Colossians 2:7

ἐρριζωμένοι καὶ ἐποικοδομούμενοι : “rooted and built up”. The metaphor changes from περιπατ., and again from ἐρριζ., though Lightfoot points out that the term “to root” is not infrequently applied to buildings. More important is the change in tense, the perfect participle expressing an abiding result, the present a continuous process. ἐν αὐτῷ probably belongs to both. We should not (with Schenkel, Hofm.) place a full stop at περιπ. and take the participles with βλέπετε, which would be intolerably awkward. βεβαιούμενοι τῇ πίστει : “stablished in faith,” also the present of continuous process. Meyer and Lightfoot take the dative as instrumental, but it seems best with most recent commentators to take it as a dative of reference (cf. Colossians 2:5). καθὼς ἐδιδάχθητε : cf. καθὼς ἐμάθετε, Colossians 1:7. The words define τῇ πίστει. περισσεύοντες ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ. Oltramare notes that “thankfulness is a preservative against the new doctrines,” since they remove Christ from His true place. The emphasis on thankfulness is very marked in this Epistle.