Colossians 2:13

13. St Paul still dwells upon the magnitude of the change wrought in the Colossians through Christ, though he now ceases to place this directly under the figure of circumcision.

καὶ ὑμᾶς, “and you too”; cf. Colossians 1:21. To be connected closely in thought with the end of Colossians 2:12. God raised Christ from the dead—and you too when you were dead He quickened with Christ. Thus the καί primarily contrasts the Colossians with Christ, not with Jewish believers, who have not been solely or even directly mentioned at all. That however the Colossians had in fact been Gentiles is indicated by τῇ�.τ.λ.; vide infra.

νεκροὺς. Observe the change of thought. In Colossians 2:11-12, the Colossian believers are said to have died with Christ. Here the thought is that before they turned to Christ they were in the truest sense already dead. For νεκρούς is not proleptic (“liable to eternal death,” Meyer on Ephesians 2:1) but describes the present state of those who are without Christ as being without eternal life; cf. Matthew 8:22; 1 John 5:12.

St Paul says this partly to humble the Colossian Christians, partly to make them the better realise how much they have received in Christ, and thus to strengthen them against the false teaching. Cf. Ephesians 2:1; Ephesians 2:5.

τοῖς παραπτώμασιν. The ἐν of the Textus Receptus brought the phrase into similarity to Colossians 1:21 and marked the sphere in which death showed itself. The dative alone may be (1) the dat. of respect (“in respect of,” Moule, Studies), which suits in particular καὶ τῇ�., or (2) the instrumental dative; cf. Romans 11:20, τῇ�. On the whole the latter is the more probable. They were dead not only in respect of sins, but wholly, and this condition was caused by their sins and by their unregenerate nature.

On παραπτωμα, and the attempts to define it as essentially weaker than ἁμαρτία. see Trench, Synon. § lxvi.

καὶ τῇ�, cf. Colossians 3:11. “Uncircumcision” is here primarily physical, but their physical condition was a true symbol of their spiritual state. They were outside the covenant of God’s people, and unconsecrated to God (cf. Colossians 2:11, περιετμήθητε, note), and were living without Him. St Paul here, apparently, regards the sinfulness that this implies as the joint instrument with their actual transgressions of their spiritual death.

τῆς σαρκὸς, apparently the connotation is not primarily of the flesh as sinful (Colossians 2:11) but of their bodies as such; cf. Colossians 1:22.

συνεζωοποίησεν. “He made you alive together with Him.” The subject is surely He whose activity (and that of precisely the same kind) was last mentioned—τοῦ ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν, i.e. God. And this is in accordance with the parallel passage, Ephesians 2:4-5 (vide supra), and St Paul’s uniform mode of speaking elsewhere in his use of ἐγείρειν, συνεγείρειν, ζωοποιεῖν (cf. esp. Romans 8:11). Also σὺν αὐτῷ would come in very awkwardly (see Colossians 1:20) if the subject of συνεζ. were Christ. On the change of subject at ἦρκεν (Colossians 2:14) see there.

As compared with συνηγέρθητε, Colossians 2:12, St Paul there mentioned the transition from burial to resurrection, but here speaks of the contrast between death and life. There the thought was of the moment of change; here of the continued energy. Thus although St Paul is not purposely giving a fresh stage in Christian experience from burial to resurrection and on to active life, because the intervening νεκρούς does not describe the state included under “burial” (vide supra), yet practically it comes to mean this, from the abiding character of the change denoted by συνεζωοποίησεν in contrast to νεκρούς.

σὺν αὐτῷ. συνεζωοποίησεν … σύν. For a similar redundancy see, probably, Matthew 27:44, οἱ συνσταυρωθέντες σὺν αὐτῷ (|| Mark 15:32); cf. συνκαθήμενος μετά, Mark 14:54; συνεπέμψαμεν δὲ μετʼ αὐτοῦ, 2 Corinthians 8:18. On the use of σύν in preference to μετά see Colossians 2:5, note.

χαρισάμενος. W.H. text place a colon at σὺν αὐτῷ, and begin at χαρισάμενος a new sentence which lasts till the end of Colossians 2:14, τῷ σταυρῷ. Presumably this is caused by the desire to understand Christ as the subject of χαρισάμενος and ἐξαλείψας. But it is exceedingly unnatural for χαρισάμενος to begin a sentence in this way. Hence we prefer the usual punctuation of a comma after αὐτῷ (W.H.mg.). Thus the subject of χαρισ. and ἐξαλείψας is God: contrast Colossians 3:13.

χαρίζεσθαι (Colossians 3:13 bis) is properly to grant a kindness (so e.g. Luke 7:21), then to make a present to a man of his debts (so e.g. Luke 7:42), then to forgive. Hence Vulg. donans; cf. our own “forgive,” where “for” seems to be intensive.

The force of the tense is uncertain. (1) It may be synchronous with συνεζωοποίησεν, and describe what takes place in the case of individuals at baptism; so Winer, § XLV. p. 430; see infra Colossians 3:9. (2) It may be antecedent, and refer to the Passion in which the forgiveness of all was virtually obtained. But the former is more probable, for two aorists naturally refer to the same time, unless there appears to be a clear reason to the contrary. Cf. also Colossians 1:20.

ἡμῖν. St Paul frequently returns to the first person when he is speaking of blessings given in Christ, especially such as imply his own weakness or sinfulness; cf. Colossians 1:13; Colossians 3:4.

πάντα τὰ παραπτώματα, “all our transgressions.” Evidently taking up the preceding τ. παραπτώμασιν. It was impossible for him as a Jew to take up καὶ τῇ�.τ.λ.