receiving a present from him, 2 Kings 5:25, 26. Not that there is any reason to suppose that either the apostle or Elisha possessed any permanent gift, whereby they had the knowledge of all the things done in their absence by those in whose conduct they were particularly concerned. The anxiety which St. Paul felt on various occasions, from his uncertainty as to the affairs of different churches, is inconsistent with such a supposition respecting him; and we have no reason to suppose that Elisha possessed a gift of this kind superior to what was conferred on the apostle. But a particular revelation on some certain occasions either of them might have; and such a one the latter seems to have had at this time concerning the state of the church at Colosse; as other apostles probably had respecting other churches, persons, or things. See Acts 5:3, 8. Joying and beholding — Or, beholding with joy; your order — That is, your orderly walking; and the steadfastness of your faith — Which your enemies in vain endeavour to shake.

5. Your order—As yet they were a compact, well-organized body, standing in solid phalanx firmly in the faith. No wonder that Paul rejoiced, as with his mind’s eye he saw them.

a. Conclusion based upon their experience of salvation.

Ver. 5. For if etc.; explains the interest in the readers which prompted the foregoing warning, and thus tacitly and very kindly supports it. Flesh… spirit: favourite contrast of Paul. It is practically the same as body and spirit in 1 Corinthians 5:3. While the weak and mortal flesh of Paul lingered in prison at Rome, the eye of his spirit was fixed on the Christians at Colossæ.

Rejoicing and beholding: as though the narrative of Epaphras at once gave Paul joy; and led him to contemplate with abiding interest his readers’ military regularity and solidity.

Order: same word and sense in 1 Corinthians 14:40; cognate word in 1 Corinthians 15:23: a not uncommon military term. Firmness: or better, firm-front. It denotes something made firm. Of your faith in Christ: the solid front which your faith enables you to present. Cp. Acts 16:5: made firm by faith. The Christians at Colossæ held their position as good soldiers: and their faith in Christ enabled them to present to every enemy an immoveable line of battle. The military tone of this verse suggests that looseness in faith exposes Christians to disastrous overthrow. The phrase rendered faith in Christ is not found elsewhere in the N.T.: but we have faith towards God in 1 Thessalonians 1:8; Philemon 1:5; and a similar phrase believe in God or in Christ in Romans 10:14; Philippians 1:29; 1 Peter 1:8, 21, and frequently in the Fourth Gospel.

The truthfulness of Paul compels us to accept these words as complete proof that the Christians at Colossæ had not yet been actually led away by the delusion against which he now warns them. If so, this verse is not only a courteous, but a necessary, recognition, in view of the warnings which follow, of their loyal adherence to the truth.

V. 6. So walk in him-In the same faith, love, holiness.

Verse 6. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus] Many persons lay a certain stress on the words as and so, and make various fine heads of discourses from them; viz. As ye received Christ in a spirit of humility, so walk in him; as ye received him in a spirit of faith, so walk in him, &c., &c. This may be all proper in itself; but nothing of the kind was intended by the apostle. His meaning is simply this: Seeing ye have embraced the doctrine of Christ, continue to hold it fast, and not permit yourselves to be turned aside by sophistical or Judaizing teachers.

Verses 6, 7. As, or since, ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord — Have acknowledged Jesus of Nazareth to be the true Messiah promised to the Jews, and consequently a divinely-commissioned Teacher, Mediator, Saviour, and Lawgiver; yea, the great Prophet, Priest, and King of his church, and therefore your sovereign Lord, and the final Judge of men and angels; so walk ye in him — Let your spirit and conduct, your dispositions, words, and actions, be in perfect consistency with this acknowledgment; walk in the same faith, love, and holiness, in which you received him, steadily believing his doctrines, obeying his precepts, relying on his promises, revering his threatenings, and imitating his example; rooted — In him, as trees in a good soil, or as the graft is rooted in the stock; and built — Upon him, the only sure foundation of your confidence and hope for time and eternity; and established in the faith — In your persuasion of the truth and importance of the gospel in all its parts; as ye have been taught — By those that have preached it to you; abounding therein — Making continual progress in your acquaintance with it and conformity to it; with thanksgiving — To God, for having made you partakers of so great a blessing.

Ver. 6, 7. As ye have received Christ Jesus, by the ministry of the word, by faith and prayer, so walk ye in him, conformably to all the moral maxims and holy precepts of the Lord. Let the desire to learn, let the spirit of piety and love continue, for the religion of Christ does not change with the fashions of the age. Be rooted and built up in him, that you may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the Lord, like trees which abide in the soil where they were first planted.

6. Ye… received Christ Jesus the Lord—In this statement of fact the argument culminates. It appeals to their experience. They received the doctrine of Christ from Epaphras, they received Christ himself into their hearts by faith, and it was that Christ the Lord, Creator, and Saviour, who is so fully described in the preceding chapter. They had therein found their soul’s salvation. Their experience verified the doctrine, and furnished a firm basis for the exhortation to walk in him. Continue the life you have begun.

Ver. 6. An exhortation, based on Colossians 2:5, and followed in Colossians 2:7 by collateral details of manner.

Received: same word in John 1:11, His own people received Him not. Frequently used by Paul in reference to the Gospel he received from Christ: 1 Corinthians 11:23; 15:1, 3; Galatians 1:9, 12. They who welcome the good news of salvation thereby receive Christ Himself to be their Lord and their life. As then, or inasmuch then as, ye received etc.: practical application of Colossians 2:5. That they have received Christ and have thus obtained spiritual solidity, is good reason why they should walk in Him: cp. Colossians 4:5, walk in wisdom; Ephesians 5:2, in love. Let the personality of Christ be the encompassing and guiding and controlling element of every step in life. Cp. Galatians 5:25: If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk. A good beginning is reason for continuing in the same path.

V. 7. Rooted in him-As the vine.

Built-On the sure foundation.

Verse 7. Rooted and built up in him] It is not usual with the apostle to employ this double metaphor, taken partly from the growth of a tree and the increase of a building. They are to be rooted; as the good seed had been already sown, it is to take root, and the roots are to spread far, wide, and deep. They are to be grounded; as the foundation has already been laid, they are to build thereon. In the one case, they are to bear much fruit; in the other, they are to grow up to be a habitation of God through the Spirit. See the notes on Ephesians 2:21, 22; 3:17. Abounding therein with thanksgiving.] No limitation is ever set to the operations of God on the soul, or to the growth of the soul in the knowledge, love, and image of God. Those who are brought into such a state of salvation should abound in gratitude and loving obedience, as they grow in grace.

Verses 6, 7. As, or since, ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord — Have acknowledged Jesus of Nazareth to be the true Messiah promised to the Jews, and consequently a divinely-commissioned Teacher, Mediator, Saviour, and Lawgiver; yea, the great Prophet, Priest, and King of his church, and therefore your sovereign Lord, and the final Judge of men and angels; so walk ye in him — Let your spirit and conduct, your dispositions, words, and actions, be in perfect consistency with this acknowledgment; walk in the same faith, love, and holiness, in which you received him, steadily believing his doctrines, obeying his precepts, relying on his promises, revering his threatenings, and imitating his example; rooted — In him, as trees in a good soil, or as the graft is rooted in the stock; and built — Upon him, the only sure foundation of your confidence and hope for time and eternity; and established in the faith — In your persuasion of the truth and importance of the gospel in all its parts; as ye have been taught — By those that have preached it to you; abounding therein — Making continual progress in your acquaintance with it and conformity to it; with thanksgiving — To God, for having made you partakers of so great a blessing.

Ver. 6, 7. As ye have received Christ Jesus, by the ministry of the word, by faith and prayer, so walk ye in him, conformably to all the moral maxims and holy precepts of the Lord. Let the desire to learn, let the spirit of piety and love continue, for the religion of Christ does not change with the fashions of the age. Be rooted and built up in him, that you may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the Lord, like trees which abide in the soil where they were first planted.

7. Rooted—Changing the figure, but always keeping Christ as the element in which this life is lived, we are rooted in him as a tree strikes its roots deep into the soil and becomes better nourished and more immovable; built up in him, as a building upon a rock, adding stone to stone, thus steadily and solidly growing; established, confirmed in the way of faith, just as it was taught at the outset; and abounding in that faith with deep gratitude to God.

The apostle having thus unfolded the divine idea of redemption, and reminded the Colossians of their experimental knowledge of its verity, proceeds next to an examination of the particular system offered them in its stead.

II. THE PROPOSED “PHILOSOPHY” CONSIDERED, Colossians 2:8-23.

1. Its characteristics, 8.

Ver. 7. Collateral details about the walk in life which Paul desires for his readers.

Rooted, same word and form in Ephesians 3:18. It suggests stability and nourishment and life derived from inward contact with Christ: in Him. Built-up: same composite word in Ephesians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 3:10, 12, 14; Jude 1:20. It calls attention to the foundation on which the building rises. This second metaphor adds the idea of stability derived from the mutual cohesion of various component parts. [Notice a conspicuous change of tenses. The Greek perfect rooted denotes an abiding result of a past event: the present being-built-up describes a process now going on. Our walk in Him is a present result of our having first taken root in Christ; and continues only so long as we retain our hold of Him. And, while we walk in Him, our spiritual life, which derives stability from union with our fellow-Christians, makes progress day by day like the rising walls of a building.] Each metaphor supplements the other. The former suggests organic life, and nourishment: the latter suggests strength derived from union of various parts. The words in Him forsake the metaphor of a building, in order to recall the foregoing exhortation, walk in Him, and to keep before us the inwardness of that union with Christ from which the members of His Church derive cohesion and stability. A condition and accompaniment of our walk in Christ is that we retain our inward grasp of Him and that by compact union with our fellows the Christian life makes daily progress in us.

Being-made firm by faith: another collateral detail supporting the foregoing metaphor by singling out, and stating in plain language its chief element, viz. immoveable firmness, and by pointing to the channel through which spiritual firmness comes, viz. faith.

[The dative of instrument, as in Colossians 1:10 is more likely here than that of limitation. For we need to know the channel through which comes the firmness implied in built-up rather than the particular element of our spiritual life in which that firmness is to be found: for evidently the whole man is made firm in Christ.] They who rest on the promises of God are themselves immoveable. These last words recall the firmness of your faith in Colossians 2:5.

According as ye were taught: the directive rule of their faith: cp. Colossians 1:7, according as ye learnt from Epaphras. The teaching which already has brought them out of darkness into light is to be the guide of their present faith. Similar argument in Galatians 3:3. Thanksgiving is to be associated with faith; as in Philippians 4:6 with prayer. And so abundant are the reasons for gratitude that Paul prescribes for his readers an overflow of thanks: abounding with thanksgiving: cp. Philippians 4:6.

Paul reminds the Christians at Colossæ that they have already accepted Christ as their Lord, and bids them now walk in Him they have received. In other words, he urges that their outward life correspond with the beginning of their Christian profession. There must be continued inward grasp of Christ, firm cohesion with their fellows and progress, and the solidity which faith gives; all this on the lines laid down by those who have led them to Christ, and mingled with thanks to God.

As yet we have learnt nothing about the specific danger which prompted Paul’s warning, except that it is one against which the foregoing exposition of the dignity of Christ will shield his readers, and one which threatens to lead them away from the path which at their conversion they entered. We wait for more definite information about the specific and plausible error Paul has in view.

V. 8. Through philosophy and empty deceit-That is, through the empty deceit of philosophy blended with Christianity. This the apostle condemns,

1. Because it was empty and deceitful, promising happiness, but giving none. 2. Because it was grounded, not on solid reason, but the traditions of men, Zeno, Epicurus, and the rest. And, 3. Because it was so shallow and superficial, not advancing beyond the knowledge of sensible things; no, not beyond the first rudiments of them.

Verse 8. Beware lest any man spoil you] The word sulagwgwn, from sulh, prey, and agein, to lead or carry away, signifies to rob, or spoil of their goods, as if by violence or rapine. Their goods were the salvation they had received from Christ; and both the Gentile and Jewish teachers endeavoured to deprive them of these, by perverting their minds, and leading them off from the truths of Christianity.

Philosophy and vain deceit] Or, the vain or empty deceit of philosophy; such philosophizing as the Jewish and Gentile teachers used. As the term philosophy stood in high repute among the Gentiles, the Jews of this time affected it; and both Philo and Josephus use the word to express the whole of the Mosaic institutions. So the former: oi kata mwshn filosofountev. “Those who embraced the philosophy of Moses;” PHIL., Deuteronomy Nomin. Mutand. And the latter; tria para iougaioiv eidh filosofeitai. “There are three systems of philosophy among the Jews,” (Bell. Jud., lib. ii. cap 8, sec. 2,) meaning the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes, as immediately follows. The Jewish philosophy, such as is found in the Cabala, Midrashim, and other works, deserves the character of vain deceit, in the fullest sense and meaning of the words. The inspired writers excepted, the Jews have ever been the most puerile, absurd, and ridiculous reasoners in the world. Even Rabbi Maymon, or Maimonides, the most intelligent of them all, is often in his master piece (the Moreh Nevochim, the Teacher of the Perplexed) most deplorably empty and vain. After the rudiments of the world] According to the doctrine of the Jewish teachers; or, according to the Mosaic institutions, as explained and glossed by the scribes, Pharisees, and rabbins in general. We have often seen that הזה העולם haolam hazzeh, this world, of which tou kosmou toutou is a literal translation, is frequently used to express the Jewish system of rites, ceremonies, and institutions in general; what the apostle calls the tradition of men, namely, what men, unauthorized by God, have taught as doctrines received from him. Our Lord frequently refers to and condemns these traditions.

Not after Christ.] Not according to the simple doctrine of Christ, viz.: HE died for our offences; believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved.

Verse 8. Beware lest any man spoil you — Mh tiv umav estai o sulagwgwn, lest there be any one who makes a prey of you; through philosophy — The pretended wisdom of the heathen philosophers; and vain deceit — Sophistical and delusive reasonings, and unprofitable speculations. “The apostle,” as Macknight justly observes, “does not condemn sound philosophy, but that kind of it which had no foundation in truth; and, being formed merely from imagination, aided by the pride of human reason, was supported by tradition; that is, by the affirmation of the inventors, handed down from one to another. Of this kind was the philosophy of the Platonists concerning demons, whom they represented as carrying men’s prayers to God, and as bringing back from God the blessings prayed for. They spake of them likewise as governing the elements and all human affairs, by a sort of independent power.” It seems some teachers had crept in among the Christians at Colosse, either of Gentile or Jewish extraction, who endeavoured to blend deceits of this kind with the gospel of Christ, and that this is what the apostle here condemns; 1st, Because it was empty and deceitful, promising wisdom, but giving none. 2d, Because it was grounded, not on truth, or solid reason, but on the vain and false traditions of men. 3d, Because, as the apostle here says, it was after the rudiments, stoiceia, the elements, of the world — Such as the Jewish ceremonies, or the pagan superstitions. The ceremonies of the Mosaic law have this appellation, (Galatians 4:3,) being but a carnal worship in comparison of the more spiritual ordinances of the gospel; and but an elementary kind of institution, (like the alphabet to children, or the first principles of science,) fitted to the infancy of the church; and not after Christ — According to his institution and doctrine, but tending to withdraw the heart from him.

Ver. 8. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit. The Greek philosophers had sects, and sects which subsisted by their disciples; and the doctrines of those sects form the religion of the Greeks. These were the disciples of Plato, of Aristotle, of Epicurus, and of Zeno, the founder of the stoics, whose disciples had laughed at Paul in the Areopagus. But as God had spoken at sundry times, and in divers manners to the fathers by the prophets, the strong pillars of revelation must ever prevail against the fluctuating theories of the schools. Prophecies and promises have received the seals of providence in their accomplishment, and the foundation of the mysteries of God standeth sure. Therefore beware lest any man rob you through vain deceits, or the wisdom of mere words, the stoiceia, the elements of the world, and not after Christ:

8. Beware… Take heed—Pointing to some well-known person who urged upon them his philosophy, as he termed it, as a substitute for Christ, which the apostle pronounces an empty cheat. To spoil means to carry off as plunder. Thus would the false teacher, if possible, carry them off, body and soul. The caution is not against all philosophy, nor is the Greek philosophy referred to, but a peculiar Colossian system which combined Oriental spiritualistic speculations (verse 18) with Jewish ritualism, (verse 16,) and set itself in opposition to the gospel. From the apostle’s point of view, its characteristics were, first, positively, it was given by tradition of men, and so was of human origin; it was made up of rudiments of the world; elementary religious ideas gathered from various non-Christian sources; and, second, negatively, it was not according to Christ, as all true philosophy is. Philosophy is a search for the truth. Within the domain of revelation it heartily accepts its authority, and is always in harmony with the truth revealed by Christ.

2. Transcended by Christ, 9, 10.

COLOSSIANS

SECTION 9. — WARNING AGAINST ERROR IN

THE GUISE OF PHILOSOPHY AND JUDAISM.

CH. 2:8-15.

Take heed lest there will be any one making plunder of you through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the rudiments of the world, and not according to Christ. Because in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And in Him ye are made full; who is the Head of all principalities and authority; in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in Baptism: wherein (or in whom) also ye were raised with Him through belief of the working of God who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead by your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made you alive with Him, having forgiven us all the trespasses, having blotted out the handwriting against us with the dogmas, which was contrary to us: and He has taken it out of the midst, having nailed it to the cross; having stripped of from Himself the principalities and the authorities, He made a show of them openly, having led them in triumph in it.

Ver. 8. Specific danger against which Paul warns his readers. Take heed or see-to-it: same word as behold in Colossians 2:5. It denotes simply an act of sight: have your eyes open lest etc. Making-plunder of: or literally lead-away-plunder. Paul fears lest his readers be themselves led away by an enemy as spoil. For error enslaves both body and soul. This exposition is suggested by the use in one or two places of this rare Greek word, and of similar words. It is a compound of the word used in 2 Corinthians 11:8; where Churches are said to have been plundered by Paul who received their contribution to do work for others.

Through philosophy etc.: means by which Paul feared that his readers might be led captive.

Philosophy: literally love-of-wisdom: a common Greek word. Diogenes Lærtius tells us (Lives of Philosophers Introd. 12) that Pythagoras was the first to call himself a philosopher or lover of wisdom, on the ground that no one is wise except God. In this sense, the word is one of the noblest in human language, denoting man’s effort to understand that which is best worth knowing. In a somewhat similar sense, it is used by Philo to describe the religious teaching of the Jews: e.g. vol. i. 613, they who philosophize according to Moses. And Josephus speaks (Antiq. bk. xviii. l. 1, 2) of the schools of thought embodied in the Jewish sects, Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, as philosophies. This last use helps us to understand how a word with an origin so good came to have, as here, a sense evidently bad. Under the guise of professed love of wisdom, men attached themselves to schools putting forth their own explanations of the phenomena of life, explanations for the more part artificial and baseless. Of such baseless philosophies we have abundant and various examples in the many Gnostic systems prevalent in the second century, strange mixtures of the Gospel with earlier Jewish and Gentile teaching. See note on THE GNOSTICS at the end of this Exposition. These were called philosophy: and we shall see that to something of this sort probably Paul refers here.

Deceit: the teachers of this philosophy being either deceivers or themselves deceived.

Empty: a hollow form of error.

That both words are under one article, suggests that philosophy and error are two sides of one instrument of seduction. It claimed to be a search for wisdom: actually it was a hollow deception. A close parallel in 1 Timothy 6:20, the profane empty-voices and oppositions of knowledge falsely so named. For the precise nature of this teaching we must seek in the warnings which follow and in the foregoing exposition of truth which Paul tells us was written as a safeguard against this persuasive error. According to… according to… not according to: description, positive and negative, of the path along which the captives were led. Tradition of men: same words in Mark 7:8; cp. Mark 7:3, 5, 9, 13: a close and instructive parallel. Cp. Galatians 1:14; and contrast 1 Corinthians 11:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:15; 3:6. They who are led away by this philosophy go along a path marked out by no higher authority than that of men, from whom it has been handed down. All teaching is apt to become mere tradition. For it is easier to learn to repeat results than to understand the processes by which they have been attained and the proofs on which they rest; easier to accept as decisive a master’s ipse dixit than to follow his reasoning. False teaching is specially liable to become tradition. For it has no basis of truth. A conspicuous example of tradition is found in the Talmud which consists almost entirely of assertions of celebrated Jewish teachers; the greater part having no ground whatever except the teacher’s authority. See Barclay’s selections in English from the Talmud. Similarly the Gnostics handed down secret doctrines professedly received from one or other of the Apostles.

The rudiments of the world: same words and sense in Galatians 4:3, where see note: the rudimentary teaching derived from the material world. In some sense both Greek philosophy and O.T. ritual were on their better side rudimentary forms of teaching preparatory to the Gospel. And with all false teaching are associated such rudimentary elements of truth. Otherwise the falsehood would not live. In Galatians 4:3 we learn that this rudimentary teaching brings men under bondage. Similarly, they who seek to lead captive the Colossian Christians would lead them along a path marked out by the traditions of men and by the rudimentary teaching of the material world. Of these two delineations of this wrong path, possibly the traditions of men recall rather Jewish teaching; and the rudiments of the world that of Gentiles.

And not according to Christ: not taking for their guide the nature and purposes of Christ. Cp. Romans 15:5. And this agrees with Paul’s exposition in DIV. II. of the nature and work of Christ, as a safeguard against prevalent error; and especially with the last words of this exposition, Christ, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

V. 9. For in him dwelleth-Inhabiteth, continually abideth, all the fulness of the Godhead. Believers are "filled with all the fulness of God," Ephesians 3:19. But in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead; the most full Godhead; not only divine powers, but divine nature, Colossians 1:19.

Bodily-Personally, really, substantially. The very substance of God, if one might so speak, dwells in Christ in the most full sense.

Verse 9. For in him dwelleth all the fulness] This is opposed to the vain or empty doctrine of the Gentile and Jewish philosophers: there is a fulness in Christ suited to the empty, destitute state of the human soul, but in the philosophy of the Jews and Gentiles nothing like this was found; nor indeed in the more refined and correct philosophy of the present day. No substitute has ever been found for the grace of the Lord Jesus, and those who have sought for one have disquieted themselves in vain. By the Godhead or Deity, qeothv, we are to understand the state or being of the Divine nature; and by the fulness of that Deity, the infinite attributes essential to such a nature.

Bodily.] sumatikwv signifies truly, really; in opposition to typically, figuratively. There was a symbol of the Divine presence in the Hebrew tabernacle, and in the Jewish temple; but in the body of CHRIST the Deity, with all its plenitude of attributes, dwelt really and substantially: for so the word swmatikwv means; and so it was understood by the ancient Greek fathers, as is fully shown by SUICER, in his Thesaurus, under the word. “The fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Christ ‘bodily,’ as opposed to the Jewish tabernacle, or temple; truly and really, in opposition to types and figures; not only effectively, as God dwells in good men, but substantially or personally, by the strictest union, as the soul dwells in the body; so that God and man are one Christ.” See Parkhurst.

Verses 9, 10. For in him dwelleth — Inhabiteth, katoikei, continually abideth; all the fulness of the Godhead — Believers may be filled with all the fulness of God, Ephesians 3:19; but in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead, the most full Godhead, Colossians 1:19; bodily — Really, substantially. The very substance of God, if one might so speak, dwells in Christ in the most full sense. “It is plain,” says Dr. Doddridge, “that the Godhead is an anglicism equivalent to Deity. Compare Acts 17:29. And I cannot think that these wonderful words are intended merely to signify that God hath lodged in the hands of Christ a fulness of gifts, to be conferred upon men, as if the passage were merely parallel to John 1:16, 17, as Mr. Pierce explains it; while Socinus sinks it yet lower, as if it only referred to his complete knowledge of the divine will. I assuredly believe, that as it contains an evident allusion to the Shechinah, in which God dwelt, so it ultimately refers to the adorable mystery of the union of the divine and human natures in the person of the glorious Emmanuel, which makes him such an object of our hope and confidence, as the most exalted creature, with the most glorious endowments, could never of himself be.” And ye are complete in him — You have in and from him every thing necessary to your salvation, all the wisdom and knowledge, the righteousness and strength, the holiness, support, and comfort that you stand in need of, to enable you to glorify God on earth, and to prepare you for being glorified with him in heaven. But the original expression, en autw peplhrwmenoi, is literally, ye are filled by him. See on John 1:16. Christ is filled with God, and ye are filled with, or by, Christ. The fulness of Christ overflows his church, Psalm 133:3. He is originally full, but our fulness is derived from him. Who is the head of all principality and power — Of angels as well as men. Not from angels, therefore, but from their Head, are we to ask whatever we stand in need of. The supremacy of Christ over all created beings, is asserted in many other passages of Scripture. See the margin. A doctrine this which affords the greatest consolation to the people of God, as it assures them that nothing befalls them without his permission, and that all things shall work together for their good.

Ver. 9. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. The Lord said to Philip, Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. John 14:10. And this confirms what Paul indicates, that by the word Father, the whole deity is understood, as is designated by the word godhead, or divinity. “The fulness of the godhead,” the whole deity, or whatever is in the Father, dwells in the Son; and this not in figure, as when the glory dwelt in the tabernacle, but in truth. The Word was made flesh, by the hypostatic union of the deity and humanity in Christ, without confusion of essence, but by union in the glorious person of Christ, the God-man. And of his fulness have we all received, and grace for, or upon, grace, abounding towards man. This phrase, with a shade of variation, was common enough among the Greeks, soldiers being generally exhorted to go to war full of the spirit of the gods.

9. In him—And in none else, now in heaven as well as when he was on earth, dwelleth really, permanently, and never henceforth to be separated from his humanity, the fulness of the Godhead, the totality of the attributes and perfections of the divine nature. The word translated Godhead means nothing less than the divine nature and essence. Bodily, not as a charism, as in Colossians 1:19, but corporeally, manifested in his glorious body. Angels have no such glory of person or authority as teachers. Nor was that indwelling Godhead reduced to the dimensions of a human soul, so as to be the human soul of Jesus. It was the fulness of the Godhead.

Ver. 9. A great truth proving, as Colossians 2:8 assumes, that every path not according to Christ leads astray. That which in Colossians 1:19 was a divine purpose is here stated to be an abiding reality: in Him dwells.

All the fulness: as in Colossians 1:19, but now defined by the words of the Godhead, or Deity. It denotes all that distinguishes God from the highest of His creatures; all the attributes and powers of which God is full, and in which our conception of God finds its realisation. These have an abiding home in the God-Man, and are His fulness: cp. John 1:14. The overflow of this fulness fills us. And because the Eternal Son wears a human body, in Him this fulness dwells bodily: i.e. in bodily form and manner. We may perhaps reverently say that in the Eternal Son dwelt from eternity the fulness of the Deity. At the Incarnation, the same fulness, dwelling unchangeably in Him, assumed bodily form. And in the glorified humanity of Christ this bodily form continues, as henceforth the abiding dwelling-place of all the perfections of God. The Son assumed bodily form in order that this fulness might fill us, supplying all our need and enabling us to attain the true aim of our being. Now, inasmuch as in Christ dwells this fulness, His nature ought to be the norm of our action. For His fulness is our hope. Consequently, every path which is not according to Christ leads away from the goal of our life.

V. 10. And ye-Who believe.

Are filled with him-John 1:16. Christ is filled with God, and ye are filled with Christ. And ye are filled by him. The fulness of Christ overflows his church, Psalm 133:3. He is originally full. We are filled by him with wisdom and holiness.

Who is the head of all principality and power-Of angels as well as men. Not from angels therefore, but from their head, are we to ask whatever we stand in need of.

Verse 10. And ye are complete in him] kai este en autw

peplhrwmenoi. And, ye are filled with him. Our word complete quite destroys the connection subsisting in the apostle’s ideas. The philosophy of the world was empty, kenh, but there was a plhrwma, or fulness, in Christ; the Colossians were empty-spoiled and deprived of every good, while following the empty philosophy and groundless traditions of Jewish and Gentile teachers; but since they had received Christ Jesus they were peplhrwmenoi, filled with him. This is the true meaning of the word, and by this the connection and assemblage of ideas in the apostle’s mind are preserved. No fanciful completeness in Christ, of a believer, while incomplete in himself, is either expressed or intended by St. Paul. It is too bad a doctrine to exist in the oracles of God.

The head of all principality] See the notes on Colossians 1:16, 17.

Verses 9, 10. For in him dwelleth — Inhabiteth, katoikei, continually abideth; all the fulness of the Godhead — Believers may be filled with all the fulness of God, Ephesians 3:19; but in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead, the most full Godhead, Colossians 1:19; bodily — Really, substantially. The very substance of God, if one might so speak, dwells in Christ in the most full sense. “It is plain,” says Dr. Doddridge, “that the Godhead is an anglicism equivalent to Deity. Compare Acts 17:29. And I cannot think that these wonderful words are intended merely to signify that God hath lodged in the hands of Christ a fulness of gifts, to be conferred upon men, as if the passage were merely parallel to John 1:16, 17, as Mr. Pierce explains it; while Socinus sinks it yet lower, as if it only referred to his complete knowledge of the divine will. I assuredly believe, that as it contains an evident allusion to the Shechinah, in which God dwelt, so it ultimately refers to the adorable mystery of the union of the divine and human natures in the person of the glorious Emmanuel, which makes him such an object of our hope and confidence, as the most exalted creature, with the most glorious endowments, could never of himself be.” And ye are complete in him — You have in and from him every thing necessary to your salvation, all the wisdom and knowledge, the righteousness and strength, the holiness, support, and comfort that you stand in need of, to enable you to glorify God on earth, and to prepare you for being glorified with him in heaven. But the original expression, en autw peplhrwmenoi, is literally, ye are filled by him. See on John 1:16. Christ is filled with God, and ye are filled with, or by, Christ. The fulness of Christ overflows his church, Psalm 133:3. He is originally full, but our fulness is derived from him. Who is the head of all principality and power — Of angels as well as men. Not from angels, therefore, but from their Head, are we to ask whatever we stand in need of. The supremacy of Christ over all created beings, is asserted in many other passages of Scripture. See the margin. A doctrine this which affords the greatest consolation to the people of God, as it assures them that nothing befalls them without his permission, and that all things shall work together for their good.

Ver. 10. Ye are complete in him, and being illuminated with the plenitude of divine wisdom, gentile philosophy can add nothing to you. The boasted purity, elegance, and beauties of philosophical compositions are all but “enticing words,” and quite irrelevant in the work of your salvation. What can you ask more? In the knowledge of Christ you have the knowledge of God, whom to know is life and peace.

10. Complete—The statement is double. First, Ye are in union with him; second, in virtue of that union, ye are filled full, as the word complete means, with all the plenitude of his gracious gifts. An empty philosophy can add nothing to this, and is therefore needless. Perfectly conclusive as this is, it is confirmed by the relation of Christ to the angels whom it is proposed to worship. He is the head of every order of them. As the unincarnate Son, he created them, Colossians 1:16; through his death (verse 15) he has brought them under the Headship of the divine-human Christ. He is their Lord, and alone to be adored, and they depend on him.

3. The advantage offered already obtained in Christ, 11-13.

Ver. 10. And we are etc.: one step farther, viz. from Christ to His people. Ye are in Him: as your refuge and bulwark and home. Consequently, since He is full, in Him ye are made-full or made-complete: same word as in Colossians 1:9, 25. It denotes a filling up of an outline of any kind. The outline here is sketched by the needs and aim of our being. They who are in Christ, and so far as they are in Him, find in Him their need supplied and their goal attained. In them remain no unfilled chasms. They have therefore no need to seek anything away from Christ.

All principality and authority: same words in same order in Colossians 1:16, and apparently in the same sense, viz. different ranks of angelic powers. Their mention here, after the earlier mention there, suggests very strongly that they had something to do with the error prevalent at Colossæ. And this is confirmed by the same words again in Colossians 2:15 and by the mention of angels in Colossians 2:18. See further in the note under Colossians 3:4. Paul here says that, whatever angelic powers have rule or authority over men, of all such Christ is the Head. This implies that He is not only their Ruler but stands to them in the relation of the head to the various members of a living body, viz. the living and controlling source of their power and action. Consequently, any trust in angels which leads away from Christ springs from ignorance of their relation to Him.

Notice that the angels, who are here said to be vitally united to Christ as their Head were also created by Him. In other words, their continued life depends upon their abiding union with Him from whom they first received it: and they use their powers under the direction of Him from whom these powers were derived. Doubtless it was to prepare the way for this important harmony, and thus to overturn an error which practically set the angels against Christ, that Paul taught in Colossians 1:16 that through Him even the angels were created; a statement nowhere found from his pen except in this Epistle written to dispel this special error. Notice also that Christ bears to the Church (Colossians 1:18) and to the angels the same relation of Head: another important harmony. Both men and angels spring from Him: and of both angels and redeemed mankind He is the Head.

V. 11. By whom also ye have been circumcised-Ye have received the spiritual blessings typified of old by circumcision.

With a circumcision not performed with hands-By an inward, spiritual operation.

In putting off, not a little skin, but the whole body of the sins of the flesh-All the sins of your evil nature.

By the circumcision of Christ-By that spiritual circumcision which Christ works in your heart.

Verse 11. In whom also ye are circumcised] All that was designed by circumcision, literally performed, is accomplished in them that believe through the Spirit and power of Christ. It is not a cutting off of a part of the flesh, but a putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, through the circumcision of Christ; he having undergone and performed this, and all other rites necessary to qualify him to be a mediator between God and man; for, being made under the law, he was subject to all its ordinances, and every act of his contributed to the salvation of men. But by the circumcision of Christ, the operation of his grace and Spirit may be intended; the law required the circumcision of the flesh, the Gospel of Christ required the circumcision of the heart. The words twn amartiwn, of the sins, are omitted by ABCD*EFG, several others, by the Coptic, Æthiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, and Itala; and by Clement, Athanasius, Basil, Cyril, and several others. Griesbach has omitted them.

Verses 11, 12. In whom also ye are circumcised — Ye have received the spiritual blessings signified of old by circumcision; with the circumcision made without hands — Namely, an internal, spiritual circumcision; in putting off — Not a little skin, but the whole body of the sins of the flesh — All the sins proceeding from your corrupt nature; by the circumcision of Christ — The circumcision of the heart, which Christ requires and effects. Buried with him, &c. — That is, which he wrought in you when you were, as it were, buried with him in baptism — The ancient manner of baptizing by immersion is as manifestly alluded to here, as the other manner of baptizing by sprinkling, or pouring of water, is, Hebrews 10:22. But no stress is laid on the age of the baptized, or the manner of performing it, in one or the other place; but only on our being quickened, or renewed, through the powerful operation of his Spirit in the soul, which we cannot but know assuredly, if we really are so: and if we do not experience this, our baptism has not answered the end of its institution. Wherein — Or rather, by which; ye are risen with him — From the death of sin, to the life of righteousness; through the faith of the operation of God — Faith wrought in you by God: see on Ephesians 2:8; or, through faith in the energy of God, as some render dia thv pistewv thv energeiav tou Qeou; who raised him from the dead — They who put this latter sense upon the passage explain it thus: “The circumcision which Christ performs being accomplished by the influence of the doctrines of the gospel upon the minds of believers, and their belief of these doctrines being founded on their belief of the resurrection of Christ, their belief of that great miracle is justly represented as the means whereby they are made new creatures.” The doctrines of the gospel, however, will produce no such effect, unless they be accompanied by the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Ver. 11, 12. In whom also ye are circumcised — buried with him in baptism. The heart of stone being removed by spiritual circumcision, or renovating grace, and we being dead with Christ, and buried with him, as was indicated by the figure when John was baptizing in the Jordan, what need have we of gentile philosophy? Here then is a new argument that the rudiments of this world are nothing to us; and not only a new argument, but a new proof that Paul understood religion by resolving it, not to the circumcision made with hands, but to the enjoyment of all the blessings of the new covenant, a new heart and a right spirit.

11. Ye are circumcised—The aorist were. The “philosophy” enjoined certain Jewish legal observances, of which circumcision is taken as the representative. But in their union with Christ, they had, at their conversion and baptism, already received the real, spiritual circumcision in their regeneration, of which the outward rite was only a symbol. The former was without hands, and divine; the latter with hands, and human. In the latter a small portion of flesh was cut off; in the former the whole body of the… flesh, spiritually speaking, was put off in the solemn renunciation of a life of carnality and sin. The circumcision of Christ is that which he works in our spiritual renewal through union with himself.

Ver. 11.-12a. Another important truth added to those foregoing. Not-made-with-hands: i.e. superhuman. It emphasises the absence of human agency. Contrast Ephesians 2:11. The same two words, here contrasted, are placed conspicuously side by side in Mark 14:58. This superhuman circumcision has Christ for its encompassing element, being wrought in virtue of inward union with Him: in whom ye were also circumcised.

The laying-aside: as we take off and put away clothes. The cognate verb in Colossians 3:9, where the readers are said to have themselves laid aside the old man: a similar verb in 2 Corinthians 5:4. Also the opposite verb in Colossians 3:10: put on the new man; and again in Colossians 3:12.

The body of the flesh: the human body looked upon in its material constitution, in view of the truth ever present to the mind of Paul (e.g. Romans 6:12) that through the needs and desires arising from the constitution of our body sin rules all those whom Christ has not saved. For in fallen man the flesh, although in itself good, has come under the domination of sin and has become a weapon with which sin enslaves its victims. Hence apart from Christ, man’s flesh is (Romans 8:3) flesh of sin and his body (Romans 6:6) a body of sin. Circumcision is only the outward removal, by human hands, of a small part of that body which to so many is an instrument by which sin holds them captive. But the servants of Christ have stripped off from themselves and laid aside their entire body of flesh, inasmuch as they have been completely rescued from its deadly dominion. Henceforth they stand in a new relation to their own bodies: these are no longer the throne of sin but the temple of God. In the laying aside of the body of the flesh: the environment in which took place the circumcision not made with hands. While the one was done the other was done. Or, practically, the two clauses describe under two aspects the same inward experience. The two figures are linked together by the next clause: in the circumcision of Christ, the better circumcision which has Christ for its source and distinguishing mark.

Having-been-buried with Him in your Baptism: another description of this inward and spiritual circumcision, specifying also its time and outward instrumentality. A close parallel with Romans 6:4: a parallel the more remarkable because in the N.T. this mode of thought is found only with Paul, and is extremely rare even with later Christian writers. Already, in Romans 6:3-11; Galatians 2:20; 6:14, we have been taught that, like Christ and in Christ, we are to be dead to sin, i.e. completely separated from it as the dead are separated from the world in which they once lived, by means of that death upon the cross by which Christ Himself was separated from the penalty and curse and power of sin under which for our sakes He once groaned; and that consequently Baptism, the visible gate through which the convert from heathenism entered the company of the professed followers of Christ, is designed to be the funeral service of the old life announcing publicly that life has ceased and separating the dead man completely from the land in which he lived. In this sense the Colossian Christians were buried in the grave of Christ; and this burial took place in their Baptism.

Although this burial is evidently metaphorical, we have no hint that Baptism refers to anything except the outward rite. Indeed the metaphor needs the outward rite as its basis and explanation. And in Romans 6:3, so similar in thought and expression, baptized for Christ refers indisputably to the rite, of which Paul goes on to explain the inward significance.

The sudden and conspicuous introduction of a new topic, circumcised… circumcision… circumcision, in this warning against error suggests irresistibly that, as in Galatia (Galatians 5:2, 3) so in Colossæ, the false teachers insisted on circumcision as a condition of salvation. This reveals a Jewish element in the error here combated. (In Galatians 2:16 this suggestion is placed beyond doubt.) Paul declares that circumcision by the hands of men is needless for the servants of Christ because they have already undergone a more complete circumcision, that in the Baptism by which they were outwardly and formally joined to Christ their whole body, not a mere fragment of it, looked upon as a body of sin, its real earlier condition, was buried in the grave of Christ. Consequently, they have actually experienced that circumcision of the heart of which Moses and the Prophets (Deuteronomy 30:6; Ezekiel 44:9) so frequently spoke as the real condition of spiritual blessing.

V. 12. Which he wrought in you, when ye were as it were buried with him in baptism-The ancient manner of baptizing by immersion is as manifestly alluded to here, as the other manner of baptizing by sprinkling or pouring of water is, Hebrews 10:22. But no stress is laid on the age of the baptized, or the manner of performing it, in one or the other; but only on our being risen with Christ, through the powerful operation of God in the soul; which we cannot but know assuredly, if it really is so: and if we do not experience this, our baptism has not answered the end of its institution.

By which ye are also risen with him-From the death of sin to the life of holiness. It does not appear, that in all this St. Paul speaks of justification at all, but of sanctification altogether.

Verse 12. Buried with him in baptism] Alluding to the immersions practised in the case of adults, wherein the person appeared to be buried under the Water, as Christ was buried in the heart of the earth. His rising again the third any, and their emerging from the water, was an emblem of the resurrection of the body; and, in them, of a total change of life. The faith of the operation of God] They were quickened, changed, and saved, by means of faith in Christ Jesus; which faith was produced by the operation or energy of God. Believing is the act of the soul; but the grace or power to believe comes from God himself.

Verses 11, 12. In whom also ye are circumcised — Ye have received the spiritual blessings signified of old by circumcision; with the circumcision made without hands — Namely, an internal, spiritual circumcision; in putting off — Not a little skin, but the whole body of the sins of the flesh — All the sins proceeding from your corrupt nature; by the circumcision of Christ — The circumcision of the heart, which Christ requires and effects. Buried with him, &c. — That is, which he wrought in you when you were, as it were, buried with him in baptism — The ancient manner of baptizing by immersion is as manifestly alluded to here, as the other manner of baptizing by sprinkling, or pouring of water, is, Hebrews 10:22. But no stress is laid on the age of the baptized, or the manner of performing it, in one or the other place; but only on our being quickened, or renewed, through the powerful operation of his Spirit in the soul, which we cannot but know assuredly, if we really are so: and if we do not experience this, our baptism has not answered the end of its institution. Wherein — Or rather, by which; ye are risen with him — From the death of sin, to the life of righteousness; through the faith of the operation of God — Faith wrought in you by God: see on Ephesians 2:8; or, through faith in the energy of God, as some render dia thv pistewv thv energeiav tou Qeou; who raised him from the dead — They who put this latter sense upon the passage explain it thus: “The circumcision which Christ performs being accomplished by the influence of the doctrines of the gospel upon the minds of believers, and their belief of these doctrines being founded on their belief of the resurrection of Christ, their belief of that great miracle is justly represented as the means whereby they are made new creatures.” The doctrines of the gospel, however, will produce no such effect, unless they be accompanied by the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Ver. 11, 12. In whom also ye are circumcised — buried with him in baptism. The heart of stone being removed by spiritual circumcision, or renovating grace, and we being dead with Christ, and buried with him, as was indicated by the figure when John was baptizing in the Jordan, what need have we of gentile philosophy? Here then is a new argument that the rudiments of this world are nothing to us; and not only a new argument, but a new proof that Paul understood religion by resolving it, not to the circumcision made with hands, but to the enjoyment of all the blessings of the new covenant, a new heart and a right spirit.

12. Buried—Rather, having been buried, coincident in time with the above, were circumcised and the were raised (as are risen should read) below. This death to sin as a controlling power, the burial which consummated it, and the resurrection which followed, were ideally in connexion with their baptism, when they openly professed a renunciation of sin, and promised to lead a new life. Really, the mighty transformation had its efficiency in their union with Christ, their baptism attesting their identification with his death, burial, and resurrection. Risen—By faith in the same mighty power which raised Christ from the dead. Where the resurrection is holiness and faith is its instrument, what must the burial be? Only he who is prepared to affirm the power of faith to lift one from submersion in water can say that the burial is immersion. To infer it from this passage is to make the apostle’s argument against ritualism supply a new yoke for Christian necks. See also notes on Romans 6:1-4.

Ver. 12b. Wherein also: or in whom also. Grammatically, each rendering is equally admissible: and the context affords no sure ground of decision. On the one hand, Baptism is the nearest antecedent: and raised with Him evidently supplements buried with Him, recalling forcibly the ancient mode of the rite (see under Romans 6:4) and the baptismal water under which the convert sank and from which he rose. Paul may wish to say that in their Baptism his readers were not only buried, but also raised, with Christ. On the other hand, Christ in His relation to His people is the chief thought of the whole sentence: in Him dwells and in Him ye are, Colossians 2:9, 10; who is the Head, Colossians 2:10; and in whom also ye were circumcised, Colossians 2:11, where the first three words are the same as in Colossians 2:12b. Paul may wish to say, still thinking of the dignity of Christ, that in Him we have been not only circumcised with a superhuman circumcision but also raised together with Christ through faith. It cannot be objected that our resurrection is not with Him but in Him. It is both in Him, resulting from inward union with Him, and with Him, introducing us to a life enjoyed by fellowship with Him. So expressly Ephesians 2:6: raised together with Him… in Christ Jesus. This latter exposition is slightly favoured by the added words through faith. For to say that in Baptism they were raised through faith is somewhat clumsy: whereas the words buried with Him in Baptism would be evenly balanced by the addition, in Him ye were also raised through faith. But confident decision is impossible; and unimportant. For each exposition embodies a truth. The command of Christ made Baptism, to those not yet baptized, whether Jews or heathens, a condition of His favour; and therefore the only ordinary way to the new life which flows from His death, burial, and resurrection. In this correct sense, in their Baptism the Colossian Christians had risen with Christ. On the other hand, their resurrection was in Christ as well as with Christ. For it both resulted from inward contact with Him and placed them by His side.

Through faith: the constant condition of salvation in all its aspects; Philippians 3:9; Ephesians 2:8; 3:12,17; Romans 3:22, etc. Working: see under Philippians 3:21. It was the active power of God raising Christ from the dead. A close and important parallel in Ephesians 1:19.

Faith or belief of the working etc.: belief that the activity of God raised Him from the dead. According to a common Greek construction, the genitive specifies the object of faith, and in this case the object-matter. So Philippians 1:27; 2 Thessalonians 2:13. Similarly, in Philippians 3:9; Ephesians 3:12; Romans 3:22, 26, it specifies the personal object of faith. These words assert that saving faith (like that of Abraham, Romans 4:21) rests upon the recognised power of God.

The phrase raised together with Christ is found also in Colossians 3:1; Ephesians 2:6. In this last place the readers are said to be also seated with Christ in the heavenly places. Similarly, believers are crucified, dead, and buried, with Christ: Colossians 2:20; Romans 6:6, 11, 4. This remarkable teaching is both very familiar to Paul and peculiar to him. It demands our best attention.

Under Romans 6:6 we have learnt that we are dead and crucified with Christ in the sense that we have shared with Him the results of His own death, that through His death upon the cross we have escaped completely, as He escaped, from the penalty and burden and dominion of sin. The day will come when we shall share to the full the results of His resurrection and ascension: for, ourselves risen from the dead, we shall sit with Him upon His throne in endless life. In that day we shall say, I am risen with Christ and through Christ and in Christ. For we shall share His throne, this being a result of His resurrection and ascension, and of our inward union with Him, a union begun on earth. For, had He not risen, we should not have believed in Him, and should not rise with Him. Now, when a future event is absolutely certain, we sometimes speak of it as present or past. For the future seems inadequate to express such certainty. Just so, as Paul looked forward with perfect confidence to the day when he will sit with Christ in glory, and remembered that no hostile power could prevent that glory, he felt that it was already his. And when, looking back to the cross and to the empty grave of Christ, he remembered that all the glory awaiting him was a result of His death and resurrection, and felt in his own heart and life the presence and power of the Risen One bearing him forward to the great consummation, the intervals between Christ’s resurrection and his own conversion and between his present life on earth and the realisation of his hopes in the great day seemed to vanish from his view; and he felt himself to be already risen and enthroned with Christ. This anticipatory language is the more easy because a certainty touching the future is to a large extent an actual present influence upon us. Our confident hope becomes a mental platform on which we stand and from which we view all things. The heir to vast estates looks upon them as already his own; and takes them into all his plans for life. In this sense Paul was already risen with Christ. In his Baptism he had been laid in His grave: for it was a formal declaration that in Christ his old life of bondage had ceased. And through a faith grasping the infinite power which raised Christ from the grave Paul was himself made a sharer of the immortal life to which His resurrection and ascension had introduced the humanity of Christ, already a sharer virtually of that victory over death which will soon, as it seemed to him, be his in outward bodily reality.

Notice that faith is the link between Christ’s resurrection and our own. Our assurance that the power of God is able to raise the dead enables us to believe that God actually raised Christ. A result of this faith will be that the same power will raise us. And a foretaste of that final resurrection we have in the new life which the power of God has already breathed into us, and which reveals itself day by day in victory over sin and communion with the spiritual world. In Ephesians 1:19, 20, this relation between the resurrection of Christ and our present spiritual life is further expounded.

V. 13. And you who were dead-Doubly dead to God, not only wallowing in trespasses, outward sins, but also in

the uncircumcision of your flesh-A beautiful expression for original sin, the inbred corruption of your nature, your uncircumcised heart and affections.

Hath he-God the Father.

Quickened together with him-Making you partakers of the power of his resurrection. It is evident the apostle thus far speaks, not of justification, but of sanctification only.

Verse 13. And you, being dead in your sins] See Clarke’s notes on “Ephesians 2:1:”, &c.

The uncircumcision of your flesh] This must refer to that part of the Colossian Church which was made up of converted heathens, for the heathens alone were uncircumcised.

Verses 13-15. And you — Believing Gentiles; being formerly dead in your sins — Under the guilt and power of your sins, (see on Ephesians 2:1, 5,) and the uncircumcision of your flesh — Your corrupt and unrenewed nature, your uncircumcised heart and affections; hath he — God the Father; quickened — Brought you out of that state by infusing into you spiritual life: together with him — Through the merit of Christ’s death, and in conformity to his resurrection; having forgiven you all trespasses — In consequence of his having atoned for them. Blotting out the handwriting — Where a debt is contracted, it is usually testified by some handwriting. And when the debt is forgiven, the handwriting is destroyed, either by blotting it out, taking it away, or tearing it. The apostle expresses in all these three ways God’s destroying the handwriting which was contrary to us. And perhaps, as Macknight thinks, in the expression, nailing it to the cross, he alludes to “an ancient custom of abrogating laws, by driving a nail through the tables on which they were written, and hung up to public view.” The word dogmata, here rendered ordinances, is used by the LXX., Ezekiel 20:26, for the rites of the ceremonial law, as it is also Ephesians 2:15, and that law is evidently here meant. St. Paul says, it was against us; meaning, 1st, The Jews, who had been under an obligation to fulfil it, and whose guilt and liableness to punishment it testified. It was also, 2d, Against and contrary to the Gentiles, as being a middle wall of partition, hindering them from coming to God, and putting an enmity between them and the Jews. This Christ took away by abolishing the obligation of it, and admitting the believing Gentiles to be fellow-heirs with the believing Jews, of the promises and blessings of the gospel, without their becoming subject to it. See notes on Ephesians 2:14-18. And having spoiled principalities and powers — The evil angels, of their usurped dominion, in consequence of his having conquered them. For in the original expression, apekdusamenov, which signifies having stripped off, there is an allusion to the ancient custom of victors, who were wont to strip the vanquished of their arms and clothes. Hence the word is taken to signify spoiling in general. That the evil angels are here said to be spoiled by Christ’s dying on the cross, seems evident from what we read elsewhere. Christ, speaking of his death, said to his disciples, (John 12:31,) Now shall, o arcwn, the prince, or ruler, of this world be cast out; and, John 16:11, o arcwn, the prince of this world is judged. See also Ephesians 4:8. And by spoiling them we may understand, with Hammond, Whitby, and others, the destruction of idolatry, the silencing the heathen oracles, and the banishing of those grievous superstitions, with which mankind had been so long oppressed. Some others, however, by these principalities and powers understand the Jewish rulers and great men, who in the first age grievously persecuted the disciples of Christ. But this interpretation seems unnatural, and certainly was not verified by fact at the time when the apostle wrote this epistle, the Jewish sanhedrim and rulers being still in power. He — God the Father; made a show of them openly — Before all the hosts of hell and heaven; triumphing over them in or by it — Even that cross whereby they hoped to have triumphed over him, God turning their counsels against themselves, and ruining their empire by that death of his Son which they had been so eager to accomplish. Or the clause may be rendered, triumphing over them in him; in Christ. By turning the heathen from the power of Satan to God, it was shown that the evil spirits, who formerly ruled them, were vanquished and stripped of their power. It is supposed, that in this and the preceding clause there is an allusion to the Roman triumphs, of which see on 2 Corinthians 2:14; and that St. Paul represents Christ himself, or his apostles, as riding in triumph through the world, with the evil spirits following the triumphant car in chains, and exposed to public view as vanquished enemies.

Ver. 13. You, being dead in your sins — hath he quickened. See notes on Ephesians 2:1, 5.

13. And you—This is an appeal again to their experience, as in Colossians 1:20. It is the argumentum ad hominem, showing that what has been said generally in verses 11, 12, is true in them specially. Their old state was one of spiritual death: they were wicked and heathen— uncircumcised Gentiles. God quickened them, made them alive through the life of the risen Christ. To complete and point the argument, it is further added that with this new life was given them the free, gracious forgiveness of all their transgressions, and which, without the imposition of the physical rite of circumcision, as the next verse shows, was no longer in force. Through Christ alone, without accessories, they were saved.

4. The legalism sought to be imposed is abolished, 14.

Ver. 13. Another statement, in a somewhat different, yet related, form, of the great change described as risen with Christ.

And you: in addition to Christ whom God raised from the dead. It emphasises by repetition this second resurrection. Same words in Colossians 1:21, where they add, to God’s purpose to reconcile all things to Himself in Christ, the actual reconciliation of the readers of this Epistle: similarly Ephesians 2:1. In Colossians 1:21 Gentile Christians were contrasted with Jewish Christians. But the word ye-were-raised in Colossians 2:12, which certainly includes Gentiles, forbids such contrast here. At the same time these introductory words raise into great prominence the Colossian Christians to whom Paul now writes: and the words uncircumcision of your flesh remind us that they were Gentiles.

By trespasses: the instrument with which these dead ones were slain. Same words and sense in Ephesians 2:1.

In what sense these men were formerly dead, must be determined by Paul’s general system of thought. Since they were manifestly living, their death could not be that of the body. Since it was caused by trespasses, and was connected with uncircumcision, it could not be inherited depravity resulting from Adam’s one trespass: Romans 5:18. Moreover, the dead ones have been made alive in close connection with the resurrection of Christ, and their trespasses have been forgiven. Now we remember that (Romans 6:23) the wages of sin is death. This death can only be utter ruin of body and soul. It will be consummated (2 Thessalonians 1:9; Matthew 10:28) in the day of judgment. But inasmuch as sinners are already beyond reach of salvation except by the power of Him who raises the dead, and are separated from the Source of Life, a separation producing moral corruption, Paul correctly and frequently speaks of them as already dead. See under Romans 7:9; Ephesians 2:1; 1 Timothy 5:6: also John 5:24, 25, a most important coincidence enabling us to trace the teaching of Paul to the lips of Christ; 1 John 3:14; Revelation 20:14. Just as a dead and a sleeping child differ chiefly in that, whereas the latter will wake up to life, activity, growth, and manhood, nothing awaits the former except corruption and worms, a difference which all human power fails utterly to bridge, so and in infinitely greater degree differ those whom God has, and those whom He has not, made alive together with Christ: cp. John 5:25. Such was the awful former position of the Colossian Christians. They had committed trespasses: and these trespasses were bars shutting them up in the doom and gloom of eternal corruption.

Uncircumcision: joint cause with trespasses of this death. Or rather it places their death by reason of trespasses in its relation to their outward separation from the ancient people of God. Similar thought in Ephesians 2:11, 12. The uncircumcised bodies of the Colossians once bore witness to their separation from the God of Abraham and from the chosen nation of the Old Covenant. By commanding circumcision God had claimed for His own the human body. The heathen live in ignorance or rejection of this claim and are thus outside the Covenant. The words uncircumcision of your flesh came the more easily to Paul’s pen because, in the heathen, with absence of the seal of the Covenant was associated moral bondage to the rule of the bodily life.

Such was the terrible position of those to whom Paul now writes. They had again and again fallen into sin, and were as their bodies bore witness outside the Covenant of God. Consequently, they were separated from the only life worthy of the name, and were under the dominion of eternal corruption, a dominion from which no earthly power could save them. Has-made-alive: has removed all that is involved in the word death. By reuniting them to Himself, the source of life, God breathed into them new vital power, a power opening to them a prospect of endless development and activity, a spiritual development already begun.

You together with Him: a very emphatic mode of asserting that God has so joined us to Christ that the act by which He gave life to the sacred corpse in the grave gave immortal life also to us. This is really equivalent to the statement in Colossians 2:12, ye were raised together with Him. But this statement now before us looks at the inward spiritual life received by believers, when they believe, in consequence of the life then breathed into the Saviour’s lifeless body. Colossians 2:12 looked at their removal from the realm of spiritual death and restoration to the land of the living resulting from Christ’s uprising from the sleep of death. Both expressions are again together in Ephesians 2:5, 6. The words before us are the more suitable here because the new life thus received is derived each moment from vital inward contact with the Risen Lord. All the trespasses: suggesting many sins, and an all-embracing pardon. Having-forgiven etc.: a condition involved in this new life. Since surrender to death is the just and inevitable punishment of sin, restoration to life implies forgiveness; and necessarily follows it. Just so, to a man doomed to die, pardon is life.

Forgiven: literally bestowed favour-upon: same word in Romans 8:32; Philippians 1:29; 2:9; and in the same sense in Colossians 3:13; 2 Corinthians 2:7, 10; 12:13. By the change from you to us, Paul puts himself among those whose trespasses are forgiven.

V. 14. Having blotted out-in consequence of his gracious decrees, that Christ should come into the world to save sinners, and that whosoever believeth on him should have everlasting life.

The handwriting against us-Where a debt is contracted, it is usually testified by some handwriting; and when the debt is forgiven, the handwriting is destroyed, either by blotting it out, by taking it away, or by tearing it. The apostle expresses in all these three ways, God's destroying the handwriting which was contrary to us, or at enmity with us. This was not properly our sins themselves, (they were the debt,) but their guilt and cry before God.

Verse 14. Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances] By the hand-writing of ordinances the apostle most evidently means the ceremonial law: this was against them, for they were bound to fulfil it; and it was contrary to them, as condemning them for their neglect and transgression of it. This law God himself has blotted out. Blotting out the hand-writing is probably an allusion to Numbers 5:23, where the curses written in the book, in the case of the woman suspected of adultery, are directed to be blotted out with the bitter waters. And there can be little doubt of a farther allusion, viz., to the custom of discharging the writing from parchment by the application of such a fluid as the muriatic acid, which immediately dissolves those ferruginous calces which constitute the blackening principle of most inks. But the East India inks, being formed only of simple black, such as burnt ivory, or cork, and gum water, may be wiped clean off from the surface of the paper or parchment by the application of a wet sponge, so as to leave not one legible vestige remaining: this I have often proved.

Nailing it to his cross] When Christ was nailed to the cross, our obligation to fulfil these ordinances was done away. There may be another reference here to some ancient mode of annulling legal obligations, by nailing them to a post; but I do not recollect at present an instance or example. Antiquated laws are said to have been thus abrogated.

Verses 13-15. And you — Believing Gentiles; being formerly dead in your sins — Under the guilt and power of your sins, (see on Ephesians 2:1, 5,) and the uncircumcision of your flesh — Your corrupt and unrenewed nature, your uncircumcised heart and affections; hath he — God the Father; quickened — Brought you out of that state by infusing into you spiritual life: together with him — Through the merit of Christ’s death, and in conformity to his resurrection; having forgiven you all trespasses — In consequence of his having atoned for them. Blotting out the handwriting — Where a debt is contracted, it is usually testified by some handwriting. And when the debt is forgiven, the handwriting is destroyed, either by blotting it out, taking it away, or tearing it. The apostle expresses in all these three ways God’s destroying the handwriting which was contrary to us. And perhaps, as Macknight thinks, in the expression, nailing it to the cross, he alludes to “an ancient custom of abrogating laws, by driving a nail through the tables on which they were written, and hung up to public view.” The word dogmata, here rendered ordinances, is used by the LXX., Ezekiel 20:26, for the rites of the ceremonial law, as it is also Ephesians 2:15, and that law is evidently here meant. St. Paul says, it was against us; meaning, 1st, The Jews, who had been under an obligation to fulfil it, and whose guilt and liableness to punishment it testified. It was also, 2d, Against and contrary to the Gentiles, as being a middle wall of partition, hindering them from coming to God, and putting an enmity between them and the Jews. This Christ took away by abolishing the obligation of it, and admitting the believing Gentiles to be fellow-heirs with the believing Jews, of the promises and blessings of the gospel, without their becoming subject to it. See notes on Ephesians 2:14-18. And having spoiled principalities and powers — The evil angels, of their usurped dominion, in consequence of his having conquered them. For in the original expression, apekdusamenov, which signifies having stripped off, there is an allusion to the ancient custom of victors, who were wont to strip the vanquished of their arms and clothes. Hence the word is taken to signify spoiling in general. That the evil angels are here said to be spoiled by Christ’s dying on the cross, seems evident from what we read elsewhere. Christ, speaking of his death, said to his disciples, (John 12:31,) Now shall, o arcwn, the prince, or ruler, of this world be cast out; and, John 16:11, o arcwn, the prince of this world is judged. See also Ephesians 4:8. And by spoiling them we may understand, with Hammond, Whitby, and others, the destruction of idolatry, the silencing the heathen oracles, and the banishing of those grievous superstitions, with which mankind had been so long oppressed. Some others, however, by these principalities and powers understand the Jewish rulers and great men, who in the first age grievously persecuted the disciples of Christ. But this interpretation seems unnatural, and certainly was not verified by fact at the time when the apostle wrote this epistle, the Jewish sanhedrim and rulers being still in power. He — God the Father; made a show of them openly — Before all the hosts of hell and heaven; triumphing over them in or by it — Even that cross whereby they hoped to have triumphed over him, God turning their counsels against themselves, and ruining their empire by that death of his Son which they had been so eager to accomplish. Or the clause may be rendered, triumphing over them in him; in Christ. By turning the heathen from the power of Satan to God, it was shown that the evil spirits, who formerly ruled them, were vanquished and stripped of their power. It is supposed, that in this and the preceding clause there is an allusion to the Roman triumphs, of which see on 2 Corinthians 2:14; and that St. Paul represents Christ himself, or his apostles, as riding in triumph through the world, with the evil spirits following the triumphant car in chains, and exposed to public view as vanquished enemies.

Ver. 14. Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances that was against us. Christ having justified us, and quickened us by his Spirit, has not only delivered us from condemnation, but has also liberated us from the ordinances of the ceremonial law, as the apostle has explained it in Ephesians 2:15. “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances, to make in himself of twain [the jews and gentiles] one new man, so making peace.” Christ being now the mediator of the new covenant, and minister of the more perfect tabernacle, and having confirmed all by his blood, there is no further need of the blood of bulls and of goats. As bonds and covenants are cancelled by cutting away the seals, so Christ has nailed the ceremonial obligation to the cross, and for ever done it away.

14. Blotting out—Rather, having blotted out. The interpretations of this verse are very various, and many of their difficulties arise, as we think, from a failure to observe its logical connexion. We conceive it to be a simple statement that God had wiped out the whole ritual system. Circumcision could not, therefore, be required as a condition of spiritual life, and they themselves had found that life without it. Handwriting of ordinances—The Mosaic ceremonial law: the obligatory bond, whose numerous minute decrees were difficult and oppressive. Contrary to us— Peter expressed the same when he styled it “a yoke… which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear.” Acts 15:10. We cannot interpret it of the decalogue, for that was not abolished by Christ’s death, as was the ritual, whose provisions pointed to and were thus fulfilled in him. It was, doubtless, the best possible system for the period of its enactment; but it had accomplished its purpose, and the time had come for it to pass away. Its precepts were obliterated; it was as if nailed to the cross, and thus, as a document, destroyed. As the cross was the instrument of death, when Christ died it died. Ritual circumcision is, therefore, at an end.

5. The angels themselves subjected to Christ, 15.

Ver. 14. This forgiveness is now traced to the cross of Christ, the means by which was removed the obstacle to forgiveness which lay in the written law. It is added in the form of a second participial clause, which passes, according to the frequent habit of Paul in matters of great importance, into direct assertion.

Blotted-out, literally washed-out: a common word for complete removal of writing. The defective nature of ancient ink made it easy. Same word and sense in Revelation 3:5; Acts 3:19; Psalm 69:29; Deuteronomy 9:14; and, in a similar sense, in Revelation 7:17; 21:4.

The handwriting: a later Greek word, usually in the sense of a written obligation; so Tobit v. 3; ix. 5. In this sense it passed without change into Latin.

Dogma: an exact reproduction in English of the Greek word here used. It denotes something which seems good, e.g. an opinion which commends itself as true or a course of action which commends itself as wise. It is frequently used for the expressed judgments of the Greek philosophers, for a joint resolution touching some united action, and for the decrees of an authority which claims to determine the conduct of others. So in Luke 2:1, ‘there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus;’ Acts 17:7. The decisions of the conference at Jerusalem (Acts 15:23-29) are in Acts 16:4 called dogmas. Similarly Ignatius To the Magnesians (ch. 13) speaks of ‘the decrees of the Lord and of the Apostles.’ In this verse the dogmas must be the various commands, ritual or moral, of the Law of Moses, looked upon simply as the decrees of an authority claiming to direct and control man’s conduct. For the handwriting against us can be no other than the Law of Moses which Paul speaks of in 2 Corinthians 3:6 as the letter which kills. And this condemnatory document is the chief feature of the Old Covenant. The connection between the handwriting and the dogmas is not determined by the grammatical construction; but is left to be inferred. Perhaps it is easiest to understand it as the handwriting written with the dogmas, as in Galatians 6:11 we have an epistle written with (large) letters. But, however we render these words, their meaning is clear. The Law was made up of dogmas, i.e. of commands claiming simply obedience. And these decrees gave to the Law its power against us: for we had broken them; and they cried out for punishment. Which was contrary to us: a very conspicuous repetition, given as an express assertion, of the words against us. This remarkable emphasis indicates Paul’s chief thought in this verse, a thought ever present to his mind, viz. the condemnation pronounced by the Law, and the barrier thus erected between man and God. Similarly, in Romans 7:3 the law of marriage condemns a married woman to bondage while her (bad) husband lives. Such a law seemed to be against her best interests. Usually, the word rendered handwriting denotes something written by the person whom the writing binds. It is not so here. Man is bound by a law written not by himself but by God. But this does not in the least degree make Paul’s language inappropriate. The essential point is obligation resting upon a written document. By whom written is immaterial. Indeed it is the national law not made by us which gives its binding force to the bond we have ourselves signed. Another point is that the document consists of decrees claiming obedience.

The word dogmas proves that the handwriting was the Law of Sinai, which consisted entirely of written decrees. For the law written on the heart, (Romans 2:15,) although marking out certain actions as forbidden, would hardly be thus described. The change in Colossians 2:13 from you to us made it easy for Paul to write of the Law of Moses as hostile: for doubtless, as a Pharisee, he had often quailed under its condemnation. And in this condemnation even the heathen were included. For we read in Romans 3:19 that the Law was given to Israel to make the whole world silent and guilty before God. The Law of Sinai proves that all men are under the anger of God. For it awakens the law written within, and through that inner law pronounces sentence even upon those who have never heard of the God of Israel.

The mention of forgiveness recalls to Paul’s thoughts the tremendous sentence written in unmistakable characters in the commands of the ancient Law. He remembers that in former times this written law had seemed to be his worst enemy. And even now forgiveness can come only by blotting out its terrible decrees.

And He has taken it away out of the midst: a restatement, in the form of direct assertion, of what is already implied in blotted-out. The writing completely erased is here described as an obstacle removed. [The Greek perfect suggests the abiding result of the removal of the great barrier blocking the way to forgiveness.]

Having nailed it to the cross: means by which the obstacle was removed. The person holding the bond has driven a nail through it and fastened it to the cross of Christ, thus making it invalid. This is a very graphic way of saying that the obstacle to forgiveness which lay in the Law, i.e. in the justice of God of which the Law is an embodiment, was removed by means of the death of Christ. Practically, the nails which fastened to the cross the hands and feet of Jesus, and thus slew Him, pierced and rendered invalid the Law which pronounced our just condemnation.

V. 15. And having spoiled the principalities and powers-The evil angels, of their usurped dominion.

He-God the Father.

Exposed them openly-Before all the hosts of hell and heaven. Triumphing over them in or by him-By Christ. Thus the paragraph begins with Christ, goes on with him, and ends with him.

Verse 15. And having spoiled principalities and powers] Here is an allusion to the treatment of enemies when conquered: they are spoiled of their armour, so much the word apekduein implies; and they are exhibited with contumely and reproach to the populace, especially when the victor has the honour of a triumph; to the former of which there is an allusion in the words edeigmatisen en parrhsia, making a public exhibition of them; and to the latter in the words qriambeusav autouv, triumphing over them. And the principalities and powers refer to the emperors, kings, and generals taken in battle, and reserved to grace the victor’s triumph. It is very likely that by the arcav kai exousiav, principalities and powers, over whom Christ triumphed, the apostle means the twaycn nesioth and twvr roshoth, who were the rulers and chiefs in the Sanhedrin and synagogues, and who had great authority among the people, both in making constitutions and explaining traditions. The propagation of Christianity in Judea quite destroyed their spiritual power and domination; just as the propagation of Protestantism, which was Christianity revived, destroyed, wherever it appeared, the false doctrine and domination of the pope of Rome.

In it.] The words en autw refer rather to Christ, than to the cross, if indeed they be genuine; of which there is much reason to doubt, as the versions and fathers differ so greatly in quoting them. Griesbach has left them out of the text.

Verses 13-15. And you — Believing Gentiles; being formerly dead in your sins — Under the guilt and power of your sins, (see on Ephesians 2:1, 5,) and the uncircumcision of your flesh — Your corrupt and unrenewed nature, your uncircumcised heart and affections; hath he — God the Father; quickened — Brought you out of that state by infusing into you spiritual life: together with him — Through the merit of Christ’s death, and in conformity to his resurrection; having forgiven you all trespasses — In consequence of his having atoned for them. Blotting out the handwriting — Where a debt is contracted, it is usually testified by some handwriting. And when the debt is forgiven, the handwriting is destroyed, either by blotting it out, taking it away, or tearing it. The apostle expresses in all these three ways God’s destroying the handwriting which was contrary to us. And perhaps, as Macknight thinks, in the expression, nailing it to the cross, he alludes to “an ancient custom of abrogating laws, by driving a nail through the tables on which they were written, and hung up to public view.” The word dogmata, here rendered ordinances, is used by the LXX., Ezekiel 20:26, for the rites of the ceremonial law, as it is also Ephesians 2:15, and that law is evidently here meant. St. Paul says, it was against us; meaning, 1st, The Jews, who had been under an obligation to fulfil it, and whose guilt and liableness to punishment it testified. It was also, 2d, Against and contrary to the Gentiles, as being a middle wall of partition, hindering them from coming to God, and putting an enmity between them and the Jews. This Christ took away by abolishing the obligation of it, and admitting the believing Gentiles to be fellow-heirs with the believing Jews, of the promises and blessings of the gospel, without their becoming subject to it. See notes on Ephesians 2:14-18. And having spoiled principalities and powers — The evil angels, of their usurped dominion, in consequence of his having conquered them. For in the original expression, apekdusamenov, which signifies having stripped off, there is an allusion to the ancient custom of victors, who were wont to strip the vanquished of their arms and clothes. Hence the word is taken to signify spoiling in general. That the evil angels are here said to be spoiled by Christ’s dying on the cross, seems evident from what we read elsewhere. Christ, speaking of his death, said to his disciples, (John 12:31,) Now shall, o arcwn, the prince, or ruler, of this world be cast out; and, John 16:11, o arcwn, the prince of this world is judged. See also Ephesians 4:8. And by spoiling them we may understand, with Hammond, Whitby, and others, the destruction of idolatry, the silencing the heathen oracles, and the banishing of those grievous superstitions, with which mankind had been so long oppressed. Some others, however, by these principalities and powers understand the Jewish rulers and great men, who in the first age grievously persecuted the disciples of Christ. But this interpretation seems unnatural, and certainly was not verified by fact at the time when the apostle wrote this epistle, the Jewish sanhedrim and rulers being still in power. He — God the Father; made a show of them openly — Before all the hosts of hell and heaven; triumphing over them in or by it — Even that cross whereby they hoped to have triumphed over him, God turning their counsels against themselves, and ruining their empire by that death of his Son which they had been so eager to accomplish. Or the clause may be rendered, triumphing over them in him; in Christ. By turning the heathen from the power of Satan to God, it was shown that the evil spirits, who formerly ruled them, were vanquished and stripped of their power. It is supposed, that in this and the preceding clause there is an allusion to the Roman triumphs, of which see on 2 Corinthians 2:14; and that St. Paul represents Christ himself, or his apostles, as riding in triumph through the world, with the evil spirits following the triumphant car in chains, and exposed to public view as vanquished enemies.

Ver. 15. Having spoiled principalities and powers of their armour, so that death himself is now destitute of a sting, he made a show of them openly, and put the grave beneath his feet. He then ascended up on high, leading captivity captive.

15. Having spoiled—The verse relates to that feature in “the philosophy” which pertains to the worship of the holy angels. It is wholly irrelevant to say, with most commentators, that Christ in his death conquered and triumphed over the infernal powers: it proves nothing on the point in hand. The principalities and the powers refers us back to verse 10, where Christ is said to be their Head. We, therefore, hold the holy angels to be meant, as is absolutely essential to a conclusiveness in the argument. The verse closely connects with the preceding one. The Mosaic ritual was given through the ministry of angels, (Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 2:2,) who were thus the revealers of God in that shadowy dispensation. He now took away that handwriting, first, suspending it on the cross that it might die, and, second, he divested himself (instead of spoiled) of the principalities and the powers as promulgators of his law, and subjected them to the incarnate Son as their Head, through whom alone, thenceforth, he will reveal himself. He then openly—at the ascension—exhibited them as subject to Christ, and as if following him in triumphal procession as their Lord. Whatever power, then, the false teacher supposed the angels to have had in revealing God, their office in that respect was at an end. Nor could the worship which belonged to Christ be given to them.

6. Deductions from the foregoing, 16-23.

a. Caution against legal observances, 16, 17.

Ver. 15. Perhaps the most obscure verse in the New Testament. Its obscurity arises from our ignorance of the precise nature of the error here combated.

[The verb ekduw denotes to take off clothes. The very rare verb apekdumai adds the idea of laying aside the stripped off clothing. An accusative following these verbs may denote either the person unclothed or the clothing taken off: for both person and clothes are direct objects of the act of unclothing. The middle voice denotes most simply removal of one’s own clothing. In this sense it occurs in Colossians 3:9; and the corresponding abstract substantive in Colossians 2:11. But the middle voice of all sorts of Greek verbs denotes not infrequently merely an action for the benefit of the actor. This would allow us to take the principalities etc. as the persons unclothed. And this is done by the Vulgate, which renders expolians princip. etc. But we cannot think that Paul would use in this more remote sense, without any indication of his meaning, a word so commonly used in, and therefore naturally suggesting, the simple meaning of laying aside one’s own clothes.

The principalities and the authorities may be either the clothing laid aside, or may belong only to the next verb made-a-show-of as its direct object, the clothing laid aside not being specified. This seems to have been the favourite exposition of the Latin Fathers, who suppose that the clothing laid aside was the human flesh of Christ. Their rendering would be, having stripped Himself of His own body by death, He made a show of the principalities, etc. This exposition has found its way into the MSS. FG, which read having laid aside the flesh, He made a show etc. Probably the word flesh was an explanatory note which was afterwards copied into the text: a frequent source of error in the text of the N.T. To this exposition it is an objection that, by putting the object before the verb it gives to the angelic powers a prominence not easily explained. On the other hand, the Greek Fathers generally accept the other interpretation, viz. that the principalities etc. were themselves the garment laid aside and the object of the public show. This interpretation agrees so well with the grammatical structure of the verse that we may, with most modern commentators, accept it.]

Two questions remain. The principalities and the authorities are undoubtedly successive ranks of angels. Are they good or bad? And did God or Christ strip them off from Himself?

In Colossians 2:10 and Colossians 1:16, where the same words are found in the same order, they certainly denote good angels, as does the word angel when not otherwise defined. But, that here the angelic powers are said to have been stripped off and laid aside, suggested to the Greek Fathers that Paul refers to hostile, and therefore bad, angels. This is the plain reference of the same words in Ephesians 6:12; where, however, the meaning is made quite clear by the foregoing mention of the devil and of strenuous conflict, and by the absence of any mention of good angels. But to the Colossians Paul says nothing about hostile angels: in Colossians 2:10 he uses the words before us of good angels: and in Colossians 2:18 we have, based upon this verse, a dissuasion from worshipping of angels, such worship being inconceivable except as rendered to holy beings. Again, the principalities etc. are here looked upon as a robe which must have been previously worn or it could not have been laid aside. In what sense could evil spirits be thus conceived? Only by supposing that in their attack on the Incarnate Son they clung to Him like a deadly robe, and that in repelling their attack He stripped them off from Himself. But I do not know that enemies attacking are ever so described: and of such desperate struggle with evil powers we have as yet in this place no hint. Another serious objection is that this exposition involves a change of subject of which we have no indication. Certainly in Colossians 2:13 it is the Father who has made us alive together with Christ and forgiven us all trespasses. In Colossians 2:14 there is no hint of change of subject. For it is in perfect harmony with Paul’s thought to say that the Father blotted out the handwriting against us and nailed it to the cross. Indeed God is said in Romans 3:25, 26 to have given Christ to die in order to reconcile the justification of believers with His own justice. If Colossians 2:15 refers to Christ repelling an attack of evil spirits, we have a most important change of actor in the scene before us which could hardly have been made in perfect silence. An exposition surrounded by such difficulties can be accepted only after all others have failed. Is there any sense in which until the death of Christ and no longer the angels of heaven were, or might be spoken of as, a robe of God? There is. In Galatians 3:19 we read that the Law was ordained by the agency of angels: see my note. The whole argument in Hebrews 1:1ff; 2:1ff, especially 2:2 the word spoken by the agency of angels, implies that they were the medium through which the revelations of the Old Covenant were given. If so, we may speak of these bright messengers as the robe in which God revealed Himself to men during long ages. Only under the veil of angelic forms and through angel lips did they see His face and hear His voice. Even at the Incarnation (Luke 2:9) God approached man in the same mysterious garb. But in Christ the veil was laid aside. Through the lips of the Incarnate Son God spoke to man face to face and revealed His unveiled glory. He thus stripped off and laid aside the garb He had previously worn. This action of God is a strong reason why the Colossian Christians should not (Colossians 2:18) worship angels. To do so, is to cling to a superseded mode of Divine revelation. The prevalence of this error suggested this mention of angelic powers. In Christ the Law as a means of salvation has passed away, having been nailed (Colossians 2:14) to His cross: therefore none may now (Colossians 2:16) pronounce sentence against others on legal grounds. And in Christ God has (Colossians 2:15) laid aside the visible mediation of angels: consequently, no one (Colossians 2:18) may any longer worship them. Openly: i.e. without reserve, telling the whole truth. Same word in 2 Corinthians 3:12. By laying aside the mediation of angels, God revealed the whole truth about them and their relation to Himself and to men. They are seen to be our helpers not our lords.

Having-led-them etc.: an exposition of the foregoing, describing the manner of this unreserved and public show of the discarded angelic robe. Led-in-triumph: same word as in 2 Corinthians 2:14, where see note. If the principalities etc. were enemies, this word would naturally suggest a train of captives led along as in a Roman triumph and revealing by their number the greatness of the victory. And it must be admitted that this natural connection of thought favours the exposition of the Greek Fathers noticed and rejected above. But the serious objections to it, stated above, outweigh this support. Moreover apparently the word denoted originally the peaceful Greek processions in honour of Dionysius: and this made more easy its use by Paul when thinking only of a public procession and not of the military victory implied in a Roman triumph. How did God, in Christ or in His cross, lead the angels, good or bad, in triumphal procession and thus make them a public show? Perhaps in two ways. The changed position of angels in the New Covenant as compared with the Old was itself a conspicuous manifestation by God of their subordination to the Son. It made plain to all men that they were no longer His medium of revelation to man. Again, their occasional appearance around the person of Christ is another public mark of their changed position. They are now manifestly subordinate to the Son as His servants: e.g. Matthew 4:11; Luke 22:43; Matthew 28:5; 24:31; 26:53. In the N.T. angelic mediation as a means of revelation to man is almost laid aside; and angels appear only to pay homage to the Son or to help His servants; in other words, as swelling the train of Christ the Conqueror. The incompleteness of this explanation is perhaps due to our ignorance of the exact nature of the error this Epistle was designed to overturn.

The last words of Colossians 2:15 may be rendered with equal right in Him or in it. The former rendering is better. For it was in the entire personality of Christ rather than in His cross and death that God revealed the subordinate position of angels. And this suits the scope of § 9, of which Christ and His relation to us are the chief feature. In Him was manifested to men the victory of God involved in the establishment of the New Covenant.

The exposition implied in the Vulgate is maintained by Meyer: that of the Greek Fathers by Ellicott and Lightfoot. The exposition I have adopted differs little from that of Alford, and from that advocated by Findlay in a very able paper in The Expositor, 1st series, vol. x. p. 403 and in the Pulpit Commentary. Mr. Findlay has done good service by calling attention to the original connection of the Greek word rendered triumph with the Dionysiac processions.

In SECTION 9 the warning already given in § 8 becomes much more definite. The error warned against is called philosophy, i.e. an attempt to reach the realities underlying the phenomena around and is further described as empty deception. Its source is mere human tradition: and what good it possesses belongs only to the rudimentary teaching common to the whole human race. In contrast to it, Paul points to Christ as the norm of Christian belief and practice. In Him dwells all completeness; a completeness shared by all who dwell in Him. To Him bow the hierarchy of heaven. And even the blessings of the Old Covenant belong to His servants by their union with Him in Baptism. So closely are they joined to Him that they have lain in His grave, and already share His resurrection life. This life implies, as its condition, forgiveness of sins. And this forgiveness is traced to the death of Christ, by which was removed the barrier to forgiveness based upon the ancient Law or rather upon the eternal justice of God of which that law was a literary embodiment. In the Old Covenant God revealed Himself to men in the garb of angelic agency. But in these better days that garb has been laid aside: and those bright spirits, who in former times appeared as the highest powers on earth, bearers of the might of God, appear now merely as swelling the train of One Greater than themselves.

Notice in this warning, as marked features of the error combated, philosophy and tradition, angelic powers and circumcision. This suggests that the error contained both theosophic and Jewish elements. And this suggestion will be confirmed in § 10.

We notice also that, to guard against this error, Paul relies wholly on a setting forth of the Christian’s relation to Christ. This explains the full exposition in DIV. II., before the error is mentioned, of the Person and Work of Christ.

V. 16. Therefore-Seeing these things are so.

Let none judge you-That is, regard none who judge you. In meat or drink-For not observing the ceremonial law in these or any other particulars.

Or in respect of a yearly feast, the new moon, or the weekly Jewish sabbaths.

Verse 16. Let no man-judge you in meat, or in drink] The apostle speaks here in reference to some particulars of the hand-writing of ordinances, which had been taken away, viz., the distinction of meats and drinks, what was clean and what unclean, according to the law; and the necessity of observing certain holydays or festivals, such as the new moons and particular sabbaths, or those which should be observed with more than ordinary solemnity; all these had been taken out of the way and nailed to the cross, and were no longer of moral obligation. There is no intimation here that the Sabbath was done away, or that its moral use was superseded, by the introduction of Christianity. I have shown elsewhere that, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, is a command of perpetual obligation, and can never be superseded but by the final termination of time. As it is a type of that rest which remains for the people of God, of an eternity of bliss, it must continue in full force till that eternity arrives; for no type ever ceases till the antitype be come. Besides, it is not clear that the apostle refers at all to the Sabbath in this place, whether Jewish or Christian; his sabbatwn, of sabbaths or weeks, most probably refers to their feasts of weeks, of which much has been said in the notes on the Pentateuch.

Verses 16, 17. Let no man, therefore, &c. — Seeing these things are so, and the ceremonial law is now abolished, let no one, who is in a bigoted manner attached to it, judge and condemn you Gentile Christians; that is, regard none who judge you, in regard to the use of meat or drink — Forbidden by it; or in respect of a holyday — H en merei eopthv, in respect of a festival. The festivals, distinguished from new moons and sabbaths, meant days of rejoicing annually observed. Of these some were enjoined in the law, others by human authority, such as those instituted in commemoration of the deliverance of the Jews by Esther, and of the purification of the temple by Judas Maccabeus. Or the new moon, or the sabbath days — The weekly Jewish sabbaths; which are but a lifeless shadow emblematical of good things to come — Intended to lead men’s minds to spiritual and evangelical blessings. But the body — Of those shadows; is of Christ — The substance of them is exhibited in the gospel of Christ, in whom they all centre; and having the latter, we need not be solicitous about the former. “The whole of the ceremonial law of Moses being abrogated by Christ, (Colossians 2:14,) Christians are under no obligation to observe any of the Jewish holydays, not even the seventh-day sabbath. Wherefore, if any teacher made the observance of the seventh day a necessary duty, the Colossians were to resist him. But though the brethren in the first age paid no regard to the Jewish seventh-day sabbath, they set apart the first day of the week for public worship, and for commemorating the death and resurrection of their Master, by eating his supper on that day; also for the private exercises of devotion. This they did, either by the precept or by the example of the apostles, and not by virtue of any injunction in the law of Moses. Besides, they did not sanctify the first day of the week in the Jewish manner, by a total abstinence from bodily labour of every kind. That practice was condemned by the council of Laodicea, as Judaizing.” — Macknight.

Ver. 16. Let no man therefore judge you, or trouble you with the elements of this world. You are now under the easy yoke of Christ, his law of love, which is the end and the perfection of the moral obligation. Let no man vex you, in meat or drink, for every creature of the Lord is good, and is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. Or in respect of a holy day. Syrus, a man much respected by the critics, says, “in regard to the number of days prescribed.” Or of the new moon, binding you to observe a festival on the first welcome sight of the moon with her new horns. Numbers 28:11. 29:1. Or of the sabbath, forbidding you to walk outside the gate more than nineteen hundred paces. Ezekiel 20:12, 20.

16. No man… judge you—As to the right or wrong of your conduct, in eating, or in drinking, or in the observance of the annual, monthly, or weekly festivals. In these matters there is no obligation. A divine authority was claimed for them; but Paul insists that they were but a shadow whose substance is Christ. The Jewish seventh-day Sabbath is here meant, and not the Christian first-day Sabbath. The Jewish aspects of the Sabbath are done away, but not the day itself as enjoined in the decalogue, which was given, not through the ministry of angels, but by the audible voice of God himself, and which the Saviour taught is “for man” universally. Note, Romans 14:5, 6.

COLOSSIANS

SECTION 10. — WARNING AGAINST VARIOUS

DOGMAS, JEWISH OR GENTILE, CONTRARY TO

CHRIST. CH. 2:16-3:4.

Let not any one then judge you in eating or in drinking, or in a matter of a feast or of a new moon or of a sabbath, which things are a shadow of those to come, but the body is Christ’s. Let no one rob you of your prize, desiring to do it in lowliness of mind and worshipping of angels, investigating things which he has seen, vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh, and not holding fast the Head, from whom all the body, through the joints and hands receiving support and being knit together, increases with the increase of God.

If ye died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why as though living in the world are ye placed under dogmas? Handle not, nor taste, nor touch, (all which things are to perish in the using up of them,) according to the commandments and teachings of men: things which have indeed a repute of wisdom in will worship and lowliness of mind and unsparing treatment of the body, not in any value against indulgence of the flesh.

If then ye have been raised together with Christ seek the things above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God: mind the things above, not those upon the earth. For ye are dead, and your life lies hidden with Christ in God. When Christ shall be manifested, your life, then also ye with Him will be manifested in glory. This section falls into three clearly marked divisions, each comprising four verses. Colossians 2:16-19 specifies the errors referred to in the more general warning of § 9 distinguishing their Jewish (Colossians 2:16, 17) and theosophic (Colossians 2:18, 19) elements: Colossians 2:20-23 brings to bear against them one factor of the positive teaching in § 9, viz. our death with Christ: and Colossians 3:14 brings to bear upon them another factor, viz. our resurrection with Christ.

Ver. 16. Practical application of the foregoing, especially of Colossians 2:14. Since God has nailed to the cross of Christ, and thus made invalid, the written obligation of the Old Covenant with its decrees, do not submit to any one’s award of praise or blame on the ground of its prohibitions or prescriptions: for these have passed away.

Eating… drinking: same words in Romans 14:17, and similar thought; cp. Romans 14:13, let us no longer judge one another. They might refer, as they do associated together in Romans 14:21, to meat and wine offered in sacrifice to idols. But, that this is not Paul’s main reference here, is proved by Colossians 2:16b, which mentions distinctively Levitical ordinances, by the mention in Colossians 2:11 of circumcision, which involves obedience to the whole Law of Moses, and the mention in Colossians 2:14 of a written obligation. The word eating refers therefore chiefly to the Levitical prohibition of unclean animals as food. The word drinking suggests that the would-be judges extended to themselves the Mosaic prohibition of wine to Nazarites (Numbers 6:3) and (Leviticus 10:9) to priests while officiating at the altar. In other words, they not only maintained the abiding obligation of the Law but also claimed to belong to the narrower circle of Nazarites, and possibly wished to force into it the entire Church of Christ. Paul’s protest against this judgment is in close accord with Romans 14:13, 14. And it is a complete abrogation of the Law of Moses, of which a conspicuous feature was distinction of meats.

Feast… new-moon… sabbath: same words in same order in Ezekiel 45:17; Hosea 2:11; in the inverse order in 1 Chronicles 23:31; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 31:3.

Feast: a yearly festival, as in Acts 18:21; Matthew 26:5; 27:15; Leviticus 23:4, etc.

New-moon: same word in Numbers 28:11-15: it refers to the special sacrifices at the beginning of each month.

Sabbath: the weekly day of rest. This is the ordinary meaning of the word; and is determined here by the ascending scale of frequency, annual, monthly, weekly. These three terms include all the sacred seasons of the Jewish year.

V. 17. Which are but a lifeless shadow; but the body, the substance, is of Christ.

Verse 17. Which are a shadow] All these things were types, and must continue in force till the Christ, whom they represented, came; the apostle therefore says that the body-the substance or design of them was of Christ-pointed him out, and the excellent blessings which he has procured. The word skia, shadow, is often used to express any thing imperfect or unsubstantial; while the term swma, body, was used in the opposite sense, and expressed any thing substantial, solid, and firm. The law was but the shadow or representation of good things to come; none should rest in it; all that it pointed out is to be sought and obtained in Christ.

Verses 16, 17. Let no man, therefore, &c. — Seeing these things are so, and the ceremonial law is now abolished, let no one, who is in a bigoted manner attached to it, judge and condemn you Gentile Christians; that is, regard none who judge you, in regard to the use of meat or drink — Forbidden by it; or in respect of a holyday — H en merei eopthv, in respect of a festival. The festivals, distinguished from new moons and sabbaths, meant days of rejoicing annually observed. Of these some were enjoined in the law, others by human authority, such as those instituted in commemoration of the deliverance of the Jews by Esther, and of the purification of the temple by Judas Maccabeus. Or the new moon, or the sabbath days — The weekly Jewish sabbaths; which are but a lifeless shadow emblematical of good things to come — Intended to lead men’s minds to spiritual and evangelical blessings. But the body — Of those shadows; is of Christ — The substance of them is exhibited in the gospel of Christ, in whom they all centre; and having the latter, we need not be solicitous about the former. “The whole of the ceremonial law of Moses being abrogated by Christ, (Colossians 2:14,) Christians are under no obligation to observe any of the Jewish holydays, not even the seventh-day sabbath. Wherefore, if any teacher made the observance of the seventh day a necessary duty, the Colossians were to resist him. But though the brethren in the first age paid no regard to the Jewish seventh-day sabbath, they set apart the first day of the week for public worship, and for commemorating the death and resurrection of their Master, by eating his supper on that day; also for the private exercises of devotion. This they did, either by the precept or by the example of the apostles, and not by virtue of any injunction in the law of Moses. Besides, they did not sanctify the first day of the week in the Jewish manner, by a total abstinence from bodily labour of every kind. That practice was condemned by the council of Laodicea, as Judaizing.” — Macknight.

Ver. 17. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body, the substance of all the types, is of Christ, who is the end of the law for righteousness, and ye are complete in him. We are therefore to regard holy persons and holy things under the ancient law, as indicative of higher and of real good. Adam was “a figure of him that was to come,” Romans 5:14; and thus the old testament is full of Christ. The prophets themselves understood these things allusively, and spake of the promised land, of the jewish feasts, and of the trumpet of jubilee with evident reference to future times, and blessings of higher importance, as may be observed in numerous instances. Psalm 95:7. 110:4. Isaiah 27:13. 55:1. 63:1, 2.

17. Things to come—Not future when Paul wrote, but when the law was given. They all pointed to Christ; all their virtue was derived from him, and they who are united to him realize all the good which they foreshadowed. b. Caution against angel-worship, 18, 19.

Verse 17 supports Colossians 2:16. Since Christ is ours, with all He has and is, we have the reality dimly outlined in the ancient ordinances. Consequently, the ancient ritual, once of value as an outline of things to come, is now worthless. Thus, as throughout this Epistle, Christ is Himself a sufficient safeguard against all error.

The warning in Colossians 2:16 proves how far Paul was from placing the Lord’s Day in the same category as the Jewish Sabbath. And this warning is not altogether needless now. For it is possible to degrade into a mere prescribed rite this precious and abiding gift of Christ to His Church. That this warning does not in any way contradict the divine authority and abiding validity and infinite value of the Lord’s Day, I have in my note under Galatians 4:11 endeavoured to show.

V. 18. Out of pretended humility, they worshipped angels, as not daring to apply immediately to God. Yet this really sprung from their being puffed up: (the constant forerunner of a fall, Proverbs 16:18) so far was it from being an instance of true humility.

Verse 18. Let no man beguile you] mhdeiv umav katabrabeuetw. Let no man take the prize from you which the brabeuv, brabeus, or judge in the contests, has assigned you, in consequence of your having obtained the victory. This any reader will see, is an allusion to the Olympic and Isthmian games, and to the prizes assigned to these who had obtained the victory in one or more of the contests which there took place. The Colossians had fought and conquered under the direction of Christ, and he, as the sole judge in this contest, had assigned to them the prize; the false teachers, affecting great modesty, humility, and sanctity, endeavoured to turn them aside from the Gospel, and to induce them to end in the flesh who had begun in the Spirit. Against these the apostle warns them. In a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels] This is a difficult passage, and in order to explain it, I shall examine the meaning of some of the principal terms of the original. The word qelein, to will, signifies also to delight; and tapeimofrosunh signifies not only lowliness or humility of mind, but also affliction of mind; and tapeinoun thn yuchn, Leviticus 16:20, 31, and in many other places, signifies to afflict the soul by fasting, and self-abnegation; and qrhskeia signifies reverence and modesty. Hence the whole passage has been paraphrased thus: Let no man spoil you of the prize adjudged to you, who delights in mortifying his body, and walking with the apparent modesty of an angel, affecting superior sanctity in order to gain disciples; intruding into things which he has not seen; and, notwithstanding his apparent humility, his mind is carnal, and he is puffed up with a sense of his superior knowledge and piety. It is very likely that the apostle here alludes to the Essenes, who were remarkably strict and devout, spent a principal part of their time in the contemplation of the Divine Being, abstained from all sensual gratifications, and affected to live the life of angels upon earth. With their pretensions all the apostle says here perfectly agrees, and on this one supposition the whole of the passage is plain and easy. Many have understood the passage as referring to the adoration of angels, which seems to have been practised among the Jews, who appear (from Tobit, xii. 15; Philo, in lib. de Somn.; Josephus, War. lib. ii. cap. 8, sec. 7) to have considered them as a sort of mediators between God and man; presenting the prayers of men before the throne; and being, as Philo says, megalou basilewv ofqalmoi kai wta, the eyes and ears of the great King. But this interpretation is not so likely as the foregoing.

Verses 18, 19. Let no man beguile you of your reward — Of future glory, however eagerly or artfully he may attempt it. According to Pierce, who pleads the authority of Demosthenes, the word katabrabeuetw, here rendered beguile you of your reward, should be translated condemn you: others, because the verb brabeuw, without the preposition, is translated to rule, (Colossians 3:15,) are of opinion that the expression may be translated enslave you. But as the original word comes from brabeion, a reward, the compounded verb certainly more properly signifies to hinder a reward from being bestowed, an evil which the worshipping of angels, here guarded against, as more powerful mediators than Christ, would have occasioned. For if on any pretence these Colossian believers had forsaken Christ, and attached themselves to angels, they must have lost the whole benefit of Christ’s mediation. In a voluntary humility — Qelwn en tapeinofrosunh, an expression which Whitby renders, pleasing himself in his humility; or affecting humility, and so not addressing God immediately, but only by the mediation of angels. In proof of which interpretation, the same author refers to several passages of the LXX., in which the word qelw means to be pleased with, or to delight in, a person or thing: there are also passages in the New Testament in which the word seems to bear the same meaning. See Matthew 20:26, 27; Mark 12:38. And worshipping of angels — It evidently appears, from several passages in Philo, to have been the opinion of that learned Jew, that angels were messengers who presented our prayers to God, as well as brought down his favours to us. He represents this view of the matter as most humble and reverential, and there is no doubt but it prevailed among other Jews. See Tob. 11:14; 12:12, 15. It was undoubtedly because the Jews entertained so great a respect for angels, on account of their supposed agency in human affairs, that the apostle, in this epistle, and in that to the Hebrews, took so much pains to show that the Son of God is greater than all angels. It is justly remarked by Bishop Burnet, that had it been the apostle’s intention to give the least encouragement to any religious addresses to saints and angels, this would have been a very natural occasion of introducing the subject, and adjusting its proper boundaries. Intruding into things which he hath not seen — With great presumption, and pretending to discover wonderful secrets, relating to their various ranks, subordinations, and offices. “The apostle’s meaning,” says Macknight, “is, that the false teachers, of whom he speaks, presumptuously penetrated into the secrets of the invisible world, and talked of them with an air of certainty, without having any knowledge of the things which they affirmed; particularly that the angels intercede with God for men, and that to worship them is acceptable to God.” Vainly puffed up by his fleshly — His corrupt and carnal; mind — With the conceit of things which it is impossible he should understand, and a desire of introducing novelties into religion. And not holding the Head — Not adhering to, and relying on Christ, the Head of his church, by whom all the true members of it are not only guided and governed, but from whom, having spiritual nourishment ministered by joints and bands — By various means of instruction and grace, or by the several talents and gifts of its members, employed for the good of the whole; and knit together — By love and mutual sympathy; increaseth — In knowledge, holiness, strength, stability, and usefulness; with the increase of God — That increase which comes from him, is approved by him, and tends to his glory. What the apostle here says against the worshipping of angels, concludes equally against the worshipping of saints. Indeed, it is absurd to suppose that any being can be a proper object of worship, which is not both omniscient and omnipresent, which certainly neither angels nor saints are. It is a just remark of a judicious divine, that the apostle’s exhortation in this verse is a good caution to us to beware of all refinements in Christianity, which have any tendency to derogate from the authority, office, and honour of Christ, as Head of the church.

Ver. 18. Let no man beguile you of your reward. Be not seduced from your course, and so be defrauded of the prize of your high calling, under a notion that God is inaccessible; and therefore, under a show of humility, supposing that you must address your prayers to angels, as intermediate beings, and mediators between God and men. This would draw you off from Christ, the only mediator, and supersede the whole of his undertaking. What would Paul have said to the missals of the Catholic communion, which have a general prayer to Michael the archangel, to St. Peter, and a cloud of other saints? What would he have said of the two and forty litanies to the Virgin Mary? Mater Dei, mother of God, pray for us? Queen of angels, pray for us? This is not holding the Head, the source of all authority and power, but creating thousands of other mediators. This is to beguile us of our reward; all such misguided devotion is no better than labour lost.

The apostle adds, Let no man beguile you in worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind. On this part of the verse we have a mass of ancient and modern criticisms. Among the ancients, Augustine says, nemo vos convincat. Daniel Heinsius, however, cites the canon of the council of Laodicea, and as those fathers understood the subject, their words seem relevant. “That in devotion, none of them set Christ before us, or lead us to God, but draw us off to the worship of angels, and other dignities.” Ed. Cantab. 1640, p. 465. Dr. Hammond, through seven columns, speaks of Gnostics and others, as embittered against marriage, but otherwise criminal in acts of concupiscence. Against these sects many of the ancient fathers inveigh. Some of the canons in the Apostolic constitutions are also levelled at their errors and immoralities.

18. Beguile—The marginal judge against you, is more accurate. The allusion is to the judge who, presiding at the games, fraudulently deprives him of the prize to whom it should be awarded. The false teacher would deprive them of their rightful reward of the incorruptible crown by misleading them in the way of attaining it. His character is described in four particulars. 1. He wills, or delights in, a pretended humility which held God to be so unapproachable and incomprehensible that the mediation of inferior spiritual beings was necessary. Worshipping of angels would readily fall in with this theory. Notwithstanding the apostle’s labour and caution, this evil took so deep root in Phrygia and Pisidia, that three centuries later the Council of Laodicea forbade the practice by a special decree, condemning it as idolatry and an abandonment of Christ. 2. He stands upon what he has seen, and pretends to a profound knowledge of the heavenly world by wonderful visions. Most recent critics omit the word not. 3. Believing that he has fathomed the mysteries of the spiritual world, he is, though pretending to humility, really but without reason inflated by his own spiritualized sensualism.

Ver. 18. Another warning. Whether it refers to another class of false teachers or to another element in the teaching combated in Colossians 2:16, 17, Paul’s words do not indicate.

Rob-of-the-prize: by giving as an umpire an unfavourable judgment. This one word is a compound of that rendered prize in 1 Corinthians 9:24; Philippians 3:14. And the prize is in each case the same, viz. eternal life, the reward of victory in the good fight of faith: 1 Timothy 6:12. In Colossians 2:16 some one is supposed to be pronouncing sentence on the ground of eating and drinking. Here some one is supposed to be setting up himself as umpire in the Christian race and judging the prize in a spirit hostile to Paul’s readers. [Notice the present imperative in Colossians 2:16 and Colossians 2:18. It suggests that what the false teachers are already saying practically amounts to a hostile judgment.] Paul warns his readers not to submit to the judgment of the one or the other. And his words imply that such submission will rob them of the hope which is to them the light of life.

Lowliness-of-mind: same word in Philippians 2:3. Whether it was real or only professed, Paul does not say. In either case his warning remains the same.

Worship: the outward form of religious adoration: same word in Acts 26:5; James 1:26, 27. This outward adoration, these men paid to the angels.

Wishing to do so in (or with) lowliness of mind etc.: description of the profession and outward action of the would-be umpire. (For the lowliness of mind must in some way have made itself known.) We may conceive him pretending to be unworthy immediately to approach God or the Son of God, and therefore in his humility directing his worship towards the created spirits who from heaven minister to the needs of men on earth. Paul says that what such men actually wish is to deprive his readers of the prize for which they are running the Christian race.

[The object-matter of this wish must be inferred from the long word foregoing. Evidently the would-be umpire wished to give a hostile decision. So 2 Peter 3:5, this lies hidden from them, they wishing it to be hidden. The Greek phrase here, qelwn en, is found in the LXX. as a rendering of a Hebrew phrase denoting to take delight in. But in this sense it never took root in the Greek language; and therefore is not likely to be so used here. Moreover, a man’s own delight in these things would do no harm to Paul’s readers unless he tried to force his own religious tastes upon them. But, however we understand the grammatical structure, practically the sense is the same. Paul feared that by this professed humility and this worshipping of angels his readers might be beguiled, and thus robbed of their prize.]

Investigating etc.: another detail collateral with in lowliness etc. Probably it refers specially to worshipping of angels, and traces this worship to its professed origin and foundation, viz. visions of angels. The word rendered investigate denotes originally to step into something, especially with a view to take possession of it. It is also used of mental entrance into a subject with a view to examine and thus take mental possession of it. So 2 Maccabees 2:30, ‘to investigate and to make discourse about all things and to be much occupied with the details, is fitting for the author of the story.’ Things which he has seen: professed visions of the unseen world. Like so many teachers of strange doctrines in all ages, these men professed to have seen something unseen by others. These supposed visions then became matters of investigation, i.e. of comparison and inference; and thus became the foundation of a system of teaching and of religious rites. Vainly: either without reason or without result: senses closely allied. Same word in Romans 13:4; 1 Corinthians 15:2; Galatians 3:4; 4:11, Grammatically it may be joined to the words foregoing or to those following. For the order of the original is, things which he has seen, investigating vainly puffed up by etc. The word in-vain is best understood as Paul’s verdict about the uselessness of this investigation of these fancied visions. For it is needless to say that self-inflation is vain. ‘He talks about things which he has seen and makes his own visions a matter of laborious inquiry: a useless inquiry.’ Paul declares that this useless inquiry is the only foundation of his worship of angels and of his pretended humility. Puffed-up: same word in 1 Corinthians 4:6, 18, 19; 5:2; 8:1; 13:4; and not elsewhere in N.T. Notice that here only the false teachers are said to be puffed up, and of these Paul speaks in the third person: but at Corinth the same charge is brought against the whole Church.

The mind of his flesh: not exactly the same as, but similar to, the mind of the flesh in Romans 8:6.

His flesh: that portion of flesh and blood, with all its belongings physical and psychological, which is owned by one person. It is the bodily side of his nature.

Mind: the inward eye which looks through phenomena to the reality underlying them: same word in Philippians 4:7; Romans 1:28; 7:23, 25, etc. Here the bodily nature is said to have a mind. And rightly. For the bodily appetites ever tend to dominate the intelligence, and to make it their slave. And since each mind thus dominated has a development of its own, both mind and flesh are here individualized: the mind of his flesh. Now the animating principle of the flesh is selfishness: for our bodies care for nothing except their own protection and maintenance and indulgence. Consequently, the mind of our flesh always begets an inflated self-estimate, which is a form of selfishness. This accounts for the supposed visions: for the selfish man is ever ready to believe anything which flatters his own vanity; and few things do this more than belief that he has personal and unusual intercourse with the unseen world. This man pretends to investigate his wonderful revelations; and on the ground of them pays outward adoration to angels. And, blinded by his own vanity, he attributes his desire to worship angels to a humility which dares not approach God Himself. Paul warns his readers that these empty products of self-esteem will, if accepted, rob the Christian of the prize he has in view; and that this is their real aim.

Such is perhaps the easiest explanation of this very obscure verse. Doubtless the obscurity is caused by our ignorance of details well known to the readers. Paul says plainly that worship of angels was part of the teaching of these false guides. And we can easily believe that they claimed to have seen visions of angels, and made these visions a matter of serious though empty examination. If so, the word in-vain would reveal in a moment the unreality of these boasted researches. And Paul’s explanation of them as a product of a self-estimate inflated by a sensual mind was probably verified by personal knowledge of the men who put forward these lordly claims.

The sense of this verse is completely changed by the corrected reading which he has seen. See Introd. iii. Lightfoot, moved by the difficulty of the passage, suggests that error may have crept into all our copies, and proposes a reading of which no trace whatever is found in any ancient MS., version, or quotation. A better suggestion in the same direction is made by Westcott and Hort; and may be rendered treading empty air. But that the true reading should have utterly vanished from the almost innumerable witnesses to the original text of the Epistle, is in the last degree unlikely. Even the erroneous insertion of the negative shows that the suggested reading was unthought of in the early Church. Its complete obliteration is much more difficult to accept than is the exposition given above. See a very good paper by Findlay in The Expositor 1st series, vol. xi. p. 385. The express mention of angels here sheds light upon the mention of them in Colossians 2:15 where they are said to be led by God in triumphal procession, in Colossians 2:10 where Christ is said to be their Head, and in Colossians 1:16, where He is said to be their Creator. Worship of angels was a conspicuous feature of the Gnostic sects so prevalent in so many strange varieties throughout the second century and traceable in their early origin almost or quite to the days of the apostles. So Irenæus (On Heresies bk . i. 31. 2) speaks of the Cainites as appealing to angels, “O angel, I use thy work O authority,” (same word as in Colossians 2:10, 15,) “I perform thy operation.” And Theodoret in his note on this passage says that a synod at Laodicea (in A.D. 364) forbade prayer to angels. This prohibition reveals how deeply the practice here condemned had taken root in the immediate neighbourhood of Colossæ. And this worship of angels implies as its basis supposed visions of the unseen world. See further in the note at the close of the Epistle.

V. 19. And not holding the head-He does not hold Christ, who does not trust in him alone. All the members are nourished by faith, and knit together by love and mutual sympathy.

Verse 19. And not holding the Head] Not acknowledging Jesus Christ as the only Saviour of mankind, and the only Head or chief of the Christian Church, on whom every member of it depends, and from whom each derives both light and life. For a farther explanation of these words see Clarke’s notes on “Ephesians 4:16”, where the figures and phraseology are the same.

Verses 18, 19. Let no man beguile you of your reward — Of future glory, however eagerly or artfully he may attempt it. According to Pierce, who pleads the authority of Demosthenes, the word katabrabeuetw, here rendered beguile you of your reward, should be translated condemn you: others, because the verb brabeuw, without the preposition, is translated to rule, (Colossians 3:15,) are of opinion that the expression may be translated enslave you. But as the original word comes from brabeion, a reward, the compounded verb certainly more properly signifies to hinder a reward from being bestowed, an evil which the worshipping of angels, here guarded against, as more powerful mediators than Christ, would have occasioned. For if on any pretence these Colossian believers had forsaken Christ, and attached themselves to angels, they must have lost the whole benefit of Christ’s mediation. In a voluntary humility — Qelwn en tapeinofrosunh, an expression which Whitby renders, pleasing himself in his humility; or affecting humility, and so not addressing God immediately, but only by the mediation of angels. In proof of which interpretation, the same author refers to several passages of the LXX., in which the word qelw means to be pleased with, or to delight in, a person or thing: there are also passages in the New Testament in which the word seems to bear the same meaning. See Matthew 20:26, 27; Mark 12:38. And worshipping of angels — It evidently appears, from several passages in Philo, to have been the opinion of that learned Jew, that angels were messengers who presented our prayers to God, as well as brought down his favours to us. He represents this view of the matter as most humble and reverential, and there is no doubt but it prevailed among other Jews. See Tob. 11:14; 12:12, 15. It was undoubtedly because the Jews entertained so great a respect for angels, on account of their supposed agency in human affairs, that the apostle, in this epistle, and in that to the Hebrews, took so much pains to show that the Son of God is greater than all angels. It is justly remarked by Bishop Burnet, that had it been the apostle’s intention to give the least encouragement to any religious addresses to saints and angels, this would have been a very natural occasion of introducing the subject, and adjusting its proper boundaries. Intruding into things which he hath not seen — With great presumption, and pretending to discover wonderful secrets, relating to their various ranks, subordinations, and offices. “The apostle’s meaning,” says Macknight, “is, that the false teachers, of whom he speaks, presumptuously penetrated into the secrets of the invisible world, and talked of them with an air of certainty, without having any knowledge of the things which they affirmed; particularly that the angels intercede with God for men, and that to worship them is acceptable to God.” Vainly puffed up by his fleshly — His corrupt and carnal; mind — With the conceit of things which it is impossible he should understand, and a desire of introducing novelties into religion. And not holding the Head — Not adhering to, and relying on Christ, the Head of his church, by whom all the true members of it are not only guided and governed, but from whom, having spiritual nourishment ministered by joints and bands — By various means of instruction and grace, or by the several talents and gifts of its members, employed for the good of the whole; and knit together — By love and mutual sympathy; increaseth — In knowledge, holiness, strength, stability, and usefulness; with the increase of God — That increase which comes from him, is approved by him, and tends to his glory. What the apostle here says against the worshipping of angels, concludes equally against the worshipping of saints. Indeed, it is absurd to suppose that any being can be a proper object of worship, which is not both omniscient and omnipresent, which certainly neither angels nor saints are. It is a just remark of a judicious divine, that the apostle’s exhortation in this verse is a good caution to us to beware of all refinements in Christianity, which have any tendency to derogate from the authority, office, and honour of Christ, as Head of the church.

19. Not holding—A fourth particular is, he does not hold fast the Head, who is Christ, and so not only derives no life from him, but exalts his creatures to a level with him, thus denying him his rightful eminence. Increaseth—As the human body strengthens and grows by its joints and sinews being properly nourished and knit together, so the body of Christ, from him as the source, and holding him fast as the means, grows with the increase which God works.

c. Caution against asceticism, 20-23.

Ver. 19. Further description of the false teachers, tracing their error, negatively, to their failure to grasp, or to retain hold of, Him from whom as the Head flows to the various members of the body nourishment and stability and growth.

The Head: as in Colossians 2:10 and Colossians 1:18: the one highest member, itself a part of the body yet directing all the other members, which live only so long as they are united to each other and to the Head. The would-be seducer does not hold fast the Head, i.e. he has no firm union with Christ, the one great reality, and therefore investigates unreal visions and betakes himself to angel worship.

From whom etc.: reason for holding fast the Head, a reason which explains the aberrations of those who fail to do so.

The joints: Ephesians 4:16: the various points of contact of the various parts of the body.

Ligaments: the bands which hold together the bones which form the joint. In this technical sense of ligaments the word is used by the Greek medical writers. The joints and ligaments comprise the whole mechanism by which the various parts of the body become one whole.

Receiving supply: see under 2 Corinthians 9:10. The supply in this case must be nourishment. We need not assume that Paul means that nourishment flows through the joints and ligatures. Probably his one thought was that without the bodily union of which these were the means the various members of the body would receive no nourishment. And knit-together: same word as in Colossians 2:2. The increase of God: i.e. wrought by God, 1 Corinthians 3:7: cp. peace of God in Philippians 4:7. Paul here asserts that the entire body of Christ, consisting of various members, all receiving from Him nourishment and compactness, so long as they are closely fitted and joined each to the others, grows with a growth which God works and gives. Hence the need for holding fast the Head: for, separate from Him, there is neither nourishment nor compactness nor growth. Through want of this union with Christ, the false teacher is given up to his own vagaries. Close coincidence of words and thought in Ephesians 4:16.

V. 20. Therefore-The inference begun, Colossians 2:16; is continued. A new inference follows, Colossians 3:1.

If ye are dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world-That is, If ye are dead with Christ, and so freed from them, why receive ye ordinances-Which Christ hath not enjoined, from which he hath made you free.

Verse 20. If ye be dead with Christ] See the notes on Romans 6:3, 5.

From the rudiments of the world] Ye have renounced all hope of salvation from the observance of Jewish rites and ceremonies, which were only rudiments, first elements, or the alphabet, out of which the whole science of Christianity was composed. We have often seen that the world and this world signify the Jewish dispensation, or the rites, ceremonies, and services performed under it.

Why, as though living in the world] Why, as if ye were still under the same dispensation from which you have been already freed, are ye subject to its ordinances, performing them as if expecting salvation from this performance?

Verses 20-23. Wherefore — The inference begun verse 16 is continued. A new inference follows Colossians 3:1. If ye be dead with Christ — As by receiving the ordinance of baptism ye profess to be; from the rudiments, or elements, of the world — See on verse 8. From those ceremonies, which persons among the Gentiles or the Jews are apt to place so much dependance on; why, as though living in the world — In the manner you formerly did, and being still influenced by the spirit of the world, and associated with worldly people; are ye subject to ordinances — To mere human institutions, heathen or Jewish? Why receive ye or use ordinances, which Christ hath not enjoined, and from which he hath made his followers free? Or the sense may be, Since you professed yourselves at your baptism to be spiritually dead with Christ, and by his death to be freed even from the ceremonies of the law, (though of God’s own institution,) why should you submit to superstitious rites and ordinances of the like kind invented by men? Touch not — Any unclean thing; taste not — Any forbidden meat; handle not — Any consecrated vessel. Most commentators suppose that the Jewish ceremonies only are here referred to, and that this was directed to the Jewish converts at Colosse: but “as I have no doubt,” says Macknight, “that it was intended for the Gentiles, I think the ordinances of which the apostle speaks were the rules of the Pythagoreans respecting abstinence from animal food, and of the Platonists concerning the worshipping of angels, condemned verse 18, which it seems some of the church at Colosse had actually begun to follow; perhaps at the persuasion of the Judaizing teachers, who wished to subject them to all the rites of the law.” Which all are to perish in the using — All which things cannot be used, but they must perish in and by the use of them, being made merely for the body, and with it going to corruption, and having therefore no further use, no influence on the mind. The original expression, however, eiv fqoran th apocrhsei, may be rendered, tend to corruption, in, or by, the abuse of them; and the word fqora being often used by St. Peter, not for a natural, but a moral corruption, (see 2 Peter 1:4; 2:12, 19,) the meaning of the verse may be, that when these ceremonies are observed in compliance with the commands and doctrines of men as things necessary, they corrupt men who thus abuse them. Thus Doddridge: “All which things tend to the corruption of that excellent religion into which you have the honour to be initiated, by the abuse of them, according to the commandments and doctrines of mistaken and ill-designing men, who insist so eagerly upon them, as if they were essential to salvation.” Which things indeed have a show, a pretence, of wisdom — Of being an excellent doctrine, or wise institution, and are, in that view, gravely insisted upon, especially by the more rigorous sects; in will-worship — A worship, or service, which they themselves have devised. “The word eqeloqrhskeia nearly resembles the phrase found verse 18, qelwn en qrhskeia, delighting in the worship. But it can hardly be literally translated, so as to express the same idea. But the meaning is, a worship of human invention, consequently performed from one’s own will.” And in an affected humility and neglecting of the body — Greek, afeidia swmatov, a not sparing of the body; namely, by subjecting it to much mortification, in denying it many gratifications, and putting it to many inconveniences. Not in any honour — Namely, of the body; or not of any real value, as timh may be rendered, namely, before God: to the satisfying of the flesh — Nor do they, upon the whole, mortify, but satisfy the flesh. They indulge man’s corrupt nature, his self-will, pride, and desire of being distinguished from others. Doddridge reads, to the dishonourable satisfying of the flesh; their severity to the body, rigorous as it seemed, being no true mortification, nor tending to dispose the mind to it. On the contrary, while it puffed men up with a vain conceit of their own sanctity, it might be said rather to satisfy the flesh, even while it seemed most to afflict it.

20. Dead with Christ—Better, if ye died with him, in your baptism; see on verse 12. The rudiments of the world, here and in ver. 8, are identical with the handwriting in ver. 14, which was claimed to be still in force. It died with Christ, and you so share in his death that you are removed from its authority. Why—The expostulation is very pertinent. As… living in the world—In things outside of Christ. Are ye subject—Literally, why do ye allow yourselves to be dogmatized to? St. Paul thus shows the arrogance of the attempt to bring them under the old wiped-out system, and rebukes the Colossians for listening to it. While they were in imminent danger, it is not clear that any of them had as yet fallen.

V. 21. Touch not-An unclean thing.

Taste not-Any forbidden meat.

Handle not-Any consecrated vessel.

Verse 21. Touch not; taste not; handle not] These are forms of expression very frequent among the Jews. In Maccoth, fol. xxi. 1: “If they say to a Nazarite, Don’t drink, don’t drink; and he, notwithstanding, drinks; he is guilty. If they say, Don’t shave, don’t shave; and he shaves, notwithstanding; he is guilty. If they say, Don’t put on these clothes, don’t put on these clothes; and he, notwithstanding, puts on heterogeneous garments; he is guilty.” See more in Schoettgen.

Verses 20-23. Wherefore — The inference begun verse 16 is continued. A new inference follows Colossians 3:1. If ye be dead with Christ — As by receiving the ordinance of baptism ye profess to be; from the rudiments, or elements, of the world — See on verse 8. From those ceremonies, which persons among the Gentiles or the Jews are apt to place so much dependance on; why, as though living in the world — In the manner you formerly did, and being still influenced by the spirit of the world, and associated with worldly people; are ye subject to ordinances — To mere human institutions, heathen or Jewish? Why receive ye or use ordinances, which Christ hath not enjoined, and from which he hath made his followers free? Or the sense may be, Since you professed yourselves at your baptism to be spiritually dead with Christ, and by his death to be freed even from the ceremonies of the law, (though of God’s own institution,) why should you submit to superstitious rites and ordinances of the like kind invented by men? Touch not — Any unclean thing; taste not — Any forbidden meat; handle not — Any consecrated vessel. Most commentators suppose that the Jewish ceremonies only are here referred to, and that this was directed to the Jewish converts at Colosse: but “as I have no doubt,” says Macknight, “that it was intended for the Gentiles, I think the ordinances of which the apostle speaks were the rules of the Pythagoreans respecting abstinence from animal food, and of the Platonists concerning the worshipping of angels, condemned verse 18, which it seems some of the church at Colosse had actually begun to follow; perhaps at the persuasion of the Judaizing teachers, who wished to subject them to all the rites of the law.” Which all are to perish in the using — All which things cannot be used, but they must perish in and by the use of them, being made merely for the body, and with it going to corruption, and having therefore no further use, no influence on the mind. The original expression, however, eiv fqoran th apocrhsei, may be rendered, tend to corruption, in, or by, the abuse of them; and the word fqora being often used by St. Peter, not for a natural, but a moral corruption, (see 2 Peter 1:4; 2:12, 19,) the meaning of the verse may be, that when these ceremonies are observed in compliance with the commands and doctrines of men as things necessary, they corrupt men who thus abuse them. Thus Doddridge: “All which things tend to the corruption of that excellent religion into which you have the honour to be initiated, by the abuse of them, according to the commandments and doctrines of mistaken and ill-designing men, who insist so eagerly upon them, as if they were essential to salvation.” Which things indeed have a show, a pretence, of wisdom — Of being an excellent doctrine, or wise institution, and are, in that view, gravely insisted upon, especially by the more rigorous sects; in will-worship — A worship, or service, which they themselves have devised. “The word eqeloqrhskeia nearly resembles the phrase found verse 18, qelwn en qrhskeia, delighting in the worship. But it can hardly be literally translated, so as to express the same idea. But the meaning is, a worship of human invention, consequently performed from one’s own will.” And in an affected humility and neglecting of the body — Greek, afeidia swmatov, a not sparing of the body; namely, by subjecting it to much mortification, in denying it many gratifications, and putting it to many inconveniences. Not in any honour — Namely, of the body; or not of any real value, as timh may be rendered, namely, before God: to the satisfying of the flesh — Nor do they, upon the whole, mortify, but satisfy the flesh. They indulge man’s corrupt nature, his self-will, pride, and desire of being distinguished from others. Doddridge reads, to the dishonourable satisfying of the flesh; their severity to the body, rigorous as it seemed, being no true mortification, nor tending to dispose the mind to it. On the contrary, while it puffed men up with a vain conceit of their own sanctity, it might be said rather to satisfy the flesh, even while it seemed most to afflict it.

Ver. 21. Touch not, taste not, handle not. By these three words the holy apostle is in earnest to charge, the Colossians not to feast with “filthy dreamers,” who corrupt the faith once delivered to the saints. On the last words, mhde qighv, mede thiges, handle not, we may observe that in the north of England a man was heard to say, when speaking of money owing to him, “If I cud nobbod thigg it.” This is a word of frequent occurrence in the Anglo-Saxon. Archbishop Ælfric uses it three times in the consecration of the hlaf to husel, bread for the sacrament, Ande we sceolon thicgan that halige husel Christes lichaman; and we should handle, or touch, that holy sacrament, Christ’s body.

21. Touch… not—These expressions are quoted from the false teacher, as specimens of the ordinances referred to.

V. 22. Perish in the using-Have no farther use, no influence on the mind.

Verse 22. Which all are to perish with the using] These are not matters of eternal moment; the different kinds of meats were made for the body, and go with it into corruption: in like manner, all the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish religion now perish, having accomplished the end of their institution; namely, to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. After the commandments and doctrines of men?] These words should follow the 20th verse, {Colossians 2:20} of which they form a part; and it appears from them that the apostle is here speaking of the traditions of the elders, and the load of cumbrous ceremonies which they added to the significant rites prescribed by Moses.

Verses 20-23. Wherefore — The inference begun verse 16 is continued. A new inference follows Colossians 3:1. If ye be dead with Christ — As by receiving the ordinance of baptism ye profess to be; from the rudiments, or elements, of the world — See on verse 8. From those ceremonies, which persons among the Gentiles or the Jews are apt to place so much dependance on; why, as though living in the world — In the manner you formerly did, and being still influenced by the spirit of the world, and associated with worldly people; are ye subject to ordinances — To mere human institutions, heathen or Jewish? Why receive ye or use ordinances, which Christ hath not enjoined, and from which he hath made his followers free? Or the sense may be, Since you professed yourselves at your baptism to be spiritually dead with Christ, and by his death to be freed even from the ceremonies of the law, (though of God’s own institution,) why should you submit to superstitious rites and ordinances of the like kind invented by men? Touch not — Any unclean thing; taste not — Any forbidden meat; handle not — Any consecrated vessel. Most commentators suppose that the Jewish ceremonies only are here referred to, and that this was directed to the Jewish converts at Colosse: but “as I have no doubt,” says Macknight, “that it was intended for the Gentiles, I think the ordinances of which the apostle speaks were the rules of the Pythagoreans respecting abstinence from animal food, and of the Platonists concerning the worshipping of angels, condemned verse 18, which it seems some of the church at Colosse had actually begun to follow; perhaps at the persuasion of the Judaizing teachers, who wished to subject them to all the rites of the law.” Which all are to perish in the using — All which things cannot be used, but they must perish in and by the use of them, being made merely for the body, and with it going to corruption, and having therefore no further use, no influence on the mind. The original expression, however, eiv fqoran th apocrhsei, may be rendered, tend to corruption, in, or by, the abuse of them; and the word fqora being often used by St. Peter, not for a natural, but a moral corruption, (see 2 Peter 1:4; 2:12, 19,) the meaning of the verse may be, that when these ceremonies are observed in compliance with the commands and doctrines of men as things necessary, they corrupt men who thus abuse them. Thus Doddridge: “All which things tend to the corruption of that excellent religion into which you have the honour to be initiated, by the abuse of them, according to the commandments and doctrines of mistaken and ill-designing men, who insist so eagerly upon them, as if they were essential to salvation.” Which things indeed have a show, a pretence, of wisdom — Of being an excellent doctrine, or wise institution, and are, in that view, gravely insisted upon, especially by the more rigorous sects; in will-worship — A worship, or service, which they themselves have devised. “The word eqeloqrhskeia nearly resembles the phrase found verse 18, qelwn en qrhskeia, delighting in the worship. But it can hardly be literally translated, so as to express the same idea. But the meaning is, a worship of human invention, consequently performed from one’s own will.” And in an affected humility and neglecting of the body — Greek, afeidia swmatov, a not sparing of the body; namely, by subjecting it to much mortification, in denying it many gratifications, and putting it to many inconveniences. Not in any honour — Namely, of the body; or not of any real value, as timh may be rendered, namely, before God: to the satisfying of the flesh — Nor do they, upon the whole, mortify, but satisfy the flesh. They indulge man’s corrupt nature, his self-will, pride, and desire of being distinguished from others. Doddridge reads, to the dishonourable satisfying of the flesh; their severity to the body, rigorous as it seemed, being no true mortification, nor tending to dispose the mind to it. On the contrary, while it puffed men up with a vain conceit of their own sanctity, it might be said rather to satisfy the flesh, even while it seemed most to afflict it.

22. Which all… perish—The things thus forbidden, were made to be eaten and to perish with the consumption of them. This verse, thus far, with the preceding one, should be read as a parenthesis. Commandments—Connects with ver. 20, and is a part of the question. These ascetic impositions sought to enslave their consciences by commands and systems of men, and were not made obligatory by God.

V. 23. Not sparing the body-Denying it many gratifications, and putting it to many inconveniences. Yet they are not of any real value before God, nor do they, upon the whole, mortify, but satisfy, the flesh. They indulge our corrupt nature, our self-will, pride, and desire of being distinguished from others.

Verse 23. Which things have indeed a show of wisdom] All these prescriptions and rites have indeed the appearance of wisdom, and are recommended by plausible reasons; but they form a worship which God has not commanded, and enjoin macerations of the body, accompanied with a humiliation of spirit, that are neither profitable to the soul, nor of any advantage to the body; so that the whole of their religion is nothing worth.

WHAT is here termed will-worship, eqeloqrhskeia, signifies simply a mode of worship which a man chooses for himself, independently of the revelation which God has given. The whole system of Deism is an eqeloqrhskeia, a worship founded in the will or caprices of man, and not in the wisdom or will of God; and it is just as profitable to body and soul as that of which the apostle speaks. God will be served in his own way; it is right that he should prescribe to man the truths which he is to believe, and the ordinances which he is to use. To refuse to receive his teaching in order to prefer our own fancies, is to light a farthing candle as a substitute for the noonday sun. From the beginning of the world God has prescribed the worship which was best pleasing to himself, and never left a matter of such moment to man. The nations which have either not had a revelation, or refused to receive that which God has given, show, by their diversity of worship, superstition, absurdity, and in many cases cruelty, what the state of the whole would have been, had not God, in his infinite mercy, blessed it with a revelation of his will. God has given directions concerning his worship; and he has appointed the seventh day for the peculiar exercises of spiritual duties: other times he has left to man’s convenience; and they abuse the text who say that the appointment of particular times and places for religious service is will-worship. God prescribes the thing, and leaves it to man, except in the case of the Sabbath, to appoint the time and the place; nor is it possible to be too frequent in God’s worship, any more than to be too fervent.

COLOSSIANS

Verses 20-23. Wherefore — The inference begun verse 16 is continued. A new inference follows Colossians 3:1. If ye be dead with Christ — As by receiving the ordinance of baptism ye profess to be; from the rudiments, or elements, of the world — See on verse 8. From those ceremonies, which persons among the Gentiles or the Jews are apt to place so much dependance on; why, as though living in the world — In the manner you formerly did, and being still influenced by the spirit of the world, and associated with worldly people; are ye subject to ordinances — To mere human institutions, heathen or Jewish? Why receive ye or use ordinances, which Christ hath not enjoined, and from which he hath made his followers free? Or the sense may be, Since you professed yourselves at your baptism to be spiritually dead with Christ, and by his death to be freed even from the ceremonies of the law, (though of God’s own institution,) why should you submit to superstitious rites and ordinances of the like kind invented by men? Touch not — Any unclean thing; taste not — Any forbidden meat; handle not — Any consecrated vessel. Most commentators suppose that the Jewish ceremonies only are here referred to, and that this was directed to the Jewish converts at Colosse: but “as I have no doubt,” says Macknight, “that it was intended for the Gentiles, I think the ordinances of which the apostle speaks were the rules of the Pythagoreans respecting abstinence from animal food, and of the Platonists concerning the worshipping of angels, condemned verse 18, which it seems some of the church at Colosse had actually begun to follow; perhaps at the persuasion of the Judaizing teachers, who wished to subject them to all the rites of the law.” Which all are to perish in the using — All which things cannot be used, but they must perish in and by the use of them, being made merely for the body, and with it going to corruption, and having therefore no further use, no influence on the mind. The original expression, however, eiv fqoran th apocrhsei, may be rendered, tend to corruption, in, or by, the abuse of them; and the word fqora being often used by St. Peter, not for a natural, but a moral corruption, (see 2 Peter 1:4; 2:12, 19,) the meaning of the verse may be, that when these ceremonies are observed in compliance with the commands and doctrines of men as things necessary, they corrupt men who thus abuse them. Thus Doddridge: “All which things tend to the corruption of that excellent religion into which you have the honour to be initiated, by the abuse of them, according to the commandments and doctrines of mistaken and ill-designing men, who insist so eagerly upon them, as if they were essential to salvation.” Which things indeed have a show, a pretence, of wisdom — Of being an excellent doctrine, or wise institution, and are, in that view, gravely insisted upon, especially by the more rigorous sects; in will-worship — A worship, or service, which they themselves have devised. “The word eqeloqrhskeia nearly resembles the phrase found verse 18, qelwn en qrhskeia, delighting in the worship. But it can hardly be literally translated, so as to express the same idea. But the meaning is, a worship of human invention, consequently performed from one’s own will.” And in an affected humility and neglecting of the body — Greek, afeidia swmatov, a not sparing of the body; namely, by subjecting it to much mortification, in denying it many gratifications, and putting it to many inconveniences. Not in any honour — Namely, of the body; or not of any real value, as timh may be rendered, namely, before God: to the satisfying of the flesh — Nor do they, upon the whole, mortify, but satisfy the flesh. They indulge man’s corrupt nature, his self-will, pride, and desire of being distinguished from others. Doddridge reads, to the dishonourable satisfying of the flesh; their severity to the body, rigorous as it seemed, being no true mortification, nor tending to dispose the mind to it. On the contrary, while it puffed men up with a vain conceit of their own sanctity, it might be said rather to satisfy the flesh, even while it seemed most to afflict it.

23. A show of wisdom—The reputed and real character of the sort of things spoken of are now put in final contrast. The system embraced will-worship, a voluntary, self-imposed service, called, in verse 18, worshipping of angels; a so-called humility which pretended a fear of drawing near to God, joined, in ver. 18, with angel-worship; and a rigorous austerity of the body, abusing it under pretence of sanctity, and withholding from it its proper care. It purported to be a system of self-abnegation, and so before the popular eye it had the show, or reputation, of a true and profound wisdom, while, really, it was far from its substance. Not in any honour, but rather dishonour, of the body, which they affected to despise, but which, in St. Paul’s view, was to be cared for as a temple of the Holy Ghost. The true effect of the whole system was the satisfying of the flesh, the sinful nature, feeding it to satiety, and inflating it by the conceit and pride which it engendered.