II. POLEMICAL PART: BE NOT LED AWAY FROM CHRIST THE HEAD. (1.) General warning against being led away through the philosophy of the false teachers (Colossians 2:1-15). (2.) Two special warnings enforced(Colossians 2:16-23).... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:1. FOR I WOULD HAVE YOU KNOW. ‘For' introduces an illustration and proof of the ‘striving' just spoken of (chap. Colossians 1:29). HOW GREAT (an unusual word, indicating quality as well as extent) A CONFLICT. The term corresponds with ‘striving;' comp. also chap. Colossians 4:12. It r... [ Continue Reading ]
1. _Warning Against being Led Away through the Philosophy of the False Teachers_. This section, which is most directly in opposition to the errors at Colossae, is introduced by a paragraph, expressing the anxiety of the Apostle respecting the believers in and near Colossae (Colossians 2:1-3). He the... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:2. THAT (in order that, as the purpose of the conflict) THEIR HEARTS MAY BE COMFORTED. The word rendered ‘comfort' also means ‘exhort,' and may include the idea of confirming; but the usual sense is preferable (comp. Romans 1:12; 2 Corinthians 1:6), especially in connection with the wor... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:3. IN WHOM; or, if the briefer reading in Colossians 2:2 be accepted, ‘in which,' _i.e._, mystery. But the sense is the same, if we read and render: ‘even Christ,' since this presents Christ Himself as the mystery of God. ARE stands in emphatic position; notice the order as emended.... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:4. AND THIS I SAY; referring to Colossians 2:1-3; the remainder of this verse answering to Colossians 2:2-3, and Colossians 2:5 reverting to the sympathy expressed in Colossians 2:1. THAT NO ONE MAY BEGUILE YOU, deceive you by sophisms. WITH (lit., ‘in') PERSUADING SPEECH. The word h... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:5. ABSENT IN THE FLESH, etc. External bodily presence is contrasted with spiritual presence; WITH YOU IN THE SPIRIT. ‘Spirit' is here used in the psychological sense = the human spirit, in contrast with flesh (= body). This contrast is usually expressed by Paul in other terms (see mare,... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:6. AS THEN (in view of this order and stedfastness) YE RECEIVED, _i.e.,_ by instruction from your teachers, not, ‘as ye accepted.' CHRIST ETUI THE LORD. HE was the object in which the instruction centred; the emphasis resting, as the full phrase shows, upon His Person. They had been t... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:7. ROOTED AND BUILT UP. This is to be closely joined with Colossians 2:6. as defining the command, ‘walk in Him.' The first participle points to taking root once for all and continuing rooted; the second to the progressive building up. The figures occur elsewhere. IN HIM. Christ is he... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:8. TAKE HEED. The word is usually rendered thus. LEST THERE SHALL BE; the peculiar form of the original is thus reproduced, marking an impending danger quite certain to come upon them. ANY ONE. This indefinite expression does not imply that Paul did not know who these false teachers... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:9. BECAUSE IN HIM (in the Personal Christ, and in none other) DWELLETH (now and permanently) ALL THE FULNESS OF THE GODHEAD (comp. chap. Colossians 1:19) BODILY. The emphasis rests on the word ‘bodily,' which does not mean ‘really,' or ‘entirely,' or ‘essentially,' but ‘in bodily fashio... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:10. AND YE ARE MADE FULL IN HIM. ‘ Ye are in Him, and being in Him ye are made full and continue thus.' This is closely connected with Colossians 2:9; because of the fulness which dwells in Christ, those in fellowship with Him are made full. The divine gifts thus obtained are ample, hen... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:11. IN WHOM YE WERE ALSO CIRCUMCISED. ‘ Also' belongs to the verb, not to ye, and a past fact is spoken of (comp. Colossians 2:12-13); hence ‘were' instead of ‘are.' WITH A (not, ‘the') CIRCUMCISION, etc. The absence of the article is rhetorical. ‘This higher circumcision ‘is distingu... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:12. BURIED WITH HIM; a single past act is referred to, but as that act took place when they ‘were circumcised,' etc., ‘having been buried' is not a necessary emendation, and may lead to the false notion that baptism precedes ‘the putting away of the body of the flesh,' etc. IN BAPTISM;... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:13. AND YOU, BEING DEAD; when you were dead, while in this state; comp. throughout Ephesians 2:1. By (or, ‘on account of') YOUR TRESPASSES. The preposition ‘in' is rejected by recent critical editors on sufficient authority; the phrase is then precisely as in Ephesians 2:1, where, howev... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:14. HAVING BLOTTED OUT, _i.e._, erased or cancelled, since the tense is the same as ‘having forgiven.' But it does not follow that this act is contemporaneous. This refers to the objective redeeming work, which must precede the appropriation of it by believers who are thus forgiven. If... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:15. HAVING PUT OFF FROM HIMSELF, or, ‘having despoiled.' A third interpretation: ‘having put off from Himself _his body,_ he made a show of,' etc., confuses the metaphors, and is otherwise objectionable. The second view (comp. E. V.) agrees well with the context, but it is doubtful whet... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:16. LET NO MAN THEREFORE JUDGE YOU. ‘Therefore' bases these practical admonitions on the positive truths set forth in Colossians 2:8-15. ‘Judge,' sit in judgment, condemning you if you do not respond to their demands. IN EATING, or in drinking; the words occur in Romans 14:17, referrin... [ Continue Reading ]
2. _Two Special Warnings Enforced._ This brief section is both an application of the obligations resulting from the truths stated in Colossians 2:9-15, and a warning against certain specific errors which threatened the practical Christian life of the Colossian believers, (_a_.) The first warning, ag... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:17. WHICH ARE A SHADOW OF THE THINGS TO COME. All the matters spoken of in Colossians 2:16 are referred to; the whole system of prohibitions and festivals has a typical significance, pointing to ‘the things to come,' namely, the new dispensation. Meyer limits this to the future kingdom... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:18. Let no man. The singular number in these warnings does not point to a particular person, but gives emphasis. ROB YOU OF THE PRIZE. The figure, borrowed from the games, suggests an unfair decision of the umpire in awarding the prize; but it need not be pressed further than to mean... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:19. AND NOT HOLDING FAST THE HEAD (Christ); comp. Ephesians 1:22, etc. Not to hold Christ as Head is to let go of Him altogether. This is virtually the cause of the conduct described in Colossians 2:18. FROM WHOM, referring to Christ personally, as in Ephesians 4:16. ‘Which' would poi... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:20. IF YE DIED, as is actually the case, since they died with Christ (see references). When baptized their death WITH CHRIST was signified and sealed (comp. Colossians 2:12). ‘Wherefore,' though a correct gloss, is sustained by but one ancient manuscript, and the insertion of it can rea... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:21. HANDLE NOT, NOR TASTE, NOR TOUCH. ‘Nor' is almost = nor even. The E. V. mistranslates the first and last words, and improperly includes the verse in parenthesis. The climax is reached in ‘do not even touch.' The prohibitions are specific in form, and refer to certain kinds of food a... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:22. This verse is parenthetical, and describes the character of the objects prohibited: WHICH ALL ARE TO PERISH WITH THE USING: all of them appointed to destruction by being used up. This language cannot be fairly applied to the prohibitions, since it is inapplicable. Nor can it be rega... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 2:23. WHICH THINGS, a ‘set of things which' (Ellicott), HAVE INDEED A SHOW OF WISDOM, have the reputation of wisdom, but lack the reality; this being obviously the meaning. The Apostle thus describes the entire class of human precepts, to which the Colossian prohibitions belonged. In, go... [ Continue Reading ]