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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY OF THE
DIVINITY SCHOOL

EPISTLES OF ST. PAUL

THE EPHESIANS, THE COLOSSIANS, AND PHILEMON.

THE

EPISTLES OF ST. PAUL
TO
THE EPHESIANS, THE COLOSSIANS,
AND PHILEMON :
WITH INTKODUCTIONS A1TD NOTES,

AND AN ESSAY ON THE TRACES OF FOREIGN ELEMENTS IN THE
THEOLOGY OF THESE EPISTLES.

0*"
REV. X LLEWELYN DA VIES, M.A.
RECTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH, ST. MARTLEBOKE ;
LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

fonkn :
MACMILLAN AND CO.
1866.

FHzz

LONDON
CLAY, SON, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS,
BREAD STREET HILL.

PEEFACE.
The chief object which I have had in view in preparing
this volume has been to draw attention to the subject-
matter of the Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians.
The theology of St. Paul is here stated with a largeness
which adapts it, I conceive, in a special manner to the
inquiries of the present time. Whether Creation has
any centre and ground ; whether human life has any
key and pattern, — are questions which belong peculiarly to
the speculations of this age, and to which these Epistles
offer a common answer by setting forth Christ in universal
relations of a twofold kind, — as the Word who is the
law and life of the universal creation, and as the Son
,who is the head of universal humanity. This edition
seeks to further in some humble measure the study of
that answer. I have doubted myself, and therefore I
, cannot be surprised if others should doubt, whether what
I have been able to contribute towards this object is
sufficient to justify the publication of an independent
edition of these Epistles. But I hope there may be some

VI PREFACE.
students to whom an edition offering the kind of illus
tration which I have attempted to supply, and omitting
what I have left to works of higher pretensions, may
not be unacceptable.- I have endeavoured to avoid the
appearance of entering into rivalry with editions in which
the true text of the Epistles is discussed, the opinions
of previous interpreters recorded, and questions arising
out of the text investigated. At the same time I have
done my best to explain the letter of the Epistles, not
treating them technically, but endeavouring to regard
them simply as documents of the highest value which
it is by no means easy to understand. When we are
desirous of obtaining a conception of a document as a
whole, there is a certain advantage in putting aside dis
cussions which, however valuable for their special purposes,
may have the effect of expanding details into inconvenient
magnitude. I have printed the text of Tischendorf, as having on
the whole the best claim at the present moment to the
character of a received text.
The translations have been made with an eye to the
object of this edition, and are intended simply to aid
the modern reader in arriving at the substantial sense
of the writer. They therefore do not challenge close
verbal criticism as revised translations.

CONTENTS.
PACE
General Introduction  1
Introduction to the Epistle to the Ephesians  9
The Text, with Notes  27
Translation  65
Introduction to the Epistle to the Colossians  77
The Text, with Notes  87
Translation  113
Introduction to the Epistle to Philemon  121
The Text, with Notes  123
Translation  127
On the Traces of Foreign Elements in the Doctrine of these
Epistles ; and especially on the Gnostioal Terms occurring
in them  129

OESHEEJLL ISTBOBTTCTICm.
F«at fflff St. Paul's extant letters — those to the Ephesians,
the Colossians, PHlemon, and the Philippians — were
writffeE, aeeo^ding to tike general belief, at nearly the same
time <e£ las life, and when he was in nearly the same
drcraastanees. Three of them were to be carried "by the
same Jbaa&ds. Tyehieus is the messenger seat to the Church
at Ephesus (Eph, ^i 21, 22) ; Tydhicus and Oaesimus are
Sent to Colossae (OdL iv, 7 — 9) ; OaesiMUS is sent with the
letter to his master Philemon. These three profess to be
written by a prisoner (Epk vi 20 ; CoL i v. 1 8 ; Philemon, 1 ) ;
and the imprisonment is shared by Aristarchus <(<0ol iv, 10).
.We learn from Acts xxvii, 2, that Aristarchus had. acconi*
panied St Paul on Ms voyage to Rome. The imprison
ment, therefore, to which reference is made in these letters
is apparently that which continued for two years at Rome,
The letter to the Church at Philippi was also written by
one who was in bonds, and contains allusions to the
imperial court and household (Phil, i. 13, iv, 22), which
prove that it was written during the same imprisonment.
This imprisonment is thus described in the concluding
words of the Acts: — "And Paul dwelt two whole years
(Bteriav oKtjv) in his own hired house, and received all that
eame in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God and
teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ
with all confidence, no man forbidding him." It is certainly
the natural inference from this statement that the imprison
ment terminated in some way at the end of the two yenm
u

2 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
If the writer had meant only that the imprisonment had
continued for two years up to the time of his writing the
conclusion of his history, he would in all probability have
expressed himself differently. He would not have rounded
the period of time by calling it Sierla cXtj. We have
therefore a space of two years within which to place the
writing of these four letters. The date of St. Paul's arrival
at Eome can be fixed with great certainty. It is proved,
by Wieseler* and others, that Felix was recalled from
Judaea and succeeded by Festus in a.d. 60. St. Paul left
Caesarea in the autumn of that year. In the spring there
fore of a.d. 61 he arrived at Eome, and his sojourn there
must have lasted till the spring of A.D. 63. There are
reasons for believing that the Epistle to the Philippians
was written towards the end of this period. We have n»
materials for fixing more precisely the common date of the!
other three.
The condition of St. Paul as a prisoner at Rome was in
one point extremely galling, but in other respects he was
treated with special indulgence and consideration. In,
accordance with the Roman method of guarding prisoners,
he was bound by a chain to a soldier, from whom it would'
seem that he could never be separated by night or by day.
The chain was fastened to the right wrist of the prisoner
and to the left wrist of the soldier. When St. Paul was first
taken into custody at Jerusalem, he was bound with two
such chains, one to each hand (Acts xxi. 33). The hand
which he stretched forth when he spoke before Agrippa was
loaded with a chain — " except these bonds " (Acts xxvi. 29).
At Rome, " Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with the
soldier that kept him" (Acts xxviii. 16). In the Epistle to
the Ephesians he says that he discharged his office oi
ambassador in behalf of the gospel "in a chain" (h
* Chronologie des Apostolischen Zeitalters, pp. 66 and foil.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 3
d\vo-ei). If, as seems probable, St. Paul was never released
for an hour during those two years from so oppressive an
incubus, he might well insist upon his bonds as a kind of
martyrdom in the cause of Christ, which entitled him to
the more affectionate deference on the part of his fellow-
believers. But the inevitable annoyance of such custody
was mitigated by a greater degree of liberty than would
have been compatible, without such an expedient, with any
confinement at all. From the first, the evident nobleness
of the Apostle's character had won him considerate and
courteous treatment at the hands of the Roman officials.
At Caesarea he had liberty to see his friends without
restriction (Acts xxiv. 23). On the voyage to Rome Julius,
the centurion in command, began by using him kindly
(aiiXavdpmirios xpvvapevos — Acts xxvii. 3), and must have
ended by regarding him with profound respect and grati
tude. After he had arrived at Rome, he was almost as free
for his work of preaching Christ and directing the Churches
as if he had been his own master.
During the two years of this imprisonment at Rome,
then, we are to think of St. Paul as never enjoying complete
privacy, but as continually occupied at his will in pro
claiming the kingdom of God to all who would come to
him, in expounding the doctrine of Christ to Jews and
Gentiles, in receiving envoys from Churches in Greece and
in Asia, in sending messages and writing letters to all who
needed his counsel* This was by no means an inactive or
* It has been asked why the group of kindred Epiatles to the Ephesians, the
Colossians, and Philemon, might not have been written whilst St. Paul was kept
bound at Csesarea, before he was conveyed to Rome. During that earlier part of
his imprisonment,, he was not prevented from communicating with his friends,
and we cannot say that Aristarchus was not with him at Cassarea, as well as at
Rome. But we gather from these Epistles that whilst he was writing them
St. Paul was labouring freely and actively in his apostolic work, and that others
were co-operating with him in that work (Eph. vi. 19, 20 ; Col. iv. 11). Now
we have seen that the conclusion of the Acts describes him as enjoying this
freedom at Rome, and the Epistle to the Philippians, which is evidently written
B 2

4 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
unfruitful portion of his apostolic life. The Apostle of the
Gentiles had long wished earnestly to visit Rome, the
metropolis of the Gentile world ; probably his " appeal to
Caesar " was dictated in part by this desire. He came as a
prisoner, but it was so ordered that his bonds, instead of
hindering the work for which he lived, turned out " rather
unto the furtherance of the gospel " (Phil. i. 12). A very
few out of the many letters which it is reasonable to sup
pose that he wrote, have been preserved for the permanent
instruction of the Church ; these, like the rest, the writer
would have us remember, were written with his right hand
" in a chain."
We find little necessity in the writings of St. Paul forj
dwelling on contemporary secular history. His letters do
not happen to contain allusions to historical persons or
events. But it is certain that he was not indifferent to whal
was going on in the world around him. Whilst he was at
Rome, Nero was the Csesar for whose judgment he was
waiting ; and Nero at that time was advancing rapidly
from bad to worse. In a.d. 59 he had put his mother
Agrippina to death. He then plunged into unseemly riot,j
degrading his rank by appearing as a musical performer on
the stage, and corrupting all about him with shameful and
brutal excesses. In the year 62, Burrus, the commander of
that prwtorium to which St. Paul alludes (Phil. i. 13),:
died (" incertum valetudine an veneno," — Tacitus, Annals,
xiv. 51) ; and one of the few honest men in high placd
was succeeded by one of the most infamous, Tigellinus
being raised to the vacant command. In the same yea{
from Rome, speaks of the great success which had attended his efforts and thosl
of his fellow-labourers (Phil. i. 12—14). On the other hand, there is no mention
of his having been allowed so large a liberty at Caesarea. The verse in the Acta
only says (§ irpoa-ipx^o-dai. being omitted in the truer text) that the centurion wa|
to keep him and show him indulgence, and forbid none of his connexions to do
him services. The scenery of these Epistles therefore agrees much better with
the imprisonment at Rome than with that at Csesarea.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 5
Seneca sought and obtained permission to retire from the
court. It was the misfortune of Seneca to live in a fear
fully corrupt age and to have a Nero for his pupil. His
admirable ethical philosophy is tacked on like a purpureus
pannus to the life of Nero, as if to exhibit the weakness
and failure of the very best Pagan sentiment in that age,
and to serve as a contrast to the message which, though
foolishness to the Greeks, proved itself to be the power of
God. Seneca was in all probability the brother of the
Gallio who protected St. Paul in Achaia ; and he may have
heard of the Apostle himself. If he did, it is scarcely
possible that the courtier-philosopher could have regarded
the Jewish prisoner with other feelings than those of serene
indifference. His writings, however, have so much that
resembles the language of Christian morality as to have
given rise to the report that he was acquainted with St.
Paul. This supposition has found a record in some spurious
letters of Seneca to Paul. When Seneca withdrew into
retirement, Nero probably felt one more restraint taken off.
He proceeded immediately to divorce and put to death his
innocent wife. Octavia. The great ' conflagration at Rome,
attributed to Nero himself, and famous in Christian annals
because the blame of it was laid by Nero upon the
Christians, took place in the year which followed the
termination of St. Paul's imprisonment. The revelations
of Tacitus and Juvenal, though they do not illustrate de
tails (except indeed the names of vices) in the writings of
St. Paul, are most important as enabling us to realize in
the midst of what kind of surrounding element he taught
and wrote and did his apostolic work.
The history in the Acts tells us that even at Rome his own
countrymen were St. Paul's first care, and that he followed
there his old plan of giving them the first offer of his
Gospel. There was a great multitude of Jews at Rome,
and the Apostle invited the chief of them to come and

6 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
hear him. The answer made by the Jews is one of the
principal difficulties in the Acts, professing as it does a
degree of ignorance on their part both of St. Paul himself
and of the faith of the Christians, which seems hardly con
sistent with the status of the Church at Rome as we learn
it from the Epistle to the Romans. No doubt can reason
ably be thrown upon the existence of a recognised Church
at Rome. But it may have been comparatively insignificant
in so vast a place. It may have consisted almost entirely
of persons who had received the Gospel first elsewhere ;
and there may have been no attempt, previous to St. Paul's
arrival, to proclaim Jesus as the Christ amongst the Jews
settled at Rome. These suppositions may in part explain
the answer of the Jews, " We neither received letters out
of Judaea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that
came shewed or spake any harm of thee. But we desire to
hear of thee what thou thinkest : for as concerning this
sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against." Therei
will still linger perhaps in our minds some surprise that the;
name of Paul should not have been better known amongst!
the chief of his countrymen at Rome. But he unquestion-j
ably had many friends there, already worshipping the same.
Saviour with himself ; some of whom had come to meet
him " as far as Appii Forum and the Three Taverns,"
causing Paul to " thank God and take courage."
We observe that the historian of the Acts describes thei
teaching of St. Paul at Rome in the oldest and simplest
terms of the Christian creed. To proclaim the kingdom of
God, and to tell men concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, this
was still the main work of St. Paul (Acts xxviii, 23, 31).
But it is an interesting question, whether he was now con-i
templating the kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ
in exactly the same way as he had done in Greece or Asia
Minor or Palestine. For the answering of this question
our only materials are the four letters written during this

GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 7
imprisonment. The Epistle to Philemon, though most
valuable on other grounds, has no special theological signi
ficance. The Epistle to the Philippians is rich in practical
theology, and has its own marked features. If we compare
this with those to the Ephesians and Colossians, we may
find many resemblances between them. But these would
be chiefly in points which all the letters of St. Paul have in
common. Indeed, the general theological aspect of the
Epistle to the Philippians is at least as similar to that of the
Epistles to the Corinthians as to that of its more contem
poraneous Epistles. But when we compare together the
Epistles to the Ephesians and the Colossians, we not only
perceive them to be strikingly alike externally and in details,
but they seem to have in common a certain type of doctrine
distinguishable from that of the other writings of St. Paul.
It is difficult indeed to say, considering the patent coinci
dences of expression in the two Epistles, whether the points
of likeness or of unlikeness between them are the more re
markable. No one can doubt that either one Epistle was an
intentional copy of the other, or else both were written at
very nearly the same time by the same author. It is when
we are considering the doctrinal substance of the Epistles
that the latter conclusion forces itself upon us most irresis
tibly as the true one. These two letters are twins, singularly
like one another in face, like also in character, but not so
identical as to exclude a strongly marked individuality.
The scheme of construction is the same in the two
Epistles. Each of them is divisible into two parts, of
which the former declares how God has revealed himself —
especially in relation to men — in Christ ; the latter appeals
to us to live in conformity with what has been thus mani
fested. The author, in preparing to write, has set distinctly
before his mind the image of Christ, the Son of God, the
Head of men. " Whatever can be read in the person of
Christ, that he affirms without reserve both concerning the

8 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Father and concerning men. All the qualities and acts
and experiences of Christ assume an infinite importance
when interpreted in this twofold relation. St. Paul con
templates in Christ the full mind of the Father ; he sees in
his filial nature our sonship to God, in his death our
death to the old natural state, in his resurrection our rising
again to a new life, in his ascension our exaltation to a
heavenly sphere of existence, in his reign the pledge of a
perfect triumph of order over disorder, of good over evil.
The Son, making God the Father known to men ; the Son,
explaining men to themselves, and restoring them to a right
relation towards God and one another, — is the centre of
thought in these Epistles. Nothing can be more orderly,
nothing, in the higher sense, more systematic, than the
reference of everything in heaven and earth, of all divinity
and all morality, of the perfect ideal of God and the
lamentable aberrations of men, to the one nature and life
of Christ, — which we may trace throughout these writings.
St. Paul had always, from the time of his conversion,
worshipped the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God and
the Lord of men; but at the time when he wrote these
letters, the conception of Christ as gathering up in himself
all that has ever come forth from the creative mind of the
one God and Father seems to have been most distinct to
his thoughts, and to have filled the whole capacity of his
intellect most completely. There is such a vastness, how
ever, in this conception, that it is susceptible of very various
applications ; and the clear differences between the pro
found and magnificent ideas of the one and the other of
these Epistles make it almost impossible for an earnest
student to look upon either as a copyist's imitation of the
other.

INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE
EPHESIANS.
This Epistle professes to be written by St. Paul. It not
only begins with a salutation given in his name, but it con
tains a long and remarkable passage (iii. 1 — 13) in which he
describes the commission he had received as the Apostle of
the Gentiles, and appeals to the sufferings of his imprison
ment as adding weight to his exhortations and reflecting
dignity upon the common cause. No other Epistle bears
a more distinct profession of being St. Paul's than this does.
It has been maintained, nevertheless, by distinguished
critics (including De Wette and Ewald) that this is not
a genuine work of St. Paul.
Those who cannot read the Epistle to the Ephesians with
out being awed by the peculiar loftiness, by the grandeur
of conception, by the profound insight, by the eucharistic
inspiration, which they recognise in it, will require strong
evidence to persuade them that it was written by some
other man who wished it to pass as St. Paul's. Apart from
the question of the morality of the act, imitators do not
pour out their thoughts in the free and fervid style of this
Epistle. Nor can we easily imagine how such an imitation
could have been successful either near the time of St. Paul,
or at any subsequent period. It is not conceivable that it
should have made its appearance without exciting wonder
and inquiry. In the lifetime of St. Paul the pious fraud
would not have been attempted. Within a few years after
his death, the difficulty of deceiving his friends and the

10 INTRODUCTION TO THE
Church in such a matter must have been very great. At a
later time, the estimation in which St. Paul's writings were
held would have ensured the careful scrutiny of any pre
viously unknown work put forward in his name. And there
are no signs that the genuineness of the Epistle to the
Ephesians was ever doubted in the Church. The external
testimonies to it are neither inadequate nor obscure. Not
to lay stress on the apparent allusions in Polycarp and
Ignatius, there are formal quotations from this Epistle, as
St. Paul's to the Ephesians, in Irenaeus * and Clement of
Alexandria,! which prove that in their time, that is, in the
latter part of the second century, this work was universally
received as genuine. Some recent critics are the only per
sons who have ever suspected it to be spurious. These con
siderations then, — the profession of being St. Paul's wroughtj
into the texture of the Epistle, its wonderfully genuine air,
the difficulty of imposing a spurious Epistle of St. Paul
upon the Church, the positive external testimony of ancient
writers, and the absence of any doubt in the Church, — are
in favour of the genuineness of this Epistle.
The arguments on the other side may be reduced to three.
(1) We miss the characteristics which we should expect in
any letter of St. Paul's, and especially in a letter to the
Christians of Ephesus. (2) There are differences between the
thoughts and the style of this work and those of St. Paul's
other writings. (3) There is a suspicious resemblance
between this and the Epistle to the Colossians.
(1) It is certainly very strange that in writing to the
Ephesians St. Paul should have omitted all references to
* Tovto fie fcai o IlavXos Xiyee nav yap t6 <fia.vepovp.evov (pas iortv (Eph. V. 13).
Irenaeus adv. Hser. i. 8. 5. Kadas 6 fiaKopios HaflXof (prja-iv, iv rij jrpor 'Etpe-
a-iovs iirio-ToXjj- on /ieXij lo-p.hv roC o-dfiaros, ck rfjs irapicds ovtov, kcu eV ran
oareav avrov (Eph. v. 30.) Ibid. v. 2, 3.
t After quoting a passage from the 2d Epistle to the Corinthians, Clement
adds, <r<K/>eorara fie 'EKperriots ypdcpav dneKaXv^fe t<5 {tjtoviicvov cofie ttcds XeyaW-
pixPl KaTavTrjo-a>p.tv oi wavris k.t.X. (Eph. iv. 13—15), Peed. i. 18. See also
Strom, iv. 65.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 11
particular members of the Church at Ephesus, and to par
ticular circumstances affecting it. If there was one Church
with which St. Paul was personally intimate, we might say
it was the Church at Ephesus. Labours, dangers, and suc
cesses had united their threefold influence in endearing to
him the body of believers in that city. We should read
two chapters in the Acts, the 19th and 20th, to revive the
recollection of the character of St. Paul's connexion with
Ephesus. It was quite impossible for him, whose memory
of all fellowship in trial and affection was so strong and
enduring, to forget those for whom he had suffered and
striven so much, and who had loved him in return so
heartily. In writing to the Corinthians, when he wants an
example of the worst things he has endured, he refers to his
" fight with wild beasts " at Ephesus. In that most touch
ing address which he made to the Ephesian elders at Miletus,
he says himself, "Remember that by the space of three
years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with
tears." And his parting from them is thus described, " When
he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with
them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck,
and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which
he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they
accompanied him to the ship." Can it be, we ask, that in
writing to the Christians of a place where there had been
so much to stir his speculative intellect, his moral energies,
his affectionate sympathy, so much to raise his office and
his endowments in his own eyes, he should show a forget-
fulness which is so singularly unlike him, and should never
once refer to any particular person or to any local cir
cumstance ?
The closest scrutiny of the Epistle has discovered little
to modify the impression of strangeness thus made upon us.
It is true that the history in the Acts exhibits a prevalence
at Ephesus of magical delusions, an activity of superstition,

12 INTRODUCTION TO THE
which some of the special doctrine in the Epistle to the
Ephesians is well calculated to meet. The thought of evil
spiritual powers working in the invisible world (Eph. ii. 2,
vi. 12) might be suggested by the exorcising of evil spirits
and the use of magical formulas of which we read in the
Acts (xix. 13, 19). Some coincidences also may be found
between the language of the address to the elders at Miletus
and that of the Epistle. But these correspondences are
slight in themselves, and do not at all fill up the place of
the personal allusions which might have been expected and
are wanting.
One important hint which the text of the Epistle supplies
for a solution of this difficulty, is to be found in the absence
from some MSS. of the words ev 'E^eo-w in the salutation.
If these are removed, there remains no evidence that this
Epistle was written to the Ephesians at all. It still pro
fesses to be written by St. Paul ; but, for anything we
know, it might have been addressed to Christians who had
never seen him. Now St. Basil45' says that there was a
tradition that these two words should be omitted, and that
he had so read the passage in ancient MSS. There are more
doubtful intimations to the same effect in Jerome and Ter-
tullian. In accordance with this evidence, these words are
omitted in the original writing in two of the most impor
tant MSS. — the Vatican and the Sinaitic. An attempt was
made, as we find in St. Basil and St. Jerome, to read the
passage as if it were complete without ev 'Eobeo-a or any
substitute for these words, by laying an emphasis on -rots
olo-iv. But no one will suppose that the author intended
this. The question suggested by the partial omission of
ev 'E^e'o-ft) has been whether the Epistle might not have been
written for other communities besides the Church at Ephesus.
If it was to be sent even to one other church, as that of
Laodicea ; and still more, if it was to be read to several of
* Cont. Eunom. ii. 19.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 13
the churches in the neighbourhood of Ephesus, both the
absence of special allusions and the MS. uncertainty about
Iv 'Eobeo-m would be sufficiently accounted for.
The expression in iii. 3, 4, " As I wrote before in few
words, whereby when ye read ye may understand my
knowledge in the mystery of Christ," is generally taken to
refer to what St. Paul had just written, chiefly in the first
chapter ; and no doubt this is quite possible. But the first
impression of the ordinary reader would be, I think, that
St. Paul was referring to some other document. Is it
allowable to conjecture that St. Paul had quite recently
written a more special letter to the Ephesians, and that he
had said in that whatever of a special nature he wished to
communicate to them ? It is true that in that case we
cannot say why he should have sent another epistle to them ;
but supposing him to have been led by any unknown
circumstance to do so, it was needless to repeat what he
had said before, and he was at liberty to pour out a more
unbroken stream of doctrine.
(2) A second argument against the genuineness of this
Epistle is founded upon the differences between the
thoughts and the language of this and those of St. Paul's
acknowledged writings. It is assumed in this argument
that the Epistle to the Colossians is not taken into account.
The Epistle to the Ephesians, it is urged, is too like this, too
unlike the rest.
The differences which are appealed to are real, and such
as no one need wish to deny ; but conclusions drawn from
the critical observation of likenesses and unlikenesses are
extremely unstable. Lists of words not used elsewhere by
the same writer are almost contemptible as evidence of
spuriousness. If these airal; Xeyofteva were used obtru
sively, they might be an indication of a writer so attached
to particular words that he could write nothing without
bringing them in ; but if they fitly express the thoughts

14 INTRODUCTION TO THE
of the writer, is he to be debarred from entertainmg
the new idea, or from using the terms appropriate to it ?
The feeling of a critic who is thoroughly familiar with
the writings in question is of far more weight. But
we have had abundant cautions not to defer too easily in
such matters to personal authority. The conclusion of the
critic depends not only upon his learning, taste, and
honesty, but also upon his antecedent bias and upon
assumptions which may be very questionable.
When we survey the whole body of the letters profess
ing to be written by St. Paul, we cannot but be struck by
the varieties of style to be observed amongst them ; and the
impression is deepened when we consider within how short
a time they are all supposed to have been written. St. Paul
was past middle life, — he may have been fifty years of age, —
when the first of his Epistles was written ; he had then been
a Christian for not less than fourteen years ; and all the
Epistles were written within a" space of perhaps seventeen
years. That in a collection of writings composed under
these conditions there should be such varieties of thought
and style as there are in the Pauline Epistles, is a pheno
menon to which we could hardly find a parallel in litera
ture.'55' But these writings differ amongst themselves in such
a way as to make it very difficult to draw a fine which
shall place all the letters which have a clear stamp of
common authorship on one side, and the rest on the other.
For example, if we suppose the Epistle to the Ephesians to
be rejected on the evidence of its style and ideas, what is
to be done with that to the Colossians ? It would be no
easy matter to decide which of these two Epistles is the
more unlike those to the Romans and Corinthians. If we
advance with modern criticism to its farthest point, and
* M. Renan, who only rejects the Pastoral Epistles, speaks of St. Paul's
Epistles as written within a space of eleven years, between a.d. 53 and a.d. 62.
Lea Ap6tres, p. v.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 15
pronounce all the Epistles to be spurious except the four to
the Romans, Corinthians, and Galatians, we may find it
difficult to maintain that the Epistle to the Philippians is
manifestly further removed than that to the Galatians in tone
and style from the Second to the Corinthians. And however
decided the differences we may be able to perceive between
the four groups of Pauline Letters (1 and 2 Thessalonians,
— Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, — Ephesians,
Colossians, Philemon, Philippians, — 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus),
we can hardly fail to recognise their mutual likeness when
we compare them with any other writings, whether with the
other Epistles of the New Testament Canon, or with any
compositions outside of the Canon. If we took any two
of the Pauline Epistles, as Romans and 2 Timothy,
and compared them together, we should have less diffi
culty in ascribing them both to the same author, than in
ascribing either of them to any other author whom we
know. Let us suppose that the reader feels the alleged diversities
to be real and surprising, and yet that the evidence for the
Pauline authorship of all these letters appears to him almost
irresistible, — may he not reasonably reckon this variety as
one amongst the wonderful phenomena which the history
of St. Paul presents ? There are many things in the
character and life of St. Paul which would be incredible,
if we had not good evidence that they are true : and the
versatility of his mind, its quick and pliant response to
every new demand made upon his attention or his sympathy,
has always seemed one of the most wonderful of his
qualities. The undoubted tenacity and constancy of his
nature makes this versatility the more remarkable. We
ought to expect, therefore, that he would write very
differently under different circumstances. Let us take into
consideration also what the due effect of his inspiration
would be. Such an influence would naturally make a man

16 INTRODUCTION TO THE
less of a machine, less uniform and same in his thoughts
and utterances. Under each new impression, in each new
situation, he would be more thoroughly possessed and
moulded by his conviction than an uninspired man. There
would be stronger marks of personality, and yet the man
would be so moved by the conditions surrounding him that
he might appear to be one person at one time and another
person at another time. These considerations may help us
to admit to the full the diversities which critics have
observed in the Pauline Epistles, and yet not to draw the
inference that any of them are spurious.
(3) We need to bear the same reflections in mind whilst
we consider the third argument brought against the genuine
ness of the Epistle to the Ephesians, — its suspicious rela- '
tion to the Epistle to the Colossians. The resemblances,
between the two Epistles do not need to be pointed out ;
they are obvious on the surface. The two composition^
are constructed upon the same fines, and to a great extent
the same material is worked up in them. But these
resemblances seem to agree far less with the hypothesis^
that one is a copy of the other than with that of their
being written at very nearly the same time by the same
person. Nothing is more frequent than for letters written
at the same time to different correspondents to have a great
deal both of thought and language in common. The
leading ideas in each Epistle are sufficiently distinguishable
from one another, and in each the thoughts and phrases,
which are common to both are in perfect harmony with the
subject. It is more difficult to account for the differenc8|
in style, which appears to be considerable. (See the Intro
duction to Colossians.) St. Paul, we shall be obliged to
say, was a man who would write on one day as he does to
the Colossians, and on the next day as he does to the!
Ephesians. As to the relative priority of the two Epistles, thej

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 17
presumptions on either side are scarcely strong enough to
warrant a confident conclusion. That a very short interval
separated them will be doubted by no one who believes that
St. Paul wrote both, and we may be content to leave it
undecided which was written first.
It is to be remembered that in writing to Ephesus
St. Paul was in effect writing to the province of which
Ephesus was the leading city. Its importance in this
character was manifestly the reason why St. Paul spent so
long a time teaching there. We read in the account of his
stay at Ephesus (Acts xix. 10), "This continued by the
space of two years ; so that all they which dwelt in Asia
heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks."
And the same circumstance is mentioned in the speech of
Demetrius, " Ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus,
but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded
and turned away much people" (Ibid. ver. 26). It may be
supposed therefore that St. Paul, when remembering the
Ephesian Church, was led to consider the state of mind
prevailing throughout that part of Asia Minor, and the
dangers which beset the believers dwelling in that country.
An ancient Asiatic goddess, called Artemis by the Greeks
and Diana by the Romans, but whose clumsy image, shaped
like a mummy, and adorned with many breasts and the
figures of various animals, symbolized the productive and
nutritive powers of Nature, was highly honoured at Ephesus,
and also " throughout all Asia." But neither in this
Epistle, nor in the two to Timothy, is there any unmistake-
able allusion to the worship of this local divinity. The
believers whom St. Paul was addressing had either never
paid homage to the Ephesian idol, or were emancipated
from its fascination. Perhaps, however, the superstition to
which they had been accustomed might make them more
ready to accept such schemes of opposed hierarchies of good
and evil spirits as were attracting the Jewish mind in that

18 INTRODUCTION TO THE
age. So far as we can gather from the Epistles to Timothy,
written to him as presiding over the Church at Ephesus,
and from this Epistle, the dangerous speculations which
occurred to the writer's mind were those of Orientalized
Judaism. "I besought thee," says St. Paul, "to abide at
Ephesus, that thou mightest charge some not to give heed
to fables and endless genealogies, {fivdoLs km yeveaXoylcu?
airepavTois) which minister questions" (1 Tim. i. 3, 4).
Compare " Jewish fables " in Titus i. 14. Again in
1 Tim. vi. 4 and 20, we have allusions to a morbid love of
" questions and strifes of words " (fyTrjaeis km Xoyo/iaxta^j
see also 2 Tim. ii. 23), and to "the profane babblings and"
oppositions of the falsely-named knowledge or Gnosis,"
(avTideo-eis rrjs yjrevBavvfiov yvwo-ecos.) Speculative theories
about emanations, one series being opposed to another,
having their ultimate origin in Oriental, probably Persic,
theosophy, but coming through Jewish channels, would
best answer to these descriptions.
The Apocalypse, the Epistles of St. John, and the Gospel
of St. John, are all associated with Ephesus, but they do
not happen to supply any special illustrations to the
Epistle to the Ephesians. The Apocalypse was probably
written a very few years after this Epistle. Ephesus stands
first in the list of the Seven Churches in Asia to which.
special messages are given. But the message to the angel
of the Church of Ephesus contains nothing to remind us of
St. Paul's Epistle. In the Laodicean message, the titles
assumed by the Son of Man, " the Amen, the faithful and
true Witness, the beginning (apxv) of the Creation of God,"
resemble the doctrine of this Epistle, but are more directly
parallel to the language of the Epistle to the Colossians^
The Epistles and the Gospel of St. John were written at
a much later period. It is most interesting to compart
their theology with that of the letters of St. Paul which
we are now considering, but the aged St. John is dealing

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 19
with the speculations of a later date in the history of the
Church, and his teaching is intended to convey develop
ments of the truth, and to correct errors, which had more
than a local character.
It is implied in what has been already said, that we find
no clear intimation in this Epistle of any special questions
to be settled, or of any peculiar faults or dangers against
which the writer desired to warn his readers. It is remark
able as a free spontaneous utterance of Christian thought,
exercised upon the great topics of God's purposes and man's
duty. It is possible that his subject, or rather his manner
of treating it, may have been partly suggested to the
Apostle by the modes of thought prevalent in the Church
of Asia Minor. Perhaps what he knew of the mind of that
Church gave him at least greater freedom in pouring forth,
as into sympathising ears, the thoughts of which his own
heart was full. But there are very slight grounds for
connecting the substance of this Epistle with any decided
peculiarity of the Ephesian Christians. And in reading it
we are scarcely led to look for any other motive than the
fervour of a devout spirit delighting to give expression to
the impulses of faith and love. Indeed it would be hardly
extravagant to regard this work as a Hymn. Though the
form of the composition is that of a letter, the mood of the
writer is lyrical rather than hortatory. From time to time
the eucharistic strain which pervades the whole Epistle
rises into rhythmic solemnity; and the dietion is throughout
somewhat more poetical than in the other writings of „
St. Paul.
The key to the Epistle may be found in the opening
sentence. After the salutation, St. Paul begins his psalm
with the words, "Blessed be God and the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessing in heavenly things in Christ." Fixing his eyes on
the Lord Jesus Christ, he opens his mind to the blessings
C 2

20 INTRODUCTION TO THE
which radiate forth from him, and from the Father through
him, upon the whole world. The mind of God towards
men unveiled in Christ, the relation of men towards God
exhibited in Christ, the present spiritual connexion of men
with Christ, the hopes of which Christ is the ground and assur
ance, the laws imposed by the life of Christ upon human
life, — these are the blessings for which he gives thanks.
Christ embracing humanity in himself is the subject of the
Epistle. The difficulties which it presents to the reader
reside in the mystery of these relations of Christ to man
kind. The Sonship of Christ to the Father is assumed
but not dwelt upon ; we have here to do with what may
be read in the Person of Christ, concerning the nature
and destiny of man, when Christ is received as the eternal
Son of God.
St. Paul tells us with strict faithfulness what he has thus
read in Christ. He draws his inferences rationally from
what he believes he has seen. There is not the slightest
appearance of anything composite in his system of doctrine,
Christ, with the effects which radiate from him, fills the
whole sphere of his mind. The relations of which he speaks
are indeed, as he continually reminds us, spiritual, heavenly,
or mystical. But they form in his conception a living
organic unity. If we recognise this, although it may he
profoundly interesting to observe points of connexion in
ideas or phrases with the speculations of Philo or the
Gnostics, it is impossible to father the doctrine of St. Paul
upon Alexandrian or Persian theosophy. As it is also
inconceivable that any writer should have either felt or
feigned such a joyful and absorbing thankfulness as
St. Paul expresses for what had been revealed to him
through Christ, if he had borrowed this notion and that
from the philosophies current in his age. If ever any
theory of human nature was original, St, Paul's in this
Epistle has a right to be called so.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 21
A summary statement of this doctrine, however bald and
inadequate, may serve the useful purpose of keeping the
main features of it before the mind. It may be presented
in the following form : —
God sent his Son into the world in our flesh and blood.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived, died, rose from the
dead, was exalted to the right hand of the Father, and then
came again, in the outpouring of the promised Spirit, and
accompanying the word of his heralds.
1. We infer from these facts a fatherly mind in God
towards human nature, and therefore that men are God's
children. 2. We infer that God intended men to be spiritually
on the footing of sons towards himself, knowing him and
loving him.
3. Men have evidently been estranged from God, but by
sending his Son into the world and giving him up to die,
God has shewn a purpose to bring them out of estrangement
into the true filial state.
4. In raising Christ from the dead, and lifting him above
the visible world, God has set Christ supreme above death
and the world. The will and power which thus wrought,
must, in virtue of God's eternal purpose and the connexion
between Christ and the human race, go on to confer a new
life and a heavenly exaltation on men, Christ's brethren
and members.
5. This raising and exalting of men is already, in the
creative idea of God, done in Christ. It is realized in
successive generations through men's conscious acceptance
of this grace, or through faith.
6. The true conception of mankind is that of a family
bound by invisible links of creation to Christ and sharing
his life, and therefore calling God Father. The duty of
men is to act in harmony with these relations.
7. The Will of God manifested in Christ, though it has

22 INTRODUCTION TO THE
signally triumphed and must prevail, is now contending
against rebellious wills. Every man who is called to the
knowledge of God is also enlisted in a warfare against
evil. These propositions, I believe, express the leading ideas of
St. Paul's teaching in this Epistle. Lest the reader should
be disposed to pass by what might be called the mystical
element in the propositions numbered (4) and (5), it is
important to observe that this idea, — whatever difficulty
we may find in apprehending it, and however fanciful it
may seem to a modern philosopher, — is absolutely central
to St. Paul's system. An Eternal Will, entering creatively
into time, unfolding itself through opposition, holding fast
its aim ; this Will adequately manifested in Christ ; Christ
the Divine Man, whose perfectly loyal nature is the key to
the mysteries of men's disordered nature ; — St. Paul held
these to be the invisible realities out of which all visible
phenomena had their growth, and from which the history
of the future was to be inferred.
The chief natural division of the Epistle, and one which
was probably designed by the writer, is at the end of the
3d chapter. In the former half St. Paul describes the
vocation or calling of Christians, in the latter he appeals to
his readers to walk worthily of it. Some such division is
very common in St. Paul's writings. It is his invariable
principle to lay down first the relations which God has
established, and then to deduce from these the conduct
appropriate to them. But the division is more strict in this
Epistle than in any other. The latter half may be further
subdivided for convenience, and each repetition of the
injunction, "Walk therefore," (iv. 1; iv. 17; v. 1, 2 ;
v. 15,) may be taken as commencing a fresh appeal, down
to the concluding paragraph (vi. 10). The subdivisions of
the former half are more important to notice. The distinct
paragraphs end as follows: at i. 14, at i. 23, at ii. 10, at

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 23
ii. 22, and at iii. 21 : the division at the end of the first
chapter being less strongly marked than the others.
In the first paragraph, St. Paul sets forth in comprehend
sive words the blessings, in the past, the present, and the
future, which belong to men in Christ. He gives thanks
for God's election of men from eternity to be his children, —
an election of which it is to be observed that, as the fact and
character of it are seen wholly in Christ and not in men,
it cannot be restricted by any limits which are not to be
discerned in Christ, and that therefore it must be under
stood as going forth from the inherently gracious Will of
God towards mankind generally; for the deliverance of
men through forgiveness from that bondage of sin which
separates them from God ; for the revelation of God's grand
purpose, to make Christ the one Head of an obedient
creation; for the special inheritance of sonship promised
to faithful men, of which the filial Spirit already given was
the earnest.
In the second paragraph, the thanksgiving changes to a
prayer, that the readers of the Epistle may have their eyes
opened to the blessings for which thanks had been given ;
and especially, that they might know that power, which
had wrought in the raising and exaltation of Christ, and
which, as the putting forth of one and the same will, was
working upon all believers.
Yes, the Apostle goes on to say, the resurrection and
exaltation of Christ were the quickening from the death of
sin, and the exalting to a heavenly sphere of existence, of
his members with him. Those who believed in Christ were
actually inspired with a new life and raised above the
world and the dark powers of the world. This was God's
act, a part, it might be said, of the same act which wrought
in Christ. Man could only receive and submit ; the only
good deeds which he could do were such as were prepared
for him beforehand by the design and power of his Maker.

24 INTRODUCTION TO THE
The next paragraph (ii. 11—22) presents a new aspect
of what had been done for mankind in Christ. To a Jewish
eye the world had been divided by the exclusive call of the
seed of Abraham into two separate sections. When the
Son of God appeared, taking the flesh and blood of humanity
upon him, representing the human race in the sight of the
Father, offering himself a sacrifice for all, entering into the
death of all, fulfilling the promise that in the seed of
Abraham all the nations of the earth should be blessed,
the separation was done away. The human race became
one body, united in one Head, reconciled to one Father,
animated, by one filial and brotherly Spirit. The Gentiles,
having been formerly destitute of the peculiar Jewish
privileges, were now made partakers with the Jews of
blessings which the old Jewish privileges had but faintly
foreshadowed. The Apostle's heart now swells with the contemplation of
these spiritual glories (c. iii.). A touching humility and
tenderness take possession of him as he thinks how un
speakably he has himself been honoured in being made the
herald of this union of all men in the family of God. What
a revelation of hidden things had that age received ! 0 that
, all might be spiritually wrought upon to fulfil through
faith and love the grand idea of the Maker, to the glory of
the Father through Christ !
The eucharistic declaration of Christian privileges being
thus closed, St. Paul begins the Second Part of the Epistle,
which contains lessons of duty founded on those privileges.
But the eucharistic feeling does not at once subside ; the '
more level movement of practical exhortation is still lifted,
as it were, by a kind of ground-swell of spiritual emotion.
The first paragraph (iv. 1—16) is rather declaratory than
hortatory. It speaks of unity,— -the unity which God has
ordained in Christ, and which men may keep by modesty
and forbearance, and by the abiding of each in his own

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 25
place. We are reminded that there is an organization
of the Christian Society on earth which represents and
ministers to the higher heavenly unity. The ideal unity of
the Church (set forth under the favourite Pauline image
of a full-grown Man, with Christ as the Head) is to be
realized through truth and love. In the succeeding para
graph (ii. 17 — 32) the new Divinely-given life is placed in
contrast with the old corrupt life. The Apostle conjures
his Christian readers to put away practically the evil which
in profession they had renounced, and to clothe themselves
with all the virtues which belonged to their calling in
Christ. It is the strict dependence of all that is commended as
practical duty upon the calling or status of men in Christ,
that is to be specially noticed in the exhortations which
follow (v., vi. 1 — 9). God is to be imitated as a Father,
by those whom he. has made his children. The new king
dom must have obedient subjects. Light must bring forth
its fruits in those who have become children of fight. The
Spirit must manifest his presence in the body by the tokens
of inspiration. The relations of husband and wife, parents
and children, masters and servants, are sacred, and are to
be mutually fulfilled in obedience to Christ.
The concluding appeal or peroration (vi. 10 — 20), breath
ing a very lofty and eloquent tone, contains a carefully-
wrought account of the warfare between the Church and
the powers of darkness and evil which brood over the world.
It is to be observed that here, as generally throughout the
Apostolic writings, the imagery is borrowed from the
poetical books of the Old Testament. Most of it may be
found in the book of Isaiah. The warfare described is not
the battle of the individual Christian for his own salvation,
but the greater conflict in which Christ leads his forces
against the enemy, the war of the Gospel against the powers
which keep mankind in slavery. But individual Christians

26 INTRODUCTION TO THE EPHESIANS.
are the soldiers in this war, and the armour mentioned is
such as individual Christians must put on.
The sentences with which the Epistle closes, — the mention
and commendation of the messenger who was to carry it,
and the usual benedictory prayer, — remind us that this
was a bond fide pastoral letter, addressed to Christians who
looked up to St. Paul as their teacher.

IIP02 E$E2I0Y2.
L i UavXos a7roo-roXoy "Kpcarov 'lrjo-ov oia OeX^paros
deov rols ay'icns tois ovaiv [ev 'E0eo-^jj kcu TnaTols
2 ev X/0to-n» Irjaov. XaPLS vplv koli elpyjvrj airo 0eov
irarpos rjpxov jcpu Kvpiov Irjcov X/hotou.
3. JZvXoyrjTos 6 8eos Kal iraTtjp rov Kvpiov rjpSv

1. ev *E(p£o-tp. There is suffi
cient evidence to throw a doubt
upon the genuineness of these
words. St. Basil and St. Jerome
speak of their being omitted in
some ancient MSS.; and two of
the most important MSS. which
have come down to us, the Sinai-
tic and the Vatican, do not con
tain them in the writing of the
first hand. It is impossible to
believe that the sentence was in
tended to be complete without
the mention of any place after
tois olo-tv. The suggestion that
tois ay/ois tois ovoriv may be ren
dered " the saints who are," with
an allusion to their partaking of
the substantial existence of " Kim
who is" does not call for serious
consideration. The omission of
ev 'E<^eo-(o in some ancient MSS.
must be understood to point,
either to an early doubt as to the
readers to whom the Epistle was

addressed, or, it may he, to an
original blank filled up variously
in different copies, which were
sent to different Churches. See
the Introduction, p. 12.
ev XpiorcS Ljo-ov. Christ is
named as the bond of the be
lievers; "the holy and faithful
community in Christ Jesus."
Compare the salutations to the
Philippians and Colossians.
3. For the subject of this
paragraph, see the Introduction,
p. 23.
6 6eos Kal Trarrjp tov K . . .
" Blessed be God and the Father -
of . . ." That is, " He who is
God and the Father of . . ."
This seems to be a more natural
rendering, whilst it is not less
accurate, than that of our Version,
"the God and Father of our
Lord." The latter, however, has
the support of the similar expres
sion in verse 17.

28

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

[I. 4—9.

'Itjo-ov Xpio-Tov, 6 evXoyno-ast ripRs ev iraarj evXoyia
4 7rvevpMTiKrj ev tols eirovpaviOLS ev HLpiaTcp, koogjs
e£eXe£ajo Tjpas ev a-vrw irpb iara^oXrjs KOcrp.ov, ewai
ypas afiov\ kcu Wpuop.ovs Kaj$v$£tov avrov, ev ayairy
fa'tjrpffipuras r\pjas els vio&ejfrw^ 8ia 'Irjaov Xpurrov
els avrov, Kara rnv'fevoOKUiv rov deXypjxros avrov,
6 eis eiraivov oogljs rijs Ya/ftroy avrov, ev rj eYa/H-
7 rcoaev riu#s £v ra> ¦nyammemp, ev q> eYOfiev , rnv
awoAvrpatriv oia rov aiparfis avrov, nqv a(peo-iv rcov
TrapQarTa>pa,TG>v, Kara to'ttXovtos rrjs \apiros avroii.
8 iyy errepia&ewrev els ripuas ev 7rdo~rj ao(j>ia KaX'Cppo-'
9 v^o-el}a%>vcopta-aT^piv to p.vo-rqpipv rov deX-qparos

ev role ivovpavioie, " in the
heavenly world or sphere," " in
spiritual relations." There is no
reference to place or to a future
time. 4. As to the scope of this elec
tion, see the remark in the Intro
duction, p. 23.
iv dyr'nnj. I have not thought
it worth while to alter in the
translation the received connexion
of the words " in love." By
placing the comma before them,
Lachmann and Tischendorf con
nect them with God's act of fore
ordaining, and in making the
former clause end with avrov they
have the support of the clause in
Col. i. 22, irapaorrjeai vfias ayiovs
Kaiafiii/iovc KaldveyK\^rov£. Either
arrangement is so satisfactory, that
the one cannot be very decidedly
preferred to the other.
6. rijs X^PlT°S avrov, iv i; [or ije,
Jjach.J i\apiTiaaiv fjfiac. Most

literally, "the grace with which
he has graced us;" "the grace
which he has freely bestowed upon
us." The uncommon verb ixof»-
rwaev is used in order to repeat
the idea of %apis.
7. The redemption of men, or
their deliverance from bondage by
the payment of a price, is ex
plained as consisting in the re-^
mission or forgiveness of sins. He
who really receives the forgiveness
of sins is thereby made spiritually
free. The blood of Christ was
the cost of the deliverance, be
cause Christ gave his life in order
that men might be reconciled to
God. 9. yvwpio-ar should be closely
connected with hnpiaatvaev. God
abounded . . . when he made known
. . . The abounding of God to
wards us in wisdom and prudence
was exhibited in his making known
to us the mystery of his will. The

A,

I. 10—13.] EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 29
avrov, Kara tvv evSaKlav avrov ^'Trpoedeiv^'
IO XI* ^ 1W^™ 7rAM^6^ ™ ^^
^Tva%epSj^<#$r6ai ra rravra 'ev r» Xpco-rm, ra ev
wavra e^py~btvr7s Kara, ryv PovXrjv. rov aeXrjpLaros
14 a^\^i^ATAj/LVaL ,^s d* elkuSw'Bo^is avrov,
i3 TOvT^p^pMiKOTas ev rq> Xpivrg^Av a Kal vpeis,
aKOvaavres rov Xoyov rrjs aXlffiuas, to evayyeXiov <

Apostle affirms here, as he does
elsewhere, that the whole purpose
of God revealed in Christ was a
subject of inexhaustible study for
the intellect.
10. eig o'lKovofiiav rov irXtjpu}-
paros t5>v Kaipwv. The word ohco-
vofiia, a favourite one with St.
Paul, is used by him in three
distinct senses. (1) It is God's
plan or arrangement, the Divine
order to be accomplished in Christ.
We may render it " dispensation"
in this sense, or use it in its
English form economy. This is its
meaning here, and probably in iii.
9. (2) It represents an appoint
ment or commission given by the
Lord to his servant Paul, in Eph.
iii. 2, and in Col. i. 25. Ampea
is used in Eph. iii. 7, as nearly an
equivalent to this sense of oIkovo-
fxla, — the most frequent word
however for this commission being
\dpie. In these two cases the
okovopoe is God or Christ. (3) It
represents a stewardship. So,
perhaps, in iii. 9. In 1 Cor. iv.

1, 2, St. Paul describes himself as
an oIkovo/jlos, having the duty of
dispensing, or giving out to others,
the mysteries entrusted to him.
God's purpose in Christ had
reference " to the dispensation of
[belonging to] the fulness of the
times." Compare Gal. iv. 4, "When
the fulness of the time was come,
God sent forth his Son." This
economy, or dispensation, or system
of things, which the purpose of
God contemplated from eternity,
is "the bringing of all things
under one head in Christ." dvaKE-
(pa\aiu>aao-Oai,to sum up, to gather
under a head.
11. EKXr)pi>dt)fitv, "obtained a
lot, or inheritance." Another
reading, iKkifirifiEv, is stroDgly
supported by MS. authority, and
is introduced into the text by
Lachmann. 12. tovq irporfXTriKoras. The only
sense which can here be given to
irpo-m this word seems to be that
of our Version, " who were first
or forward to hope in Christ."

30

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. [I- H 15-
ev a> Kal irio-Tevo-avreSg ' ecrmpa-

eWaffiklffias ra ayicp,

3 <^AJ ftXvK^' " '
ttjs arcorrjpias vpcov, e
14 yladrjre rco ^rrvevJLari ttjs ewayy
eo-nv appaBatv rrjs ffi^ovopffii -qpxov els airoXirpa
TrjflrepLiroLrjo-eas, eis eiralvov rrjs oogqs avrov.
ia tovto Kayco, eucoucray rqv kou \ vpuas tthttiv

o-lv
15 Aia

13. iv <g i:al vp.E~ie, . . . zv w Kal
moreiwTavrEQ. The words iv a
appear to be repeated for the sake
of perspicuity before irtortvo-ajree.
If we omit these words, the sen
tence proceeds with grammatical
smoothness : " in whom you also,
when you had heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation,
and had believed, or become be
lievers, were sealed." The " hear
ing " and " believing " are con
nected : "faith cometh by hearing."
The Spirit of promise is the
promised Spirit Compare Acts
i. 4, " wait for the promise of the
Father which you heard from me."
The sealing with the Spirit means
the actual outpouring of the Spirit,
such as took place when converts
were introduced into the Church,
which answered to sealing, be
cause it was a recognizable stamp
of Divine ownership. Compare
iv. 30, and 2 Cor. i. 22, "God
hath also sealed us, and given us
the earnest of the Spirit in our
hearts." 14. The gift of the Spirit, be
sides being a seal which marked
those who received it as belonging
to God, was also, as a seal of son-
ship, an earnest or pledge of a
future inheritance. " If children,

then heirs." In time the believers
in Christ shall come into the full
possession of the inheritance of
sons of God. At present, the per
fect blessedness of sonship is given
them in prospect rather than in
possession. But they hold already,
in the pouring out of the Spirit
of sonship, an earnest «c aVoXr-
rptocnv ttjs TTtpvKOiiiiiEbiQ, a pledge
pointing to the complete acquisi
tion of the property. The " pro
perty " is whatever belongs to the
nature and functions of sons of
God. The " redemption" here is
that of the property; and the
figure must not be pressed too
closely. On the other hand, in iv.
30, "unto the day of redemption,"
we should naturally take it as re
ferring to the setting free of the
human nature ; especially as in
Romans viii. 16 — 23, an impor
tant passage to compare with
these, the filial adoption is said to
be accomplished in the " redemp
tion of our body." But, as the use
of olKovop.la, of irXJipiapa, and other
words, shews us, St. Paul varies
much in the application even of
favourite and highly significant
terms. 1 5. For the subject of this para
graph see the Introduction, p. 23.

I. 16—20.]

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

31

tJupAs

ev rco Kvpicp Irjarov Kai rr/v ayarrrjv rnv eis iravras
V%£j?Yi0V*i ov '!ravolJiai tvxapio-rmv V7rep vpeov,
i7^fiveiav vpxav iroiovp.evos eirl rav Trp^oyv^cov p.ov, tva
o Oeos rov Kvpiov nucov 'lincrov Xptoroi), 6 ttotvo
T7)S ^WJ^"^ ^V^i^L^(t2&ty^JElr0 V~
18 yfreas ev eWtyvawfi avrov, TretMtTLapxvovs tovs 6d)-
9a.Xp.ovs rrjs KapSias VP<oy, **? to elSevai vpqs ris
eo-Tiv 7) eATTis jns jupqo-eobs avrov, /cat tls o ttaovtos
19 Tryy oo£ryy rwy KKlnpovopnas avrov ev tois ayiois, Kal
t'l to vTrepppftfcftovl p.eyedos rrjs^ 8vvdp,eogs avrov els
Tjp.as tovs Triarevovras Kara ttjv eyepyeiav rov Kpa-y
20 tow rrjs 10-yyos avrov, ijv evqpyhaev ev rm Kpiarca

15, 16. Compare Col. i. 3, 4,
and Phil. 4, 5.
17. "va, "to the effect that;"
what follows being the purport of
the prayer, and not merely its aim
or end.
irvEvfia airoKaXvipuog, *' a spirit
of revelation," — the spirit whose
influences may remove the veil
which hides invisible realities from
the soul.
1 8. WEQurHTflEVOVt 6(j>daXfiOV£.
The accusative is owing to the
influence of Sjiij. For the sense,
compare 1 Cor. ii. 9 — 12.
fl i\irls Trig kXyioeuiq avrov, " the
hope held out in his calling," the
whole promise set before believers
in Christ.
rjjc KXripovofxiag abrov ev rdlg
ayioiQ. What is " God's inherit
ance" here 1 It might mean either
the inheritance of which he him
self takes possession, or that which
he gives. The latter sense is the

more obvious one, and agrees better
with the expressions concerning
inheritance so frequent in St.
Paul's writings. But the words iv
role ayioig almost demand the
former sense. God (in Christ) has
an inheritance in the body of the
saints. Those whose eyes are
opened may see how rich is the
glory of the redeemed community,
how bright is that perfect creation
of which Christ is the inheritor.
19. rovg iriarevovrag, "towards
us believers," — not to be construed
with Kara riflr ivipyEiav.
20. fjv evripyt)irEV, " tnth which
he wrought," ijv being in the ac
cusative to agree with rrjv cvip-
y«aj'. etcdQurtv is to be coupled,
somewhat irregularly, with zvrip-
yrjCTEV. If xadtoag, for which
there is good authority, be read,
it is coupled with lyslpag. Ob
serve particularly the identifica
tion of that energy of God which

32

*-fre

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

ay avrov

veKpcov,

[I. 21.
,0^ Si /- ~
ev oe£ia

21 avrov ,ev. tois

Kai eKavicrev
is vwepavay jraarjs apX^s Kai

S&ftW^al W^ea* Kal &$!>&$£

Kai

ovop.aros

iravros
ovopaQopevov ov p.6vov ev tco aupvi Tovrca

wrought in the raising and exalt
ing of Christ with the energy that
works continuously on the body
of which he was raised to be the
Head. (Compare " the power
that works in us," iii. 20.) Christ
is not apart from the Church in
the Divine idea, any more than
the Church is apart from Christ.
21. We need not define or dis
tinguish what is meant by these
terms. They are accumulated so
as to be all-embracing and ex
haustive. Compare the quotations
from Philo and the Avesta in the
Essay. oh fiovov iv t£ alwvi rovry aXXa
».-ai iv rji fteXXovTi. The right in
terpretation of these terms forms
one of the principal difficulties of
the !New Testament. The same
expressions occur in Matt. xii. 32,
" Whosoever shall speak against
the Holy Ghost, it shall not be
forgiven him, either in this age
or in that which is to come." In
Matt. xiii. 39, 40, Jesus refers to
" the end or conclusion (mivTiXeta)
of the age." The discourse of
Matt. xxiv. and xxv. is introduced
by the question, " What shall be
the sign of thy coming and of the
end or conclusion of the age i"
In Heb. vi. 5, we have the re
markable expression " have tasted

the good word of God and the
powers of the coming age." Appa
rently the word olicovfiivri, world,
is used as equivalent to aUiv in
Heb. ii. 5, " It is not to angels
that he has subjected the world
to come, of which we speak." In
1 Cor. x. 11, the age which is
closing becomes plural, " the ends
of the ages," f/fxSiv tig ovg ra te'Xki
twv alwvwv KarfivrtjKEV. In Eph. .
ii. 7, the future age becomes
plural, iv roig al&triv roig kirtp-
Xo/xlvoig. And in Eph, iii. 21,
we have the redoubled phrase,
" unto all the generations of the
age of ages."
Thus much may be said with
confidence as to the meaning of
this New Testament language.
The Apostles believed, after the
teaching of their Lord, that in
their day a great alwv or Age was
drawing to a close ; and that in
a short time, by a crisis in the
Divine administration of the
world, described as a Coming of
the Son of Man, a new Age or
succession of ages would be in
augurated. Were they mistaken ?
It is usual to say that they were ;
— naturally and even advantage
ously mistaken. But before using
so strong a word as 'mistaken,'
we should be sure both that we

I. 22, 23]

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

33

aAAa Kai ev too peXAovit., Kai vavra virerahev viro
¦ ' Am** ' * i*
(paArjv virep

eocoKev Ke

tovs iroSas avrov,t Kai ayrpv
, travra rrj «
^rArjpcop.a rov ra Travra ev Traaiv TrXrjpovpe

23 ,iravra ry eKKArjq~icfa tjtis ecrriv to aoopa avrov, to

rightly understand the intention
of their language, and also that
we adequately estimate the mag
nitude, from a Christian point of
view, of the revolution which
took place at the epoch of the
destruction of Jerusalem.
22. xaVra vwira^Ev. Compare
Psa. viii. 6, Heb. ii. 8, and 1 Cor.
xv. 27. We see not yet all things
put under Christ's feet, because
the appointed order is not yet
victorious over disobedience. But
in the mind of God all things are
even now put under the feet of
Christ. 23. to TrXrjpwfia rov ra Travra
iv Ttdaiv TrXripovp.evov. TlXfipia/ja
here means complement. In iii.
19, and iv. 13, it rather means
completeness. In the Epistle to
the Colossians (i. 19, ii. 9) it is
used absolutely for the Infinite
Fulness, as a title of God. The
Church is here called the TtXripiofia
of Christ, because he would not
be "full" or complete without it.
The rest of the clause is difficult
to render with precision. The
reduplicative phrases, fold over
fold, in which St. Paul delights,
are not only not easy to translate,
but they are often somewhat ob
scure and ambiguous in meaning.
Does St. Paul mean anything more

here than if he had written too
ra Ttdvra irXrjpovvrog (as in iv. 10,
Iva irXrjpwtrri ra iravra) ? — As re
gards the use of the middle form
TcXijpovpivov, we may perhaps say,
from the analogy of irXripovcrdai
vavv, " to man one's ship," that
it suggests the idea of Christ's
filling what belongs to him. 'Ev
rrdoiv is coupled with ra vdvra in
Col. iii. 11, ra Travra Kai iv Traaiv
XpLarog, and in 1 Cor. xii. 6,
0 avrbg deog b ivipyiov ra travra
iv Ttaaiv. In these places ¦ku.uiv
refers not to things, but to men.
The hint thus given, that iv rraaiv
may have the same reference here,
derives some support from the
consideration that the subject of
the sentence is Christ's body the
Church, and from the expressions
iva TrXrjptoOfjre Eig irav to irXijpw/xa
rov Oeou (iii. 19), itXrjpovo-dE iv
TrvevpaTi (v. 18), and ime iv avr<p
TTETrXripiofiEvot (Col. ii. 10). If iv
Ttdaiv is " in all (men)," we must
understand St. Paul as blending
the thoughts that Christ is in all
and that he fills all things. The
Church is "the fulness of him
who in all is the filler of all
things." Possibly however it may
be only meant that Christ fills all
things everywhere.
Passages from Philo concerning
D

34

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

[II. 1—3.

n. i Kal vpds ovras veKpovs rols irapaTrrcopjwiv Kal
2 rais dpapriais, ev ah irore 7repie7rarr}aare Kara rov
aicova rov Koapov tovtov, Kara rov apyovra ttjs
e^ovaias rov depos, rov irvevparos rod vvv evep-
3 yovvros ev rols viols rrjs aireiOeias, ev ols Kal rjpeis
iravres avecrrpacprjpev irore ev rais eiridvpiais rrjs
cxapKos r/pcov, Troiovvres ra deXypara rrjs cap/cos Kal
rcov Biavoicov, Kal rjpev reKva (pvaei opyrjs cos Kal ol

God as filling all things are given
in the Essay.
II. 1. The quickening of the
Ephesian Christians was an ex
ample of that power of life which
wrought in raising Christ from
the dead, 'Yfiac was evidently to
be governed by some word mean
ing " he has raised to life." Svve-
^woT!oir\atv does occur further on,
after the construction has been
broken. 2. Kara rov aidva. We can
hardly do better than render aUiv
as in our E. V, " the course."
Moral or historical features are
implied in the term alwv.
Kara rov ap^ovra rrjs iiflvoiag
tov ciepog, rov Tn'tvparog . . . rrjg
aweidelag. Compare vi. 12, Trpog
rovg Kotrp-OKparopag rov okotovq
tovtov, Trpog to. TrvzvpariKa Trjg
Troiijpiae iv rolg tTrovpavioig. These
remarkable terms appear to be
carefully chosen. They aim at
describing a certain mysterious
power, diffused in the air, ruling
in, and by means of, spiritual
darkness brooding over. the earth.

There is no reason to doubt that
St. Paul would have used the
names ^ararag and StdftoXog,
Enemy and Divider, to denote
the same power. But in choosing
such words as the above, and in
using the singular and the plural
alternately (t6v upxpvra, roig kob-
fioKpdropag), it is probable that
the Apostle was seeking to por
tray a less defined and more subtle
agency than a personal name is
apt to suggest. As to the genitive
rov Trvevparog, it is just possible
to take rov irvEvjiarog as in appo
sition to either i&vtrlag or ciipog
and governed by dp^ovra, but it
is simpler and more natural to
believe that the Apostle would
have written tto irvevfia in the ac
cusative but- for- the "attraction"
of the preceding genitives, and
that the "ruler" is, rather than
governs, "the spirit." Compare
the language of the Avesta con
cerning Angro-mainyus and the
Daevas, quoted in the Essay.
3. rw Siavomv, the thoughts,
or the mind.
iipt v TiKva (pvact opyrjg, " were

II. 4—9.]

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

35

4 Xonroi' o 8e deos ttXovo-ios cov ev eXeei, 8ia ttjv
5 ttoXXtjv ayairrjv avrov tjv rjyaTrrjo-ev rjpds, Kal bvras
i)p,as veKpovs tois Trapairrcopaaiv o-vve^cooTronjaev ra>
6 Xpio-Ta>, xaPlTl core aeacoo-pevoi, Kal avvrjyeipev Kal
crvveKa6io-ev ev rols eirovpaviois ev X/3iOTo3 I^crou,
7 iva evSei^rjrai ev tois alcoaiv rols eTrepxopevois to
vTrepfiaXXov ttXovtos ttjs xaPLTOS olvtov ev ^prjo-rorrjTt
S e(f) Tjpds. ev X/)tcrro3 Irjaov. rfj yap xaPLTL *o-re
aeo-coo-pevot 8ia rrjs Triarecos, Kal tovto ovk e£ vpxov,
9 Oeov to ScopoV ovk e£ 'epycov, iva prj tis Kavx'rjo'TjTai'

children, by nature, of wrath."
It is a tempting interpretation, on
account of its great suitableness
to the context, to take Spyt'i in its
original sense, of " passion " or
animal impulse, and riKva opyrjg
as " children of ungoverned im
pulse." But St. Paul's habitual
use of opyri, and the closely
parallel passage in this Epistle
(v. 6), " On account of these
things comes the wrath (opyvi) of
God on the sons of disobedience,"
compel us to take this phrase in
the commonly received sense, —
that of "children of Divine wrath,"
persons, whothrough submission to
the flesh, which is enmity against
God, lie under God's anger.
5, 6. If it is asked when these
Divine acts were done, the answer
must be, that they were done when
Christ himself was raised and
exalted, and that they were then
done because of the necessary and
indissoluble connexion between
the Head and his members, — the

Divine power which wrought in
him descending also (i. 19 — 23)
upon them. (Compare Col. ii.
12, 13; iii. 1—5.) But the living
fellowship in a new and heavenly
existence between Christ and men,
which was then originally and
ideally organized, is practically
and gradually carried out through
the faith of Christ's members in
him, and in proportion to their
faith. This takes place iv ro'ig
aloiaiv rote eTrEpyojiivoig (ver. 7).
5, 8. xapiri lore ataoiafiivoi.
St. Paul assumes that his readers
had already been raised to that
fellowship with Christ risen and
exalted, to be in which is to be
" saved." This salvation was due
to God's grace, and wrought out
by faith.
koi tovto. Additional emphasis
is laid upon the Divine origin of
salvation. St. Paul wa3 afraid
that even salvation by grace
through faith might be referred
to some primary source in human
D2

36

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

[II. 10—12.

10 avrov yap eapev iroiypa, KTio-0evres ev ~X.pio-rcp Irjaov
eTrl epyois dyaOols ols Trporjroipao-ev o deos Iva ev
avrols Trepnrarrjacopev.
" Aio pv-qpovevere on rrore vpels ra eOvrj ev crapKi,
ol Xeyopevoi aKpofivaria vwo rrjs Xeyopevns Trepi-
12 roprjs ev crapKL xuP07r0LVT0V^ 0TL VTe T<? Kaipw
eK.ei.vcp xwPLS Xpio-rov aTryX^orpuojievoi ttjs TroXirelas

nature ; so he adds, " And that
not of, or from, yourselves, — the
gift is God's, — not of works," that
is, not primarily from any human
devices. 10. iirl 'ipyoig dyaOoig. Al
though not ll epytov, yet hrl
epyoig, — an unusual but significant
use of iirl followed by a dative.
It implies a certain basis or con
dition. We are created in Christ
Jesus upon a certain hypothesis,
as it were, or plan, of good works
to be done by us. Does this act
nf creation belong to the com
mencement of our natural exist
ence, or to that of our Christian
life? — Not exactly to either, but
to the Divine mind or purpose,
in the fiat of which each kind
of existence originates. Compare
iv. 24 ; Col. iii. 10.
11. For the subject of this
paragraph, see the Introduction,
p. 23.
12. In reminding the Gentiles
of what they had formerly been,
the Apostle intends to contrast
their condition, point by point,
with that of the Jews. Each
negative statement as to the Gen

tiles implies a corresponding privi
lege which had belonged to the
Jews. Thus the Jews had had
their national existence associated
with that of a Messiah ; they had
been constituted into a Common
wealth founded upon covenants of
promise ; they had had a distinct
hope held out before them ; a God
had revealed himself to them in
their world. In all these respects
the Gentiles had been formerly at
a disadvantage compared with the
Jews. They had been x"uP's
Xpitrrov, — not, unvisited by the
Light which enlightens every
man, but without a Christ, nn-
assoeiated with the Messiah of
whom the Jewish prophets bore
witness. Whatever advantages
of unity and life the Jews had
possessed in their Divinely-organ
ized Commonwealth and in the
covenanted Promise on which they
depended, were wanting to the
Gentiles. iXTriSa fil) e-^ovrEg cai
adcoi iv rj! Koopw, "not having
a Hope (as the Jews had), and
without a God (revealed like Je
hovah) in the world." The world
had indeed been full of gods (gods

II. 13—15.] EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 37
rov 'lo-parjX Kal ^evSt^rcov 8iddr]Kcov tt}s eiTayyeXias,
13 eXirlSa pr) exovres Kal dOeoi Iv rep Koapcp- vvvl 8e
ev Xpiarm 'Irjaov vpels ol wore- ovres paUcpav eyyvs
H eymj&yre ip ra atflffi-i rov Xpiarod. avros yap
eo-riv rj eiprjvr) rjpcov, 6 Troiijaras ra dpcporepa ev Kal
15 to fleo-oroixov rov (ppWyfiov Xvaas, rr)v hdpav, ev
rrj o-apKi avrov rov vopov rcov evroXcov ev Soypaaiv

many and lords many, in heaven
and in earth) to the Gentile. But
the Apostle could not take these
into accoimt by the side of Je
hovah the God of his fathers ;
and, such as they were, they had
almost disappeared in that age.
" The intelligible forma of ancient
poets,
The fair humanities of old religion,
The Power, the Beauty, and the
. Majesty,
That had their haunts in dale, or
piny mountain,
Or forest by slow stream, or pebbly
spring,
: Or. chasms, and watery depths ; all
these had vanished."
The world was not the world of a
Living God to the Gentile races.
1 3. Nuvi le. But now this ' is
all changed. The separation has
given place to union in the same
privileges infinitely enhanced.
iv rw alfiari rov Xpurrov. The
blood, the flesh, the sacrifice, the
person, of Christ, are become the
means of uniting together the
divided parts of humanity, be
cause in him humanity as a whole
is reconciled and united to God.
14. to fiEaoTOiXpv rov ippaypov,

" the dividing-wall or fence of the
enclosure," within which the Jews
were kept apart from the Gentiles.
14, 15. rr)v E\dpav. The comma
afterExflpai'isbetteroniitted. In ac
cordance with the general thought
of this passage, " the enmity" like
the " peace " is twofold, between
man and God, and between Jews
and Gentiles. And the enmity is
represented by the Law, " the law
of commandments in decrees."
Similarly in Col. ii. 14, " the
handwriting in decrees" is said
to have been " adverse to us ; "
to Kad' rjfitSv ](€ip6ypa<puv rolg loy-
fiamv 0 i\v inrEvavnov fjfiiv. The
Jewish Law was only an example
of the general principle of Law,
of which it is the nature, accord
ing to St. Paul, to enjoin with
absolute authority all that is right,
without giving to the weak and
perverse will any power to do it.
The effect of Law therefore, as
embodied in Soypara or decrees,
was to condemn, and so to drive
away from God. Both Jews and
Gentiles were subject to this in
fluence of Law, and being thereby

38 EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. U1- 16-21.
16 Kaivov dvOpcoirov ttoicov elprjvrjv, kcu aTroScaraXXa^rj
tovs dp(porepovs ev evl acopiaTi rco Beep oia rov
17 crravpov, aTTOKTeivas ttjv ex&pav. *>> avrcp. Kai eXdcov
ev-nyyeXlo-aro elprjvnv vplv rols paKpav Kal elpyvnv
18 tois eyyvs, on 01 avrov exop*v ttjv Trpoaaycoynv 01
19 dpchorepoi ev evl Trvevpari 7rpos rov irarepa. Apa
ovv ovKeri ecrre £evoi Kai irapoiKOi, aAA ecrre o-vpiro-
20 Xlrai tcov dyicov Kal tiikeioi rov Beov, ' eiroiKoSopT]-
6'evres etrl rep"1 OepeXicp tcov drroaToXcov Kal 7rpo(j)rjTcov,
21 ovros°> aKpoycoviaiov avrov Xpio-rov Irjcrov, ev co iracra

separated from God were also ne
cessarily kept from peace amongst
themselves ; whilst the Jewish
Law was further a symbol and
agent of separation between Jews
and Gentiles. For the Law, as
seen in decrees only, Jesus Christ
substituted himself, dying a sacri
fice to God for men, and thus
established a bond of love and
life between the Father and the
hearts of men.
17. iXQtuv EvrjyyEXitraTO. The
coming and the proclaiming of
glad tidings might be taken as
referring in general to the whole
advent of the Son of God in the
flesh. But the Apostles were ac
customed to speak of their Lord
as having " come " on the Day of
Pentecost and as preaching glad
tidings and peace by the mouth
of his ambassadors. " Unto you
first God, having raised up his
Son Jesus, sent him to bless you"
(Acts iii. 26). " I will not leave
you comfortless ; I will come to

you. Yet a little while, and the
world seeth me no more ; but ye
see me" (St. John xiv. 18, 19).
19. What the Gentiles are now,
in contrast with what they were
(verse 12).
oikeIoi rov Oeov, " members of
God's household." Compare roig
o'lKEiovg rijg Trioreiag, Gal vi. 10.
God's house is large enough for
many inmates ; Christ has pre
pared places in it for all believers
(St. John xiy. 2, 3).
20. iirl rji 6ipe.Xiq> rwv diroaro-
Xwv Kal Trpo<pr)T<i>v. The apostles
and prophets are the foundation
of the Church, as being the first
stones laid upon the common
foundation of all, and as drawing
by their testimony other believers
who were laid as stones upon
them. St. Peter was the first
stone, (Uirpog, K?;<pac,) through his
first confession of Jesus as the
Son of the Living God. Compare
1 Pet. ii. 4, 5; Eev. xxi. 14. The
prophets are not those of the Old

II. 22; III. 1—4.] EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 39
olKo8ow/o-vyappoXoyQvpevytd$tjei els ,vabv dyiov ev
•2 Kvpicp, ev <b Kal vp.elsifavvoiKo8ppeiade els ^kaTOiKTiTvpiov
Tov veov ev itvevp-an. f
i ^ Tovtov x^-piv eyd> IlauAoy 6 8earpiios tov Xpiarov
2 'Irjo-ov virep vpcov rcov edvcov el ye TjKovaare ttjv
olKOvop.iav rijs x<*PLT°s tov Oeov rijs SoBeicrrjs p.01 els
3 u^ay, on Kara diroKaXv^nv eyvcopiadrj poi to pvar-rj-
4 piov, Kadcos ivpoeypwfya ev oX'iycp, -irpbs o Bvvaade

Covenant, but the teachers asso
ciated with the Apostles of Christ,
as in iii. 5 ; iv. 11; 1 Cor. xii.
28. &Kpoyu)vtaiov. See Isa. xxviii.
16; Ps. cxviii. 22; Matt. xxi.
42. III. 1. Tovtov ¦)(aptv. The refer
ence is to the whole preceding state
ment of the Christian calling and
condition, which serves as a reason
for the vows and exhortations
which areTiow to be poured forth.
The sentence is interrupted after
verse 1, and resumed at verse 14.
6 ZtiTfiiog rov Xpiorov 'Irjoov virip
hpiov rwv idvuiv. St. Paul che
rished his imprisonment as a mark
of honourable service under his
Master. His whole life was " on
behalf of the Gentiles ; " but the
imprisonment was expressly due
to his faithfulness in maintaining
their right to all the privileges of
the Gospel. Compare Acts xxi.
xxii. especially xxii. 21, 22.
2. rr\v oiKOvofiiav rrjg -^apirog,
"the dispensation of the grace."
olKovofiia is a system of manage- 9

ment. The meaning of the phrase
here is nearly this : " If you have
heard of the grace, which, under
God's providence, has been given
me towards you." x"Pl£> a grace
or favour, is habitually used by
St. Paul to denote his Apostolic
vocation. See verses 7, 8; Gal.
ii. 9; Philip, i. 7; Eom. i. 4;
xii. 3 ; xv. 15 ; 1 Cor. iii. 10 ;
xv. 10. 0'iKovop.ia is used by
itself in Col. i. 25, Kara ttjv oho-
vofilav tov Beov tyjv BoBiiadv fxoi
slg v/xag.
3. to p.varr\piov. The secret re
vealed to him is that stated in
verse 6.
KaQiig rrpoEypaif/a ev oXiyio. It
is generally supposed that the
writing here mentioned is to be
found in the first chapter of this
Epistle (especially in i. 9 — 14) ;
but may it not refer to a previous
letter ? The hypothesis of such
a letter having been written not
long before would help to explain
the absence of personal and other
special details in this letter.
>, " by reference to
namely, what I wrote.

40 EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. [HI. 5—12.
avayivcocrKOvres vorjcrat rrjv avveaiv p.ov ev rip pva-
5 rrjpicp tov Xpiarov, b erepais yeveais ovk eyvcopiaOr)
rols viols tcov dvBpcoircov cos vvv a7reKaXv(pdr) rols
dyiois diroaroXois avrov Kal irpocprjTais ev irvevpan,
6 elvai ra eBvq a-vyKXrjpovopa Kai avaacopa Kai o~vp-
p-ero^a rrjs errayyeXias ev Xpicrrcp Ino-ov 8ia tov
7 evayyeXiov, ov eyevrjBrjv SiaKOvos Kara rrjv Scopeav
rrjs xaPLT0S T°v Beov rrjv Bo&elaav pot Kara rrjv
8 evepyeiav rrjs 8vvap,ecos avrov. epol rS eXayia-
rorepcp wavrcov ayicov edoBrj rj xaPls avrrj, ev rols
e&veaiv evayyeXicraaBai to ave^tx^iaarov ttXovtos
9 tov Xpiarov, Kal (pconaai vravras ris t] olKOvopia
tov pv<TT7)piov tov arroKeKpvppevov aivo tcov alcovcov
io ev rco Beep rco ra Travra Kricravn, iva yvcopicrBy vvv
rais dpxals Kal rais e^ovaiais ev rols eTrovpaviois
8ia rr/s eKKXnaias *] TroXviroiKiXos o~o(pia tov Beov,
» Kara irpoBeo-iv tcov alcovcov rjv eTro'vnaev ev Xpicrrco
ii 'Irjaov rco Kvpicp rjpcov, ev a> 'exop-ev rrjv irappnaiav
6. That the Gentiles should be giving it out to men. Compare
associated with the Jews in all olk-ovopovg fivarripiixtv Beuv, 1 Cor.
their privileges and expecta- iv. 1. In the latter, " the dispen-
tions. sation of the mystery" would he
9. (pwTiaai iravrag Tig f) oiko- the system or Divine economy
vopiia tov p.voTiiplov. The en- introduced by the unfolding of
lightening is the same as that God's hidden purpose. Perhaps
spoken of in 2 Cor. iv. 4, 6. tig this latter sense suits the context
to p.i) avyacrai tov (jtuiTi<Tp.ov rov best.
EvayyeXiov rrjg Sd^ije tov Xpiorov. 10. rate ap%a7g Kai rdig ilov
TTpog qnJTitrp.ov rrjg yviiUEwg rrjg aiaig iv ro'tg iiruvpai ioig, the fre-
lolrjg tov deov iv TrpotrwTru 'Ijjo-ou quent expression in these two
Xptirrou. It seems doubtful whether Epistles for the powers of the in-
o'iKovop.ta here is to be taken as in visible world. Here no distinction
this chapter, verse 2, or as in i. of good or bad is implied; but an
10. In the former case, "the dis- intellectual personality is ascribed
pensation of the mystery " would to them.
mean the distribution of it, the 12. T,)v 7ratfr,aiay Kal ri)v Ttpoa-

III. 13—18.] EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 41
Kai rrjv Trpoaaycoyrjv ev TreTroiBrjcrei 8ia rrjs irio-recos
avrov.
13 Aio alrovp-ai prj eyKaKelv ev rais BXi^reaiv pov
14 virep vpxov, rjns eariv oo£a vpxov. tovtov xaPlv
13 Kapjirrco ra yovara p,ov irpos rov irarepa, efj ov iraaa
16 Trarpia ev ovpavols Kal eTrl yrjs ovopua^erai, Iva Scpij
vp.lv Kara to ttXovtos ttjs So^rjs avrov 8vvap.ei Kpa-
raicoBrjvai Sia tov irvevparos avrov els tov 'ecrco
l7 avBpcowov, KaroiKrjaai rov Xpicrrov 81a rrjs Triarecos
18 ev rais KapSiais vp,5>v, ev dyairrj eppi^copevoi Kal

aywyriv. Compare ii. 18 ; Heb.
x. 19.
13. Compare the striking words
in Col. i. 24. " Tribulations" were
necessary for the building up of the
Church. By this use they were
made sacred, and might be a source
of rejoicing to him who suffered
and to them for whom they were
endured. 14. The sentence, interrupted
after verse 1, is now taken up
and proceeds. The omission of
the words roii Kvpiov ti/iHv 'Iijo-ou
XpioroS after tov irarepa, on un
doubted MS. authority, should
be observed. The Vulgate, whilst
retaining these words, exhibited
the connexion of the next clause
with rov iraripa by rendering
Trdaa Trarpia. omnis paternitas.
• 15. irarpia is evidently used
with reference to the preceding
Trarrip. The Name of the Father,
according to Scriptural concep
tions, is real and vital; and to say
that every irarpia is namedsftei the

Father means that the Fatherhood
of God is the source and ground
of every such association. Every
family, every clan (Trarpia), has
its bond in a common father ; and
an earthly father is an image and
representative of the heavenly. All
family unions, all fellowships which
acknowledge a rcarfip, are based
upon the Name of the one Father.
It is not obvious why St. Paul
introduced here this unfolding of
what is contained in the Name of
the Father. It is enough to say;
that it helps to make the whole
grand image of the filial fellow
ship of men with God in the Son.
a more living one.
16. Eig to" iaiti av&pwTTOv. Is this
merely " in the inner man," in the
inward spiritual nature ? or is it
" unto the inner man," so as to
mature the true man, the image
of God, the Christ in each man 1
In the latter case the " inner man"
corresponds with the " new man"
of iv. 24.

42

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

[III. 19—21.

reBepeXicopevoi, Iva egiaxvcrrjre KaraXafieaBai aw
iraaiv rols dy'iois ri to irXdros Kal prjKOS Kal fiaBos
19 Kal v\jsos, yvcovai re rr)v virepfiaXXovaav rrjs yvcoaecos
dydirrjv rov Xpiarov, 'iva TrXrjpcoBrjre els Tvav to irXrj-
pcopa rov Beov.
20 T«5 8e Svvapevco virep Travra iroirjaat virepeKTre-
piaaov cov alrovpeBa r) voovpev Kara rrjv Svvapiv
21 rrjv evepyovpkvrjv ev rjplv, avrcp r) 8o£a ev ry e/c-
KXrjaia. ev Xpiarco 'Irjaov els iraaas ras yeveas rov

aicovos tcov al(ovcov' ajxrjv.

18. ilittxvai\TE, " may have
strength to . . ." Spiritual force
and stability, a root and founda
tion of love, are necessary to
enable the weak heart of a man
to enter into the infinity of the
Divine Love.
ri to irXdrog, k.t.X., "the breadth,
and length, and depth, and height,"
— of what ? If any definite word
is understood, it must be Love,
the Love of Christ. But it is
possible that St. Paul did not
intend anything definite to be
understood, but referred generally
to the Divine nature and purposes.
" That you may know what is the
breadth, and length, and depth,
and height," — of the Immeasur
able. 19. "The love of Christ," i.e.
Christ's love, which transcends
knowledge, which no human
knowledge can compass. A geni
tive after v-irep(3dXXeiv, though rare,
is not without precedent.

£i£ trav to TrXrjpiofia rov Beov,
" unto (or up to) all God's fulness ,•"
that ye maybe filled to the perfect
fulness, — that which is according
to God's design.
20. Kara rrjv Svvapiv rijv ivEp-
yovfxivr)v iv rjpiv. It IS to be
noticed how repeatedly St. Paul
connects the most supreme opera
tions of God's power with his
operations in us. The power of
God is one, — an essentially vital,
restorative, and fatherly power.
That which wrought in raising
Christ up from the dead is the
same which works in quickening
the humblest soul.
21. The terms used here to
express an indefinite duration
may be thus explained. Time
was conceived of as a succession
of ages, alwveg. An age of ages
was a greater cycle comprising
many lesser cycles. "Unto all
the generations of the age of
ages."

IV. 1—7.]

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

43

TlapaKaXco ovv v/xds eyco 6 8eap.ios ev Kvpico, d^icos
irepvKarrjaai rrjs KXrjaecos r)s eKXrjBrjre, pera Ttaarjs
Taireivocppoavvrjs Kal Trpavrrjros, p.era paKpoBvpias,
dvexop-evoi aXXrjXcov ev dyairrj, airov8a^pvres rrjpelv
rrjv evoTrjra tov rrvevparos ev rco avv8eapxp rrjs
eiprjvrjs. ev acopa Kal ev irvevpa, KaBcos Kal eKXrjBrjre
ev pia eXrriSt rrjs KXrjaecos vpcov' els Kvpios, pia
iriaris, 'ev /3aTrriap.a' els deos Kal Trarrjp Travrcov,

o eiri Travrcov Kai

eKaarcp rjjxcov

8ia
eSoBrj

evi

Travrcov Kai ev iraaiv
r] XaPls KaTa TO P-tTpov

8e
rrjs

IV. 1. See the Introduction,
p. 24.
2. aveyopevoi aX\i)X<i>v, " en
during at one another's hands."
Compare "Ewe ttote avelopai vpwv;
St. Matt. xvii. 17.
3. rr\p€iv, "to keep by giving
heed to . . ." iv raj avvlio-pip rrjg
Eiprivr/g. ev is "within." Peace
is regarded as a bond holding all
in harmony together where the
unity of the Spirit is heeded. In
Col. iii. 14, love is called "the
bond of perfectness " in a similar
sense. 4. "Ev oGtjia. On the whole
the ordinary punctuation seems
to be the best. "There is one
body, ..."
KaBitg Ka'i EKXr,Qr,re iv pia 'eXiridi.
The calling was made by means
of the holding forth of a hope.
This hope was one and the same
for all who received the Gospel.
It was the hope of filial adoption
or sonship. This being the nature
of the calling, it was in harmony
with it (KaOhq Kai ekXtiOiite) that

there should be one body and
one spirit for those who were
called. 6. The first iravriov refers to
those who are exhorted to unity :
"you all have one God and
Father." In the second clause
the reference is more general, pro
bably to all things, as well as all
persons. 7. Unity is not incompatible
with variety. Each member of
the one body has his particular
duties and gifts.
r) %dpig. Hardly " grace," in the
sense of spiritual influence ; but
rather " his special grace or privi
lege." We have seen that St.
Paul habitually regarded his own
life-work as his %"Pls (iii- 7). He
might apply the same language to
others. "Each one amongst us
has had his grace given him," has
been favoured with his own ap
pointment, has had his office be
stowed upon him. Compare Eom.
xii. 6, 'if(pvrEg -)(api(TpaTa Kara t^v
\dpiv rfjv loQe'iaav rip'iv lid(j>opa.

44

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

[ IV. 8, 9.

8 Scopeds rov Xpiarov. Sib Xeyei 'Avaj3as els v\jtos
yyjpaXcorevaev alxpaXcoaiav, eScoKev Sopxrra rols av-
9 Bpcorrois. to Se dvefirj ri eariv el prj on Kal Karep\j

8. lib Xiyei, soil, r] ypatyr/. " It
says," i.e. the Scripture. What
follows is a free quotation of an
originally obscure passage, Psalm
lxviii. 18. If we say that St.
Paul simply adduced words which
struck upon his memory from the
sacred books, for the sake of ex
pressing more pointedly what he
wanted to teach, and did not
necessarily concern himself about
the sense of the passage in the
original nor about exact accuracy
in quotation, we must bear in
mind also that St. Paul was not
really resting any conclusion upon
the dogmatic authority of the pas
sage he quotes. Here, for example,
it would be absurd to suppose that
he is proving the fact of the Divine
distribution of offices and gifts by
an appeal to the Hebrew Scrip
tures. It is singular, however, that he
should have altered the passage
he quotes so much as he appears
to have done. The Psalm speaks
of the going up of the ark of
Jehovah to the summit of Zion.
The second clause of the verse
quoted is thus given by the Sep-
tuagint, which is said to agree
with the Hebrew original : EXafog
Sopara iv avdpinroig, (or ev av-
flpum-jj,) — which is interpreted to
mean, " thou hast received gifts

in men," that is, " thou hast
received men as gifts." This is
very different from " thou hast
given gifts to men;" and we do
not know whether to attribute the
variation to a mistake of memory,
to extreme freedom in using re
semblances of sound rather than
of meaning, or to a feeling that in
the change made he is developing
the meaning of the original words.
This passage reminds us of what
St. Peter said (Acts ii. 33), " Being
therefore exalted by the right hand
of God and having received from
the Father the promise of the
Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this
which you see and hear." It is just
possible that St. Paul's thoughts
ran thus : " When he ascended up
on high he took a multitude of
captives, and received gifts in men,
and then gave the gifts (namely,
human offices) which he had re
ceived," and that he omitted, as
not necessary for his purpose, the
middle part of the sentence. But
neither this, nor any other explana
tion which has been suggested, can
be said to be satisfactory.
9. to li avifii,. "But when
we say that he ascended, what is
implied but that he also descended
first to the lower parts of the
earth 1 " There is little to enable
us to decide whether by "the

IV. 10—12.]

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

45

10 els ra Karcorepa ttjs yrjs ; 6 Karaftas avros eanv Kal
o avafiias virepavco Travrcov tcov ovpavoov, iva irXrjpioarj
n ra Travra. Kai avros eocoKev tovs jxev airoaToXovs,
tovs 8e Trpocprjras, tovs Se evayyeXiaras, tovs Se
12 troipevas Kal SiSaaKaXovs, irpos tov Karapriapov tcov

lower parts of the earth " we are
to understand parts below the
surface of the earth, or simply
the parts of this earth, which are
low down in relation to the heaven
above. Why should St. Paul insist
here upon the identification of
him who went up with him who
came down ?— In order, it would
seem, to bring to his readers'
minds the recollection of the his
torical Jesus who had died and
been raised again.
. 11. Kai a\>Tog eSumev. " And he
it is who has given." Then follow
examples of various \dpireg given
to members of the one body. We
are not to suppose that each of
the functions here named had a
formal office answering to it in
the Christian Church. Compare
1 Cor. xii. 28. The title cra-oVroXoe
itself was not always confined to
the Twelve and St. Paul. See
2 Cor. viii. 23 ; Phil. ii. 25.
rrpotyi'iTag. Expounders, declar
ing the will of God with authority.
See especially 1 Cor. xiv. The
recognised Trpotyr\rai were accus
tomed also to deliver predictions.
Acts xii. 27, 28; xxi. 10, 11.
evayyeXurrdg, persons employed

in proclaiming the glad tidings.
Philip, one of the Seven, is called
(Acts xxi. 8) an evangelist, as if
this title described a distinct office ;
but, on the other hand, Timothy-
is charged (2 Tim. iv. 5) to " do
the work of an evangelist."
iroipevag Kat SilaaKaXovg. The
term shepherd implies the func
tions of ruling, almost more than
that of supplying spiritual food.
Here, the same persons are repre
sented as doing the work both of
shepherds and teachers.
12. 7rpoc rov KarapTtcrpov rHv
ayiwv, "for the organizing of the
saints, unto the work of minister
ing, unto the building of the body
of Christ." The clause slg 'ipyov
liaKoviag, without being strictly
governed in one sentence by Karap
riapov (with the meaning, " to
qualify the saints for the work of
ministering ") may be rather de
pendent on, than in apposition
with, the preceding clause. The
organizing of the Church is the
purpose of the functions just
described, and the result of this
organization is practical activity
in ministering, and a building up
of the body of Christ.
rov Kar. rwv ayluv might mean

46

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

[IV. 13—15.

dyicov els epyov SiaKOvias, els o'lKoSoprjv rov acoparos
13 tov Xpiarov, pexpi- Karavrrjacopev 01 Travres els rrjv
evorrjra rrjs Triarecos Kal rrjs emyvooaecos tov viov tov
Beov, els dvSpa reXeiov, els fierpov rjXiKias tov irXrj-
14 pcoparos rov Xpiarov, iva priKeri mpev vrjirioi, kXvScovi-
^bpevoi Kal TrepKpepopevoi iravrl dvepcp rrjs SiSaaKaXias
ev rfj Kv/3eia tcov dvBpcoTrcov, ev iravovpyia. rrpos rrjv.
15 jxeBoSeiav rrjs rrXdvrjs, dXrjBevovres Se ev dydirrj

the perfecting of individual cha
racter, but it seems most suitable
to the general use of Karapri'£w
and to the context to take rwv
ayiiov as the aggregate of believers,
and the work upon them as that of
adjusting them in their mutual
relations to one another.
13. " Until we all (arrive at)
attain to the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son
of God."
ol iravTEg. Observe the article.
St. Paul is throughout speaking of
the members of the Church as
forming a body, and not as indi
viduals. " Until the whole body
arrives at ... "
t^v IvoYjjra, the unity which
depends on believing in and know
ing the Son of God.
tig avSpa reXeiov. " Unto a full-
grown Man." The Man is the
body of believers.
elg pirpov ijXiKiag. The image
is carried on. " Unto the measure
of growth of the fulness of Christ.'7
ijXiKia is age, or time of life ; and
by an easy transition it represents
a stage of growth or maturity.

" The fulness of Christ " stands
for the perfection of Humanity,
the stage when Christ is com
plete in his body and all its
members. 14. Placing a comma after ira-
vovpyiif, and none after SilaaKoXlag
or hvdpinrtov, we may translate,
" carried about by every wind of
teaching in the craft of men in
knavery ;" — the changes of teach
ing having the craft of men for
their element, and that craft
having knavery for its element.
7rpoc 7-j)i' pedoleiav rrjg TrXdvrjg,
"to the following out of error."
This seems to be the meaning of
the rare word pedoSua. pedoleva
is "to pursue, to track, to treat
a subject by rule or method ; "
and so comes to mean " to pur
sue by craft, to outwit : " but
this latter sense hardly suits the
present passage. St. Paul refers
to the effect of such teaching as
he describes, in methodical and
systematic false doctrine.
15. aX)j0£uoi/r£e, not speaking
the truth, merely, but " observing,
or being loyal to, truth," in con-

IV. 16—18.]

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

47

av^rjaoojxev els avrov ra Travra, os eanv r) KecpaXrj,
16 Xpiaros, eg ov irav to acopa avvapp,oXoyovp.evov
Kal avp,fSif$afypevov Sia iraarjs dcprjs rrjs e-jTixoprjyias
Kar evepyeiav ev perpcp evos eKaarov pepovs rrjv
av^rjaiv rov acoparos Troielrai els o'iKo8op.r)v eavrov
ev ayairrj.
17 Tovto ovv Xeyco Kal jxaprvpopai ev Kvpicp, prjKeri
vpas TrepiTrarelv KaBcos Kal ra Xonra e&vrj Trepiirarel
18 ev paTaiorrjn tov voos avroov, eaKonajxevoi rfj Siavoia
bvres, dTrrjXXorpieopievoi rrjs {,cor)s tov Beov, Sia rrjv

trast with the indifference to truth
just described.
iv dy dm) may be said to belong
to both aXridtvovrEgandi avlrfaiapev,
rather than to either exclusively ;
" but being loyal to truth may in
love grow up . . ."
16. See the translation. The
terms in this description of the
growth of the body are crowded
together, as is not uncommon in
St. Paul and in the end the sen
tence states that " the body . . .
effects the growth of the body."
But the sense of the passage is
plain enough. The aim of the
Apostle is to express the vital
action of every part in its place,
and at the same time the depend
ence of all the parts on the head.
il ov, from whom, depending on
whom, lia irdar\g ajprjg rrjg eiri-
Xopriyiag. There is some doubt as to the
meaning of the word imxopriyia
in this clause. We cannot render,
as in E. V., " the supply of every
joint." We must keep the order

of the words and read, " by means
of every joint (or ligature) of the
supply ; " nearly equivalent to
" every joining supplied," " the
supply " being the whole amount
or material supplied. The atyal
of the body of Christ are the
relations of the members one to
another. Kar' ivipyEiav, as well as iv
pirpip, goes with Evog kudarov
pipovg. 18. rrjg Zwr/g rov Beov. St. Paul
has spoken before in this Epistle,
as elsewhere, of that quickening
power with which God raises and
renews the soul. Compare, in the
way of contrast, i. 18 — ii. 5 ; the
enlightenment and knowledge
there spoken of with the dark
ness and ignorance here ; the life,
shared with Christ, with the es
trangement from that life.
With this description of the
state of the Gentile world, com
pare that in Eomans i. 21 to the
end. The elements of the descrip
tion, and many of the terms, are

48

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

[IV. 19—24.

ayvoiav rrjv ovaav ev avrols, Sia rrjv ircopcoaiv ttjs
19 KapSias avroov, otnves aTrrjXyrjKores eavrovs TrapeScoKav
rrj daeXyeia els epyaaiav aKaBapaias rraarjs ev irXeo-
20 vejjia.. vpels Se ovx ovrcos ejxaBere tov Xpiarov,
21 e'l ye avrov rjKovaare Kal ev avrco eSiSaxBrjre KaBcos
¦12 eariv aXr/Beia ev rco Irjaov, airoBeaBai vpas Kara
rrjv irporepav avaarpocprjv rov TraXaiov avBpcoirov tov
23 (pBeipopevov Kara ras eiriBvpias rrjs airarrjs, dvave-
24 ovaBai Se rep irvevpan rov voos vpcov Kal evSvaa&Bai'

the same in both passages. The
emptiness, the darkness, the igno
rance, the callousness, the un-
governed sensuality, which cha
racterised the Gentile mind, are
in both places set forth.
20. o&x ovrutg, " not so," not
that you should be or remain in
such a state.
ipaBETs tov Xpiarov. Christ
himself was the object of learning
and study to the believers ; his
nature, his character, his work
and power, the purpose of God
manifested in him. Compare He
brews iii. 1. Karavor)tTaTE rov airo-
trroXov Kai dp%iepia rrjg opoXoylag
iipbiv 'Itjuovv.
21. £t ys avrov ijKovaare, "if
you have heard him," his voice
calling you.
iv ah™, certainly not " by him "
as in E. V, but "in him," either
with the usual sense of iv Kvplto
or iv Xpiarip, when this expression
is used to denote the whole state
or conditions of being of the
Christian, — or with the more
special meaning, that Christ is

the subject or element of know
ledge. This latter meaning appears
the most suitable to the passage,
especially when we take into con
sideration the words immediately
following. KaBwg ioriv dXr/OEia iv rif 'Iijirov,
" as truth is, or as there is truth,
in Jesus." Truth is the matter of
the teaching. " If you have learnt
that truth which is to be found in
Jesus." AiyEi airw o'lijoowc/Eyw
Elpi }/ olog Kal }/ dXrjBEia. (St. John
xiv. 6.)
22. diroBiodai, "namely, that
you should put off . . ." This
was the purport of what they had
been taught.
tov <pBEip6pEvov. Observe the
tense. "Which is being cor
rupted, or brought to destruction."
Kara rag eV-, " according to," under
the influence of . . . rac imdvplag
rrjg dirdrijg, the lusts which are
the instruments or servants of
deceit. 24. The "new man" is the
ideal existing in God's mind. As
such, it is already "created."

IV. 25— 30.]

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

49

rov Kaivov avBpcoTrov tov Kara Beov KriaBevra ev
SiKaioavvji Kal baiorrjn rrjs aXrjBeias.
21 Aio aTra&epc^voi to yj/evSos XaXelre dXrjBeiav eKbcaros
pera rov TrXT)';aio'v avrov, on eapev aXXrjXcov peXtfjT
26 opyiQyrBe Kal prj apaprdvere' 6 rjfttfos pr) e¥i8verco,
27 eirl rco Trapppyia[j.cp vpcov, prjSe SiSore tottcW' tco
28 SiafioXco. 0 KXenTcovxprjKeri KXeirrerco, pdXXov Se
koWiarco epya^opevos rb dyaBbv rais xeP(T'-vi '¦vaJ^Xr1
29 peraoioovai rco ypeiav exovn. Trap Xoyos aatrpos e/c
rov aroparos vpcov prj emropeveaBco, ,aXX' el ris
ayaaos irpos oiKOOopijv rny Yjoetay, iva ocp yapiv tois

;o aKovovaiv. 1 Kai prj Avureire to rrvevpa to aytov tov
ueov, ev to eacppwyiaBrjre eis rjpepav aTTOAvrpcoaecos.

k-ara Beov is not quite " in the
likeness of God." It means "in
accordance with God's will and
nature." " The righteousness and
holiness of truth" answer to "the
lusts of deceit." Truth is repre
sented as a power presiding over
righteousness and holiness.
26. opyi^EvBE Kal pi} apaprdvETE.
Quoted from Ps. iv. 5 (or 4) Sept.
Anger or resentment is not neces
sarily and intrinsically evil, but it
ought not to be cherished, so as
to become enmity. " If you are
made angry by anything, let not
your irritation last over the day."
27. ra Sia(36Xu>. AidftoXog =
oc liafiaXXei, the evil spirit which
sets man against man and man
against God. Luther's Version
has " dem Lasterer," " to the
slanderer," probably meaning the
human slanderer. In translating

lidfidXog by " the devil," the moral
significance of the term ought
never to be lost sight of, as it is
never neglected when the word is
used in the E~ew Testament. In
the present case St. Paul implies
that the cherishing of anger would
be giving room for the spirit of
misunderstanding and enmity to
come in.
29. erarrpog, literally "decayed
or rotten." irpog oiKoloprjv rrjg
XpEtag, " for edification suggested
by the need, or the occasion."
iva liS ydpiv. After eg>, ydpig
can hardly be taken in the general
sense of Grace.. " That it may
give a grace," or impart a benefit.
30. Corrupting communications
are an especial outrage upon the
Spirit which makes the Church
holy. iv <5 iafpayiaOriTE. See the note
K

50 EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. [1V.31,32.V.1— 5.
3i irdaa rrW^ta Kal fivpSpKal bpyr) Kal KpvMyri Kal
32 .^^^ap^ijnf^ vpcZv avv Tfdarj ^%T yiveaBe
Se els dXXrjXovs XFW^h evarrAay^voif' xapi£o)$ewfi\
eavrols kW^Iw'kki o Bebs ev Xpiarco exapiaaro vplv.
. 1 YiveaBe ovv piprjral rov Beov, cos reKva ayairrjra,
2 Kal Trepiirarelre ev ayaTrrj, KaBcos Kal 0 Xpiaros
rjyaTvrjaev vpas Kal irapeScoKev eavrov virep vpucov
Trpoacpopav Kal Bvaiav rco Beco els oaprjv evcoSias.
3 Uopveia Se Kal aKaBapaia irdaa r) TrXeoye^ia prjSe
4 ovopa^eaBco ev vplv, KaBcos Trperrei dyiois, Kal alaxpo-
rrjs Kal pxopoXoyia rj evrpaireXia, ra ovk avrjKovra,
5 aXXa pdXXov evxapiana. tovto yap tare yivco-

011 i. 13, and compare again 2 Cor.
i. 22, "who has also sealed us
and given us the earnest of the
Spirit in our hearts."
32. St. Paul urges the Gospel
doctrine, that God's forgiveness,
if truly received, must work in us
forgiveness towards our brother.
V. 1. tig reKva. It is the na
ture of a child to imitate his
father. 2. irapiltoKEv, " gave himself
up," not exactly in the sense of
" presenting," but rather of " sur
rendering." The idea of presen
tation to God is contained in the
following words Trpoaipopav Kal
Bvaiav t<£ Gfji. Of these terms
it may be said that, although they
are frequently used as synonymous,
Bvaia is a more special term than
Trpotrijiopa. and denotes a sacrifice
slain and burnt on the altar. It

was an ancient and wide-spread
piece of symbolism, to regard the
smoke of the burning victim as
sweet to the nostrils of the divinity
to whom it was offered (Gen. viii.
21, &c). Here the self-surrender
of the Son of God is represented
as most pleasing to the Father, in
accordance with whose will it
was made. In Philip, iv. 18, the
Apostle calls the gift sent him
from Philippi, oapijv Evurliag, Bv

aiav CEKTiiv, evapecrrov rio

Be

where the sweet smell appears to
refer, in part at least, to him
self. 5. roiiro yap jote yiv£>oKOVTEg.
It is not easy to explain why this
peculiar form of expression should
have been used here. " This you
are aware of, knowing it," or " This
you know and are aware of." The
reading of the received text, tare,
would not be easier.

V. G— 8.]

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

51

aKovres on was iropvos rj aKaBapros r) TrXeoveKrrjs,
os eanv elScoXoXarprjs, ovk e%ei KXrjpovopiav ev rfj
6 /SaaiXeia. rov Xpiarov Kal Beov. prjSels vpas aTrardrco
Kevols Xoyois' Sia ravra yap epyerai rj bpyrj rov
7 Beov eTrl tovs vlovs rrjs dtreiBeias. prj ovv yiveaBe
8 avppero^oi avrcov. rjre yap Trore aKoros, vvv Se

TrXeoviKTrjg, bg eariv EiCwXoXuTprjg.
So in Col. iii. 5. Compare Job
xxxi. 24, " If I have made gold
my hope, or have said to the fine
gold, Thou art my confidence . . . ;"
1 Tim. vi. 17.
6. Ktvo'ig Xoyoig, — as if God were
not caring for men's sins, or as if
these sins were necessary elements
in human life. God is really an
gry on account of them ; and the
calamities of the world, both or
dinary and extraordinary, are his
judgments to punish men for
them. 8 — 14. This should be studied
as a great passage concerning
Light, iii its spiritual sense. It
is vigorously conceived and ex
pressed, like one of the thoughts
which has been most thoroughly
matured in St. Paul's mind.
" You were once darkness," —
not merely darkened; as above; or
in darkness. Similarly he says,
in 2 Cor. v. 21, that God has
made Christ sin, that we might
be made righteousness. St. Paul
means to express more by such
language than the ordinary mode
of speaking could have conveyed.
Yet it is not a superlative degree

of moral darkness or enlighten
ment which he seeks to describe.
As it is so often necessary to
remind ourselves, St. Paul is not
thinking of the stage to which
the individual character had fallen
or risen, but of the condition to
which the individual character
was subject and obedient. That
condition was, in the old case,
Darkness ; in the new case, Light.
And in his present affirmations,
St. Paul is expressing his sense of
the law by which the condition, —
the Light or the Darkness, —
appropriates and assimilates the
souls subject to it. Souls subject
to the darkness become a part of
the darkness : souls subject to the
Light become a part of the Light.
There is therefore here a special
significance in the phrase " chil
dren of light." You are adopted
into Light ; your new nature is
the nature of Light ; therefor©
walk as beings born anew in that
nature. And the exhortation to
"walk as children of light" is
manifestly more in place after the
expression of such an idea as that
of the dominating and absorbing
power of light, than if St. Paul
e2

52

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

[V. 9-13.

9 (pcos ev Kvpico' cos reKva (pcoros TrepiTrareire, o yap
Kapwos rov (pcoros ev iraar) dyaBcoavvrj Kal SiKaioavvr/
io Kal akrjBeia, SoKipa^ovres ri eariv evapearov rco
ii Kvpico, Kal prj avyKOivcovelre rols epyois rols aKapirois
12 tov aKorovs, pdXXov Se Kal eXey^ere. ra yap Kpvcprj
13 yivopeva vtt avrcov alaxpov eanv Kal Xeyeiv' ra Se
travra eXeyxopeva vtto rov (pcoros (pavepovrai' irav

had said, " You are all extremely
enlightened persons." It would
not have been inconsistent for
him to say, " You are light in the
Lord : why will you still love
darkness and walk in it 1 "
9. "The fruit of the light." The
substitution of " the Spirit " for
" light " is one of the most lament
able errors in our Eeceived Ver
sion. It grievously spoils this
noble passage.
10. The "proof" intended is
that of trial and experience. The
idea here expressed was a favourite
one with St. Paul Compare Eom.
xii. 2, " that you may prove what
is the will of God;" PhiL i. 10;
1 Thess. v. 21, 22. The children
of light are not supplied with a
complete literal directory of con
duct, either in the Scriptures or
in any other form. They must
act in obedience to principle and
according to their light, and so
they will find out, by means of
mistakes as well as of success,
what God's will is.
11. The works of light axe fruit :
the. works of darkness are barren.
Compare Eom. vi. 21, 22, " What

fruit had you then . . .1 but now
you have your fruit unto holiness."
pdXXov le Kal eXeyxere. "But
rather even (Kai) convict them."
Be not content with not having
fellowship with them : so bring
your light to bear upon them
as to expose and convict them.
Eeproof, spoken reproof, might
come in as a part of this work
of convicting : but the whole
effect of a life of light upon deeds
of darkness seems to be in the
Apostle's mind. The idea agrees
exactly with that of St. John iii.
20, 21, " Every one that doeth
evil hateth the light, and cometh
not to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved (iXeyxBfi): but
he that doeth truth cometh to
the light, that his deeds may be
made manifest, that they are
wrought in God."
13. It is a grammatical error in
the Eeceived Version to translate
iXeyxopeva as if it were ra eXey-
Xopeva. But it makes little dif
ference in the sense. Wo tou
(pmrog probably goes with pavepov
rai, and the common derivation of
$vg and <pavtp6g (<f>a-) is evidently

V. 14—16.1

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

14 yap to (pavepovpevov (pros eariv. Sib Xeyei "~Eyeipt
o KaBevScov Kal dvaara e/c tcov veKpcov, Kal eirKpavaei
aoi o Xpiaros.
15 BA€7rere ovv ttcos aKpifHtos irepiTrarelre, prj cos dao(poi
16 aXX cos aocpoi, e^ayopa^ppevoi rbv Kaipbv, on al

brought into view. " But all
deeds, when convicted, are made
manifest by light ; for all that is
made manifest is light." It can
not be doubted that (pavepovpevov
is passive. As regards the sense
of this verse, we must remember
the first words of the passage,
" You.<»*« now light in the Lord."
It is physically true that whatever
is brought out into a blaze of
light becomes itself by reflection
a source of light. And, in the
sphere of moral or spiritual action,
there is a remarkable affinity be
tween the openness of broad day
light and purity or innocence.
Dark deeds are done in secret
(Kpv(j>rj) : drag them into the light,
and they cannot stand it. Thus a
debased soul brought into open
daylight, and not rushing from it,
is naturally purified ; that which
was darkness, whilst in the dark,
becomes light in the daylight.
There is something of this feel
ing expressed in two sayings of
Luther's r " I have often need, in
my tribulations, to talk even with
a child, in order to- expel such
thoughts as the devil possesses me
with." " When I am assailed
with heavy tribulations, I .rush

out among my pigs, rather than
remain alone by myself." Shame
is one of the influences by which
the light conquers a soul from
darkness. 14. A good example of the
freedom with which St. Paul
quotes from the Old Testament.
His manner is entirely alien from
that of one who is adducing a
dogmatic proof : he is borrowing
illustrative expressions, and has
no sense of being debarred from
modifying them to suit his pur
pose. The nearest words to these
in St. Paul, introduced by " where
fore it says," i.e. the Scripture,
are to be found in Isa. Ix. 1, 2.
His thought is that of the change
from darkness to light, — a change
produced by the opening of the
eyes to the light shining in the
face of Jesus Christ, he upon
whom that light shines being
thereby illuminated, and himself
turned into light.
15. Literally, "Look therefore
how you walk exactly, or accu
rately." 16. ilayopa(6peroi rbv Kaipov,
"buying up opportunity, or the
right moment," like a merchant
seMunic some valuable but scarce

54

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

[V. 17—21.

J7 rjpepai irovrjpai elaiv. Sid tovto prj yiveaBe a(ppoves,
18 aXXa avvievres ri rb BeXrjpa rov Kvpiov. Kal prj
peBvaKeaBe o'ivco, ev co eariv aacona, aXXa irXrjpovaBe
19 fa> ^-vevpan, XaXovvres eavrols \j/aXpols Kai vpvois
Kal coSals TrvevpariKals, aSovres Kal tyaXXovres ev ry
20 KapSia. vpcov rco Kvpico, evxapiarovvres Travrore virep
iravrcov 'ev bvopan rov Kvpiov rjpxov Irjaov Xpiarov
21 rco Beep Kal irarpi, vjroraaaopevoi aXXrjXois ev (po/3w

product. Amongst other points
of prudence for those who would
" walk warily in dangerous times"
must be the observing of the fit
season for each act. The follow
ing passage from Plato's Eepublic
illustrates this idea : " Again, it
is quite clear, I imagine, that if
a person lets the right moment
for any work go by, (f'aV rig rivog
Traprj ipyov Kaipov,) it never re
turns. It is quite clear. For the
thing to be done does not choose,
I imagine, to tarry the leisure of
the doer" (p. 370). But there is
a sentence in Ecclesiasticus so
similar to this of St. Paul's, that
one could almost suppose that the
echo of it was in his mind : %w-
rr)pr]aov Kaipov Kai (pvXalat arro
irovripoii (Ecclus. iv. 20). Perhaps
its full force is to be given to
ilayopa'(6ptvoi, "buying out of,
or away from," by regarding fit
moments as won at the cost of
some pains out of evil days.
18. TrXrfpovaBt ev irievpari. The
contrast is between the " fulness "
produced by wine, and another
kind of fulness (also agreeable)

produced by spiritual emotion.
" Be filled — not with the intoxi
cation of wine, but — in spirit."
" Let the fulness you seek be
spiritual fulness." We are natu
rally reminded of the remarks
made on the Day of Pentecost
(Acts ii. 13 — 16). It is clear that
the Apostle was encouraging a
state of mind marked by more
than ordinary excitement. Meeting
together and music and singing
were to be the chief stimulants and
indulgences of this excitement.
20, 21. What remarkable safe
guards to such spiritual excite
ment arebere subjoined! — Thanks
giving, intelligent and orderly, to
the Father in the name of Christ;
and mutual submission in the fear
of God. No spiritual excitement,
however highly wrought, could be
injurious, that flowed between
these banks. —
virep iravrtov. The preposition
v-rrip might at first sight suggest
that the thanks are to be given
" on behalf of" all persons, espe
cially as we find iirl used else
where to denote that for which

V. 22, 23.]

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

OO

22 Xpiarov. At yvvdiKes rols ISiois dvSpdaiv cos rco
23 Kvpicp, on dvrjp eariv KecpaXr) rrjs yvvaiKos cos Kal

thanks are given. But we have
in 1 Cor. x. 30, ri pXaafr/povpai
virep ov tyi) ei'xaptOTiS ; and it is
better to keep the simpler mean
ing " for all things." The spiritual
joy which was to have its root in
thankfulness was also to be con
trolled by mutual respect and sub
mission, experience having shewn
( 1 Cor. xiv. ) the danger of rivalry and
disorder amongst those who were
yielding to spiritual excitement.
22. With Tischendorf's text,
vTroTaaoeoBe or vTrordaaeaBiiiaav
must be understood from the pre
ceding viroraaoopevoi (verse 21).
But many MSS. have one or the
other of these words. Lachmann
inserts the latter, and is sup
ported by the Sinaitic MS.
we tS Kvplp. It is obvious that
the first apparent sense of this
injunction, — that a wife should
obey her husband without reserve
as if he were the Lord, — cannot
be the true one. St. Paul is not
speaking of an individual case,
but of the general law of married
life. This law is based upon the
facts, that the relation of husband
and wife is Divinely ordained, and
that it is an image of the relation
between Christ and the Church.
Now it is only in its ideal or
perfect form that these statements
can be absolutely true of the
marriage-union; and St. Paul is
speaking accordingly of the ideal

husband and the ideal wife. The
Christian wife is to discharge her
duty to her husband as seeing the
Lord, so to speak, in" the back
ground; the Christian husband
is to discharge his to his wife
as seeing the Church in the back
ground. Such a law of conjugal
duty is not made void by the
imperfections attaching to actual
married life. The wife of a bad
husband has her submission often
turned into opposition ; she is
often absolutely debarred from
looking up to him. But still her
feelings and her conduct will be
affected by the presence in her
mind of the ideal law of duty,
which will struggle to assert itself
so far as it is allowed. In the
corresponding place in Col. we
have the modified phrase tig avrj-
Kev iv Kvpi<p (iii. 18).
23. In both the volumes of
Holy Scripture the relation of
husband and wife frequently sup
plies the terms in which the union
between the Divine Euler and the
human society is described. In
the Old Testament, Jehovah is
the husband, the race of Israel
the wife. The unfaithfulness of
the people of Israel to Jehovah is
denounced as the sin of adultery.
In Jer. iii. "backsliding Israel"
and " her treacherous sister Judah"
are two wives of Jehovah. Israel
had been divorced on account of

56

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

[V. 24—26.

o Xptaros KedjaXr) rrjs eKKXr/aias, avros acorrjp tov
2% acoparos. aXX' cos rj eKKXrjaia VTroraaaerai rco
Xpiarco, ovtcos Kal al yvvaiKes rols avSpaaiv ev
25 iravri. Oi avSpes, ayairdre ray yvvaiKas, KaBcos Kal
o Xptaros rjyaTrrjaev rrjv eKKXrjaiav Kal eavrov Trape-
26 Scokcv vrrep avrrjs, iva avrrjv ayiaarj KaBapiaas rco

her adulteries, and yet Judah
feared not to be false also. Per
haps the most beautiful passage
upon the union between Jehovah
and the people of Israel is the
prophetical outburst in Isa. liv.
containing the words " For thy
Maker is thine husband ; the
Lord of hosts is his name ; and
thy Eedeemer, the Holy One of
Israel; the God of the whole
earth shall he be called" (verse 5).
In the New Testament, the most
striking presentations of this image
are in the Apocalypse, where the
Church, or the Heavenly Jeru
salem, is spoken of as the Lamb's
wife (Eev. xix. 7—9 ; xxi. 2, 3,
9, 10). What is peculiar to St.
Paul here is the complication
caused by the introduction of
that other image, of a head and
members, which he has made so
specially his own.
aiirog awrup tov awparog. The
difficulty felt in understanding
these words, together with the
a XXa' which follows, was early
shewn by variations of reading.
This clause appears to indicate a
difference between the relation of
Christ to the Church and that of
the husband to the wife. "He,"

it is true, is more than the head,
he is the " Saviour of the body " —
with a play on ow/yp and awparog.
This the husband has no preten
sions to be : " nevertheless" (dXXa)
let the headship of the husband
be acknowledged and acted upon.
24. iv iravri — not in certain de
partments of «life, but universally
or generally. Compare Kara" Travra,
Col. iii. 20.
25 — 27. In translating this pas
sage, we are placed at a disad
vantage by having to choose be
tween "her" and "it" for the
rendering of the feminine pro
noun. Neither is quite satisfactory.
If we take " it," it is desirable to
introduce into the passage some
such word as " bride," to keep up
the sense of the image.
There is a reference in these
verses to the bath which it was
the custom for the bride to take
as one of the ceremonies preceding
marriage. The Church was the
Bride of Christ. What was her
bath of purification 1
The Church in every place was
formed by the preaching of the
Word. The Word was the mes
sage of forgiveness and reconcilia
tion through Christ. Those who

V. 27—31.]

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

D /

27 Xovrpcp rov vSaros ev prjpan, 'iva irapaaTrjarj avros
eavrcp evSo^ov rrjv eKKXrjaiav, prj e^ovaav airiXov rj
pvriSa rj n tcov toiovtcov, aXX Iva rj dyia Kal dpxopios.
28 ovrcos Kai ol avSpes odjeiXovaiv ayairav ras eavrcov
yvvaiKas cos ra eavrcov acopara. 6 dyaircov rrjv eavrov
29 yvvaiKa eavrov ayaTra' ovSels yap Trore rrjv eavrov
aapKa epiarjaev, aXXa eKTpedjei Kal BaXirei avrrjv,
30 KaBcos Kal o Xptaros rrjv eKKXrjaiav, on peXrj eapev
3i rov acoparos avrov. avrl tovtov KaraXe'i^rei dvBpco-
iros irarepa kcCl prjrepa Kal TrpoaKoXXrjBrjaerai irpos

received this message and yielded
to the call, came out from the
world, were baptized, and became
members of a holy or consecrated
community. Christ, then, gave
himself up, in order that he might
proclaim peace effectually to men
and so might fashion for himself
a pure Church.
It is the Word therefore (to
pijpa, as in vi. 17), which is the
great instrument of purification.
And we are reminded of our
Lord's words, St. John xv. 3 and
xvii. 17 : " You already are clean
by reason of the word which I
have spoken unto you;" " Sanctify
them by thy truth : thy word is
truth." The Word however had
the ordinance of Baptism as its
own instrument for effecting the
separation of the Church from the
world ; and, although we might
explain this passage without being
compelled to introduce the bap
tismal washing, it is reasonable to
suppose that in mentioning a laver
or bath of water St. Paul had in

his eye that actual external wash
ing by means of which the Word
symbolized and executed its work.
It makes little difference whether
we say that St. Paul was using
the words to Xovrpov rov vlarog
himself in a figurative sense, or
was naming that outward cere
mony which was a visible figure
for the same reality. The Lord's
parting injunction to his Apostles
included both the word and tho
outward washing. " Preach the
Gospel, teach all nations ; and
baptize them in .the Name of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost." 27. avrog eavra. Emphasis is
laid upon the fact that Christ is
himself the doer of the whole
work in the creation and cleansing
of the Church.
30. The words ek rrjg aapKog
abroii Kal e'k tuiv oareuiv avrov are
added in good MSS. though not
in the best. " We are members
of his body, being made from his
flesh and from his bones."

58

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. [V. 32,33. VI. 1—3.

\ "

rrjv yvvaiKa avrov, Kai eaovrai ol Svo els aapKa
32 piav. rb pvarrjpiov tovto peya eariv, eyco Se Xeyco
33 els Xpiarov Kal els rrjv eKKXrjaiav. irXrjv Kal vpeis
ol Ka0 eva eKaaros rrjv eavrov yvvaiKa ovrcos ayairarco
cos eavrov, rj Se yvvrj 'iva (pofirjrai tov avSpa.
vi. 1 Ta r'eKva, inraKOvere rols yovevaiv vpcov ev Kvpico'
2 tovto yap eariv SiKaiov. npa rov irarepa aov Kal
rrjv prjrepa, rjns eariv evroXrj TrpcoTrj ev eirayyeXia,
3 Iva ev aoi yevrjrai Kal earj paKpoxpovios eirl rrjs
4 yrjs. Kai ol irarepes, prj irapopyi^ere ra reKva
vpcov, aXXa eKrpe(pere avra ev iraiSeia. Kal vovOeaiq.

Kvp

tov.

5 Ol SovXoi, viraKOvere rols Kvpiois Kara aapKa pera

31. Quoted literally from Gen.
ii. 24, Sept. version.
32, 33. " My chief interest in
this mystery " (iyi> is emphatic)
" is as it relates to Christ and to
the Church. But let all the mar-
'ried among you apply the mystery
to their own case, so that the hus
band may love the wife and the
wife fear the husband."
fi le yvrr) 'iva (jrofi. Supply,
as in E. V. " Let the wife see
that ..."
VI. 1. iv Kvplu. Obey your
parents, as an obligation of your
Christian calling.
tovto yap iariv liKaiov. By
" righteous '' St. Paul probably
means here "in accordance with
natural justice," or with the ab
solute laws and relations of human
existence.

2. TrpiuTT). If the word " first "
is understood as implying other
commandments "with promise,"
they must be those which are not
contained in the Decalogue. The
"promise" refers rather to national
than to individual prosperity and
continuance. 4. pi) rrapopyi^ere to. reKva, " do
not try your children's tempers,"
especially by alternate indulgence
and sharpness.
ev rraildg. Kal vovBeala Kvpiov,
" the discipline and instruction
of the Lord," i.e. such as the
Lord would approve, or such as
befit those who belong to the
Lord. 5. ol lovXot, " bond-servants,"
slaves, not freemen serving for
hire. There is considerable re
iteration of the terms expressing
servitude in this passage. The

VI. 6—12.]

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

59

0o/3ou Kal rpopov ev aTrXorrjri ttjs KapSias vpcov cos
6 rep Xpiarcp, p.rj Kar ocpBaXpoSovXeiav cos dvBpco-
TrapeaKoi aXX cos SovXoi Xpiarov Troiovvres to
7 BeXrjpa tov Beov eK ^j/vxrjs, /xer evvoias SovXevovres
8 coy rep Kvpico Kal ovk avSpcoirois, elSores on b edv
n eKaaros Tronjarj dyaBov, tovto Kopiaerai irapd
9 Kvpiov, ei're SovXos etre eXevBepos. Kal ol Kvpioi,
ra avra Troielre irpos avrovs, dvievres rrjv direiXrjv,
elSores on Kal avrcov Kal vpcov 6 Kvpios eanv ev
ovpavols Kal TrpoacoTroXrjpxj/ia ovk eanv Trap' ai)rco.
io To Xolttov, evSwapovaBe ev Kvpico Kal ev rco
n Kparei rrjs laxvos avrov. evSvaaaBe rrjv TravoTrXiav
rov Beov irpos to SvvaaBai vpas arrjvai irpbs ras
" peBoSeias rov SiafioXov, on ovk eanv rjplv r] TraXrj

bond-servants were bond-servants,
and must accept their condition.
Their consolation and inward free
dom were to be in the conscious
ness that they were serving Christ,
when they loyally and cheerfully
obeyed their masters : and he was
a perfectly just master, whatever
their masters according to the flesh
might be.
9. rd ahra Troielre, " do the
same things," act in the same
conscientious and Christ-serving
spirit. TrpoabiiroXripipia, " respect or ac
ceptance of the person " tov irpo-
ainrov, that is, of the outside
appearance, show, or profession,
as distinguished from the inward
reality. Compare Gal. ii. 6 ; 2 Cor.
x. 1, 7.
10. This concluding passage,

describing the Christian warfare,
is not suggested by anything going
before, but is evidently the free
working-out of a familiar thought.
11. 7rpoe Tag peBcleiuc. As we
might say, " the tactics " of the
devil. rov liafloXov. Let it be remem
bered that "the devil" (6 lia-
PaXXojv) is the false accuser, the
divider. In this passage his pecu
liar work, as setting men against
God and against one another, is
by no means to be left out of
sight. 12. fi TraXn. The struggle is
not so much that of the individual
Christian, seeking his own sal
vation ; but that of Christians
united in a body and " striving
together for the faith of the Gos
pel" (Phil. i. 27). The Church is

60

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

[VI. 13, 14.

Trpbs alpa Kal aapKa, dXXa irpbs rds dpxas, irpos
ras e^ovaias, irpbs tovs KoapoKpdropas tov aKorovs
tovtov, Trpbs ra irvevpanKa rrjs Trovrjpias ev rols
13 eirovpaviois. Sid tovto dvaXa/3ere rrjv iravoirXiav
rov Beov, Iva SwrjBrjre dvnarrjvai ev rfj rjpepa. rfj
•4 irovrjpa Kai airavra Karepyaaapevoi arrjvai. arrjre
ovv irepifyoadpevoi rrjv oa(pvv vpcov ev aXrjBeia, Kal

brought into conflict with spiritual
enemies, the powers of darkness,
by its task of spreading and estab
lishing the kingdom of Light.
Trpog alpa Kal aapKa. The Church
was tempted to regard hostile men
as its ultimate enemies ; but behind
these, and using external human
agencies as their instruments, were
invisible powers of evil.
dp^at', elovaiac, i. 21 ; iii. 10 ;
Col. i- 16; ii. 10, 15. Compare
Eom. viii. 38, ovre dyyeXoi ovre
apxai ovre Ivvapeig. Generally
these terms are used in a neutral
sense, not connoting either good
ness or badness. The vagueness
of such terms, so far as questions
of nature and personality are con
cerned, appears to be intentional
on St. Paul's part. It is quite
probable that he meant by " prin
cipalities and powers " distinct
beings with a personal conscious
ness and will ; but it is also true
that he used by preference, for
the inhabitants of the invisible
world, such abstract titles as left
their personal nature, though not
their power or tendency, shrouded
in some mystery.

rove KoapoKparopag rov axorovg
tovtov. In ii. 2, "according to
the course of this world, according
to the ruler of the power of the
air, the spirit now working in the
children of disobedience," the
singular is used, instead of the
plural as here.
irpog ra irvevpariKa, "the sjji-
ritualities, the spiritual forces or
activities." 13. iv rrj rjpeparrj irovripq., "the
evil day," whenever it may come.
Karepyaaapevoi might mean
" having put down ;" but Pauline
usage sufficiently determines it to
mean " having accomplished."
14. arrjre. Observe the fre
quent repetition of the idea of
standing in this passage, arrjvai
(verse 11), avria-fjvai, arrjvai
(verse 13), and here again inverse
14. So in Philippians I.e. on
arriKere. The images are mostly borrowed
from the book of Isaiah.
For "the girdle of truth and
the breastplate of righteousness"
see Isa. xi. 5, Kai eann liKaioaivi]
e£a>apevog rr)v oa<j>vv aiirov Kal dXrj
611a elX-qpevoi; rag irXevpag, am1

VI. 15, 16.]

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

15 evSvaajxevot rov BcopaKa rrjs SiKaioavvrjs, Kal vTroSrj-
aapevoi tovs TroSas ev eroipaaia. rov evayyeXiov rrjs
16 eiprjvrjs, eiri iraaiv avaXafiovres rbv Bvpebv rrjs iria-

lix. 17, Kai iveliiaaro liKaioavvrjv
org fi&ipaiea. It is plain from a
comparison of these passages, (in
the former " righteousness " is the
girdle,) that no substantial differ
ence is intended between " right
eousness " and " truth." And if
the context in Isaiah be read, we
see that these words are obviously
used in their broad and simple
sense. They denote equity, in
tegrity, sincerity. These then are
to be the great defensive weapons
of Christ's soldiers. Without
these their most vital parts— the
affections, the will, the conscience
— would be exposed to the assaults
of the enemy. To withstand the
spirit of falsehood, a man must be
primarily true and just.
Compare rd ott\u rov (piorog
(Eom. xiii. 12), and lid rwv ottXiov
rrjg liKaioavvng ruv leliuiv Kal
apiarepwv (2 Cor. vi. 7).
Two passages illustrative of
moral armour are quoted in Bleeck's
Translation of Spiegel's Zend
Avesta. One is from the Mino-
khired, a Parsee book : " One can
escape from hell if one uses
heavenly wisdom as a covering
for the back, heavenly content
ment as armour, heavenly truth
for a shield, heavenly gratitude
for a club, heavenly wisdom as a
bow." The other is from a Bud

dhist work, which says of Sakya-
muni : " And converting Sila
(Virtue) into a cloak, and Jhdnam
(Thought) into a breastplate, he
covered mankind with the armour
of Dhammo (Law), and provided
them with the most perfect pano
ply." (Bleeck, p. 90.)
15. In Isa. v. 27, "the latchet
of the shoes" follows 'after "the
girdle of the loins."
eroipaaia, "preparedness," "rea
diness." But what is the pre
paredness of the glad tidings of
peace 1 — In Eom. x. 15 we read,
"How shall they preach, except
they be sent? as it is written,
' How beautiful are the feet of
them that bring glad tidings of
peace, of them that bring glad
tidings of good things!'" The
quotation is from Isa. Iii. 7. The
same expression occurs in Nahum
i. 15, "Behold upon the moun
tains the feet of him that bringeth
glad tidings and publisheth peace. "
The " feet " then, we infer from
these passages, are to be " ready "
in the work of spreading " the
glad tidings of peace." St. Paul
has said above (ii. 17) of Christ,
eXBihv evriyyeXiaaro eipr)vnv. A
willing zeal in this task is to
be as shoes to the feet of the
Christian. 16. iirl iraaiv, "in addition to

G2

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

[VI. 17.

rem, ev cp SvvrjaeaBe iravra ra fi'eXrj tov Trovrjpov
17 ra ireirvpcopeva afieaai. Kal rrjv irepiKecpaXaiav rov
acorrjpiov Se^aaBe, Kal rrjv pdxaipav rov irvevparos,

all." This sense is more in ac
cordance with usage than "over
all," and much more than " above
all." See Col. iii. 14.
In the Wisdom of Solomon
v. 17 — 20, there is a description
of a -iravoirXia, which not Iran,
but the Lord, is to take to him.
"He shall put on righteousness
as a breastplate, and true judg
ment instead of an helmet. He
shall take holiness for an invin
cible shield. His severe wrath
shall he sharpen for a sword."
For man, the shield, instead of
being inherent holiness, is faith
or trust. In the language of the
Old Testament, the Lord himself
is the shield of those who fear
him, defending them from all evil.
Here the shield of faith is for use
especially against the fire-bearing
darts of the evil one. Those darts
are suspicions and doubts, which
it is the business of the evil spirit
to infuse into men's hearts, — sus
picions of God and of one another.
Faith, trust in God, is the exact
way to meet these. He who
thoroughly believes and trusts in
God will be safe against the de
structive effects of the doubts
which the devil inspires.
rd Trerrvpuipeva. The only " fiery
dart" in use amongst the ancients
appears to have been a certain

heavy missile called in Latin mal
leolus ; " a hammer, the transverse
head of which was formed for
holding pitch and tow ; which,
having been set on fire, was pro
jected slowly, so that it might not
be extinguished during its flight,
upon houses and other buildings
in order to set them on fire."
(Smith's Dictionary of Antiqui
ties, Malleus.) But perhaps the
fire with which St. Paul's /3<?Xi;
were armed was rather drawn from
imagination than from reality.
17. rrjv TrepiKeipaXaiav tov awTt]-
piov. From Isa lix. 17, Kai irepi-
eBtro 7T£ptK£^aXaiar au)-rjpiov iirl
rrjg KKjtaXrjq. But there it is the
Lord who assumes the helmet of
salvation, as also the breastplate
of righteousness and the garment
of vengeance. So far as is pos
sible, St. Paul transfers to the
Christian the identical arms which
the prophet attributes to the Lord ;
— and, regarded in this light, the
7raro7rXta rov Beov may mean rather
more than the armour which God
gives. But man is not God, and
man's " helmet of salvation" must
be different from God's. In 1 Thess.
v. 8, St. Paul has already given
his own interpretation of this
helmet : " and, for a helmet, the
hope of salvation." As- illustrating
this figure, we may quote Ps. iii. 3,

VI. 18—20.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

63

,8 o eanv prjpa Beov, Sia iraarjs irpoaevxrjs Kal Serjaecos
Trpoaevxopevoi ev iravri Kaipco ev irvevpan, Kal els
avro aypvirvovvres ev iraarj irpoaKapreprjaei Kal Serjaei
ig rrepi Travrcov rcov ayicov, Kal virep epov, 'iva poi SoBrj
Xoyos ev avoi^ei rov aroparos pov, ev irapprjaia
20 yvcopiaai to pvarrjpiov rov evayyeXiov, virep ov

" Thou, 0 Lord, art a shield for
me ; my glory, and the lifter up
of mine liead ; " especially as
coupled with the Sept. form of
the preceding verse, IloXXoi Xeyovai
rfj i/'i'X^ jxov Ouk £ori awrripia avrto
iv t<o Bea avrov. The expression
" lo lift up the head " is very
common in the Old Testament.
lelaaBe, "receive, as a gift from
God." rr\v paxatpav rov rrvevparog,
o eariv pfjpa Beov. For the image
compare Isa. xlix. 2, e8r]Ke to arc'ipa
pov £>g paxatpav ileiav, Eev. i. 16,
tK rov aroparog avrov popijraia li-
aropog oleia eKiropevopevr], xix. 15,
ix tov o~Toparog avrov eKiropeverai
popfaia oleia, 'iva ev avrrj Traraaarj
rd kOvt,, and Heb. iv. 12, Z5>v yap
b Xoyog rov Beov Kal evepyrjg, Kal
rop&repog virep rraaav paxatpav
liaropov. The difficulty is to
attach the same meaning to the
word or the sword in these dif
ferent passages. Let it be re
membered, 1. That the Word is
to be understood as the living
voice of God, instinct with mind
and purpose, and having all the
power of God's will. 2. That the
Voice may have varying tones, and
may either threaten wrath, or offer

love. 3. That, in the habitual use
of St. Paul, "the word of God"
is almost equivalent to the Gospel,
or God's voice proclaiming recon
ciliation and inviting men to peace.
4. That the image of a sharp sword
represents the penetrating effect of
God's word on the conscience, and
its power to assail and destroy such
spiritual enemies as darkness, dis
trust, and all moral evil.
Christians then, according to
St. Paul's exhortation, are to use
God's voice, his truth or light,
as their weapon of offence. The
mode of using or wielding God's
word which he had chiefly in view
was that of bearing witness to the
truth, and especially to the most
life-giving of all truths, the Gospel
of Christ.
1 8 — 20. The urgent exhortation
to prayer in behalf of the Church
and for the diffusion of the Gospel
proves how distinctly St. Paul had
in his mind the warfare of Chris
tians as that of a body fighting
the battle of Christ in the world,
rather than the warfare of the
individual fighting for his own
salvation. 20. virep ov Trpeaj3evu) iv ak'uaei,

64

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

[VI. 21—24.

irpeafieico ev aXvaei, 'iva ev avrcp irapprjaiaacopai cos
Sel pe XaXrjaai.
21 "Iva Se elSrjre Kal vpeis ra Kar epe, ri trpaaaco,
rravra vplv yvcopiaei Tu^i/coy o ayaTrrjros aSeXcpos Kal
22 iriaros SiaKOvos ev Kvpico, ov eirepyjra irpos vpas els
avro tovto 'iva yvcore ra irepl rjpcov Kal irapaKaXearj
ras KapSias vpcov.
23 Wiprjvrj rols aSeXcpols Kai ayairrj pera iriarecos airo
24 Beov warpos Kal Kvpiov Irjaov Xpiarov. rj xaPls
pera Travrcov rcov ayaircovrcov tov Kvpiov rjpxov irjaovv
Xpiarov ev acpBapaia.

" the cause of which I advocate
in a chain." Compare Col. iv.
2—4.
21. TixiKog, called 'Aamvog in
Acts xx. 4. He was a trusted
helper and agent of St. Paul, and
was to carry both this letter and
that to the Colossians. See Col. iv.
7—9.

liaKovog, " a minister," i. e. one
who ministered to St. Paul. Com
pare eariv yap poi ebxpyarog elg
SiaKoviav (2 Tim. iv. 11).
24. iv a<pBapaia. A difficult
expression. " In a spirit which
corruption cannot touch," "in-
corruptibly."

TO THE EPHESIANS.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, I. i
to the saints that are at Ephesus and the faithful in
Christ Jesus. Grace to you and peace from God our 2
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus 3
Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessing
in heavenly things in Christ, according as he chose us 4
in him before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and blameless before him in love,
having fore-ordained us to filial adoption through 5
Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his 6
grace, with which he has favoured us in the beloved
one, in whom we have redemption through his blood, 7
the remission of our trespasses, according to the riches
of his grace, — in which he has abounded towards us 8
in all wisdom and prudence, making known to us the 9
mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure
which he purposed in him unto the dispensation of IO
the fulness of the times, to bring all things under one
head in Christ, things in the heavens and things on
earth, even in him, in whom also we have had an in- tI
heritance given us, having been fore-ordained according

66 EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.
i. n to the purpose of him who works all things according
12 to the counsel of his will, so that we should be to the
13 praise of his glory, [we] who first hoped in Christ ; in
whom you also, having heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation, in whom (I say) having be
lieved you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is the earnest of our inheritance unto the redemp
tion of the possession, to the praise of his glory.
15 On this account I also, having heard of the faith
among you in the Lord Jesus, and the love to all the
16 saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making
17 mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you
the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
18 of him, the eyes of your heart being enlightened, so
that you may know what is the hope of his calling,
and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in
19 the saints, and what the exceeding greatness of his
power towards us who believe, according to the working
20 of the might of his strength, with which he wrought
in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated
21 him at his right hand in the heavenly world, far above
all rule and authority and power and lordship and
every name that is named, not only in this age but
22 also in that which is to come, and put all things under
his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to
23 the Church, which is his body, the fulness of him who
11. i fills all things in all. And you, being dead in tres-
2 passes and sins, in which you once walked according
to the course of this world, according to the ruler of
the power of the air, the spirit which now works in

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 67
the sons of disobedience, amongst whom we also all n. 3
once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of
the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature children
of wrath like the rest, — but God, being rich in mercy, 4
on account of his great love with which he loved us,
even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive 5
with Christ (by grace have you been saved) and with 6
him raised us and seated us in the heavenly world in
Christ Jesus, that he might shew forth in the ages to ^
come the exceeding riches of his grace in goodness
towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you -have 8
been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves,
the gift is God's, — not of works that no one may 9
boast : for we are his workmanship, created in Christ 10
Jesus for good works, which God before prepared that
we should walk in them.
Wherefore remember, that at one time you Gentiles n
in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by what is called
the circumcision in the flesh, made by hands, — that 12
you were at that time apart from Christ, aliens from
the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the cove
nants of the promise, not having a hope, and without
God in the world : but now in Christ Jesus you who 13
were once afar off have been made nigh in the blood
of Christ. For he is our peace, who made both one 14
and broke down the dividing-wall of the fence, having *5
clone away the enmity in his flesh, the law 'of com
mandments in decrees, that he might create the two in
himself into one new man, making peace, and might 16
reconcile both in one body to God by means of the
cross, having slain on it the enmity And he came '7
with glad tidings of peace to you who were far
F 2

68 EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.
ii. 18 off and peace to them who were near, inasmuch as by
him we both have our access in one Spirit to the
19 Father. So then you are no longer strangers and
foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of
20 God's household, being built up upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus being him-
21 self the corner-stone, in whom all the building fitly
framed together is growing into a holy temple in the
22 Lord, in whom you also are being built up together
into a dwelling-place of God in the Spirit.
in. 1 On this account I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ
2 in behalf of you Gentiles, — if you have heard of the
dispensation of the grace of God which was given me
3 towards you ; how that by revelation was made known
to me the mystery, (as I wrote before in brief words,
4 from which as you read them you may understand my
S knowledge in the mystery of Christ,) which in other
generations was not made known to the sons of men,
as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and
6 prophets in the Spirit, that the Gentiles should— be
joint-heirs and of the same body and sharers in the
7 promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I was
made a minister according to the gift of the grace of
God which was given to me according to the working
& of his power. To me who am less than the least of all
the' saints was this grace given, to bear to the Gentiles
the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of Christ,
9 and to enlighten all men as to the dispensation
of the mystery which from the ages had been kept
10 hidden in God the Creator of all things, in order that
now to the principalities and powers in the heavenly

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 69
world might be made known through the Church the in. 10
manifold wisdom of God, according to the purpose of n
the ages, which he formed in Christ Jesus our Lord,
in whom we have our freedom of speech and access 12
in confidence through faith in him; Wherefore I pray 13
you not to despond in my afflictions in your behalf,
which are your glory. —
— On this account I bend my knees unto the Father, 14
from whom every stock owning a common father in 15
heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant to 16
you according to the riches of his glory to be
Strengthened with power by his Spirit unto the inner
man, that Christ may dwell' by means of faith in 17
your hearts, so that being rooted and grounded in love
you may be enabled to comprehend with all saints what 18
is the breadth and length and depth and height, and 19
to know that love of Christ which transcends know
ledge, that you may be filled up to all God's fulness.
Now to him who is able to do superabundantly in 20
excess of anything that we ask or think according to
the power that works in us, to him be glory in the 21
Church in Christ Jesus unto all the generations of the
age of the- ages, Amen,
I exhort you' therefore, I the prisoner in the Lord,, to iv. 1
walk worthily of the calling with which you have
been called, with all humility and meekness, with long- 1
suffering, bearing from one another in love, endeavouring 3
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit, even as you were 4
called in one hope of your calling ; one Lord, one faith, 5
one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over 6

70 EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.
iv. 7^all and through all and in all. But to each of us
severally has his own grace been given according to
8 the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore it says,
" Having gone up on high he made captive captivity,
9 and gave gifts unto men." But that he went
up, what is it but that he also came down to the
io lower parts of the earth ? He who came down is the
same who also went up -far above all the heavens, that
n he might fill all things. And he has given, some to
be apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists,
12 and some shepherds and teachers, for the organizing of
the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the
13 building of the body of Christ ; until we all attain to
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, unto the full-grown Man, unto the measure of
14 growth of the fulness of Christ ; that we should no
longer be childish, tossed and carried about by every
wind of teaching in the craft of men in knavery, to the
15 pursuing of error ; but cleaving to truth may in love
grow up unto him in all things, who is the head,
16 namely Christ ; from whom all the body, fitly framed
together and compacted by means of every joint of
the whole supply, according to the working in its
measure of each several part effects the growth of the
body to the building up of itself in love.
17 This I say therefore and urge upon you in the Lord,
that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles
18 walk in vanity of their understanding, being darkened
in their mind, estranged from the life of God, through
the ignorance that is in them, through the hardening of
19 their heart, who being past feeling have given them
selves up to wantonness, unto the working of all unclean-

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 71
ness with greediness. But you have not so learned iv. 20
Christ : if indeed you have heard him and have been 2I
taught in him as there is truth in Jesus, that you 22
should put off as concerns your former manner of life
the old man going to ruin according to the lusts of
deceit, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and 23, 24
put on the new man created according to God in
righteousness and holiness of truth.
Wherefore putting off falsehlod^ speak the truth 25
every one with his neighbour, flj^smuch as we are
members of one another. " Be angry and sin hot ; " 26
let not the sun go down upon your anger, and give 27
not room to the devil. Let the stealer steal no more, 28
but rather let him labour, working with his hands at
that which is good, that he may have somewhat to
impart to him that is in need. Let no unwholesome 29
speech proceed out of your mouth, but whatever is
good for edification according to the need, that it may
confer a benefit on those who hear it. And grieve not 30
the holy Spirit of God, with which you were sealed unto
the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath 31
and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away
from among you, with all malice. Shew yourselves 32
kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one
another even as God in Christ has forgiven you.
Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children, v. r
and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave him- z.
self up for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a
smell of sweet savour. But fornication and all unclean- 3
ness, or covetousness, let it not be so much as named
amongst you, as becomes a holy community, or lewd- 4
ness or foolish talking or jesting, which are not seemly,

72 EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.
v- s but rather thanksgiving. For this you have learnt
and know, that every fornicator or unclean person, or
covetous man, who is an idolater, has no inheritance
6 in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive
you with vain words : for on account of these things
comes the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience.
7> 8 Be not therefore partakers with them. For you were
once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, —
9 walk as children of light, (for the fruit of light is in
i° all goodness and righteousness and truth,) proving
1 1 what is acceptable to the Lord ; and have no partner
ship with the barren works of darkness, but rather
12 convict them. For the things done in secret by them
'3 it is a shame even to speak of. But all things when
convicted are made manifest by light ; for all that is
1 4 made manifest is light. Wherefore it says, "Awake; 0
sleeper, and rise from the dead, and the Christ shall
shed light upon thee."
:5 See then that you walk carefully, not as fools but
1 6 as wise men, buying up the right time, because the
17 days are evil. On this account be not unwise, but
18 understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be
not drunk with wine, in which is excess, but make
19 yourselves full with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and
2° making music in your hearts to the Lord, giving thanks
always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus
21 Christ to God and the Father, submitting yourselves
one to another in the fear of Christ.
22 Let wives submit to their own husbands as to the
23 Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife as

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 73
Christ is the head of the Church, — he being the v- 23
Saviour of the Body. Nevertheless, as the Church is 24
subject to Christ, so let wives be to their husbands in
everything. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also 25
loved the Church and gave himself up for it, that" he 26
might sanctify it through a purification in the laver of
water by the word, that he might himself present the 27
Church to himself a glorious bride, not having spot or
wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy
and without blemish. In like manner husbands also 28
ought to love their own wives as their own bodies.
He that loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever 29
yet hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it,
even as Christ does the Church, inasmuch as we are 30
members of his body. For this reason shall a man 31
leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and
the two shall make one flesh. This mystery is a great 32
one, but I, in what I am saying, refer to Christ and
the Church. Only do you individually each man love 33
his wife even as himself, and let the wife 'see that she
fear her husband.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord ; for this is vi. 1
right. " Honour thy father and thy mother," which is 2
the first commandment with a promise, that it may be 3
well with thee and thou mayest be long-lived upon the *
earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children, 4
but bring them up in the discipline and instruction
of the Lord.
Bond-servants, obey your masters according to the s
flesh with fear and trembling, in singleness of your
heart, as obeying Christ, not with eye-service, as men- 6
pleasers, but as bond-servants of Christ, doing the will

74 EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.
vi. 7 of God from the heart, rendering service with good-
8 will as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that
whatever good a man do, that he shall receive from
9 the Lord, whether he be bondsman or free. And ye
masters, do the same things to them, sparing threats,
knowing that both they and you have a Master in
heaven, and there is no accepting of the person
with him.
10 For the rest, be strong in the Lord, and in the power
ii of his might. Put on the complete armour of God,
that you may be able to stand against the devices of
12 the devil ; inasmuch as our wrestling is not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness,
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
13 sphere. Therefore take to yourselves the complete
armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in
the evil day, and having accomplished all to stand.
«4 Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth,
and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and having shod your feet with the preparedness of
16 the glad tidings of peace ; taking, in addition to all
else, the shield of faith, with which you shall be able
17 to quench all the fire-tipt darts of the evil one : and
receive the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
18 Spirit, which is the word of God ; praying with all
prayer and entreaty at all times in the Spirit, and
watching unto this with all perseverance and entreaty
19 for all the saints, and for me, that utterance may be
given me, by the opening of my mouth, with confidence
20 to make known the mystery of the Gospel, in behalf

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 75
of which I am an ambassador in a chain, that I may v- 20
be bold in proclaiming it, as I ought to speak.
But that you also may know about me, how I 21
am faring, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful
minister in the Lord will inform you of everything,
whom I have sent unto you for this very purpose, that 22
you may know about us, and that he may comfort
your hearts.
Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from 23
God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace 24
be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ
incorruptibly.

INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE
COLOSSIANS.
If we read the Epistle to the Colossians immediately
after the Epistle to the Ephesians, a difference of style
undoubtedly makes itself felt. I do not think, indeed,
that the feeling of any reader will be that he is returning
to a Pauline style from a style unlike St. Paul's. On the
contrary, if we had to judge by style only, the Epistle to
the Ephesians is rather more similar to those writings of
St. *Paul which are universally acknowledged as genuine
than the Epistle to the Colossians. The change is from
comparative freedom and fluency to a stiffer and more
broken style. From some cause about which we can only
make guesses, the Epistle to the Colossians is distinguished
not only by a want of freedom in its composition, but also
by ah apparent want of finish. It reads in some places as
if we had not a sound text. Two or three sentences can^
hardly be made to give a reasonable sense. The MSS.
shew a greater than usual variety of readings, arising either
out of some original uncertainty of the text, or out of the
difficulty of understanding what the author meant. I refer
especially to the latter half of the first chapter, and to the
second chapter from the 8 th verse to the end.
The two Epistles profess to have been written for the
same messenger to carry (Eph. vi. 21 ; Col. iv. 7), and they
agree so closely both in ideas and in particular expressions
that, if one is not an imitation of the other, they are
manifestly twin productions. It is difficult to explain

78 INTRODUCTION TO THE
therefore why the thoughts of the writer should have run
more smoothly in the one Epistle than in the other. We
must be content to say that some unknown circumstance
/ affecting the composition and dictation of the Epistle to
the Colossians has caused the style of this Epistle to appear
laboured, rough, and unfinished. Whatever it may have
been that had this effect, it certainly did not weaken the
substance of the letter. That is eminently genuine and
strong. The personal allusions here are full of feeling and
force. The theology is more far-reaching, both as regards
the nature and manifestation of God, and the relations of
man to God, than in almost any other work of the
Apostle. The leading; idea of the Epistle is the presentation of
Clnist_as_^£3£ediator between God and men, who perfectly
reveals God and perfe^tl^^mbodies^liumanity, leaving no
gap_Jo__be_ filled, up, between God. .ancL the_ world, binding
the human race to God in a spiritual fellowship such as no
gradation of intermediate orders of beings, nor any efforts
of_religious discipline, could possibly create.
It is evident that this subject was chosen with express
reference to certain needs or dangers of the Colossian
Church. The Epistle contains warnings against particular
forms of teaching by which the Christians of Colossae were
being misled. It was in consequence of information to this
effect that the letter was written. The circumstances which
gave birth to the Epistle may be described as follows.
Epaphras was a member of the Church at Colossae, hold
ing some office, apparently that of the chief pastor and
teacher, in the Christian society (i. 7; iv. 12, 13). He
had come to Rome, and had made a report to St. Paul
of the state of his Church. It is clear that St. Paul, who
had not founded, and was not personally known to, the
Churches in which Epaphras was interested (ii. 1 ; iv. 13),
was acknowledged as the general overseer of the Gentile.

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 79
Churches, at least in those countries in which he had been
the first to publish the Gospel. Long before this time, the
care of all the Churches had been mentioned by him as
the daily burden added to his many sufferings in the cause
of Christ, (rj eiriaraais p,oi r) icaO' rjpepav, rj pepipva iraaaiv
tcov eKKXr/o-iav, 2 Cor. xi. 28.) Such reports as this of
Epaphras we must suppose him to have been constantly
receiving ; and a part of his daily work must have con
sisted in communicating, either by messages or by letters,
with the Churches whose affairs were thus brought before
him. Epaphras was able to give in part a very favourable
account of the Christian body at Colossse. " Our brethren
there," he said, "have received the Gospel with a very
thorough acceptance ; they are earnest in their faith, and
feel themselves strongly bound in love to all their fellow-
believers. Their belief is bearing good practical fruit. But
certain doctrines are being disseminated with much urgency
and plausibility, which, to me and those of us who are
carrying on the teaching of the Apostles of Christ, do not
seem to accord with the spirit of the Gospel which you
proclaimed. We are uneasy about these new doctrines, and
desire that our Churches should receive some instruction
from you concerning them. The teachers who are intro
ducing these novelties begin by speaking of a Knowledge
(Gnosis) which can only be imparted to those who are
specially initiated into its mysteries. They speak of 'the
Fulness' (Pleroma), a kind of ultimate abyss of Divinity,
from which more knowable forms, including that of the
Christ, have emanated. They name 'principalities and
powers,' which fill up the interval between the unapproach
able Fulness and the human race. They prescribe rules by
which a man may raise himself higher and higher towards
the- mysterious unseen world. Those who seek after this
elevation are required to separate themselves as much as
possible from the common multitude. They must adopt

80 INTRODUCTION TO THE
rigorously the exclusive principle of the Jewish Law, must
make much of Circumcision and all that it involves, must
observe times and seasons, must practise fasting and other
kinds of mortification, and must seek by prayer and worship
the aid of the heavenly mediators." In some such way,
we infer from the Epistle, did the excellent Epaphras
describe the condition of his Church.
These notions occur with more or less of variation in the
Gnostioal systems of the second century. But it gives an
artificial air to the subject, to call them by the formal name
of Gnosticism, and then to inquire whether Gnosticism had
yet arisen in the Christian world. The most probable answer
to such an inquiry would be that Gnosticism was not
known in the Church till a later period than the date of
the Epistle to the Colossians. But it would not be a
legitimate inference that the teaching just described could
not have existed at that date in Colossae. And when we
think of the notions themselves, apart from the name of
Gnosticism, it is much less difficult to believe that they
were then in circulation. Positive external evidence on
the question is almost entirely wanting. But we have the
demonstrable fact, that the systems of Gnosticism sprang
from a mixture of the Christian faith with religious doc
trines which prevailed before the Christian era|~Not only
were schemes of a Pleroma and Emanations in existence
in_Asia before the Christian Church was founded, but they
must have been carried down by tradition in the religious
or intellectual world until they were developed into the
full-blown systems of the Gnostics. There is therefore no
presumption against the belief that in the peculiarly fertile
soil of that age the seeds of future Gnostical theories were
already germinating and producing a first growth.] For
indeed the decay and mixture of old creeds in the"Asiatic
intellect had created a soil of "loose fertility, — a footfall
there Sufficing to upturn to the warm air Half-germinating "

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 81
theosophies. Nor is there anything unreasonable in be
lieving that the power of Apostolic teaching and of Apostolic
authority, whilst the Churches were still subject to the
direct influence of that power, availed to check these mis-
growths, and to postpone their day. The origin of what
by anticipation we may call Gnostical doctrines is discussed
more fully in the Essay at the end of this volume jCna-ell
may be sufficient to say that a meeting of the Persic or
Zoroastcian religion with Judaism was sufficient to account
for all the dangerous teaching referred to in the Epistle to
the Colossians, and that traces of such a meeting are to be
foundju. the- Jewish, literature antecedent to the time of
Christ. '¦ 

St. Paul was profoundly interested by the report of
Epaphras, agreeing as it did with much that he was probably
hearing at the same time from other sources. By the
stimulus thus given to his thoughts, he became aware, may
we not believe* of depths in the Gospel of Christ and of
aspects of the Person of Christ which he had not so clearly
apprehended before. As he heard of the Christian zeal and
excellence of the believers at Colossaa and Laodicea and
Hierapolis, and meditated on the errors which threatened to
undermine so fair an edifice, and on the truths by which
those errors might most effectually be dispelled, his concern
for the Colossian brethren grew into as strong an affection
as if he had known them by face, and the letter which took
shape in his mind was warmed by intense personal sympathy.
It is a genuine letter, whilst it is also an exposition of those
Christian ideas which were the proper antidote to such
teaching as was infesting some of the Churches of Asia
Minor. The Epistle to the Colossians may be divided, like that
to the Ephesians, into two parts, the former consisting of
"pure" theology, or the declaration of God's nature and }
acts ; the latter of " applied " theology, or the drawing out
a

82 INTRODUCTION TO THE
of duty from the relations of men to God. This division
is best made at the end of the second chapter. It is in
the latter half that the resemblances between this and the
sister Epistle are most abundant. From the fifth verse of
the third chapter to the ninth of the fourth, there is
scarcely a sentence which does not also occur, either in so
many words or with some variety of expression, in the
\Epistle to the Ephesians.^ In the former half the obvious
coincidences are chiefly in two or three passages relating
to redemption by the death of Christ, in the utterances of
thanksgiving and praise on the behalf of those who are
addressed, and in the mention of the mystery long hidden
but now revealed, and of the rising of Christians to a new
life in the resurrection of Christ.
The special theology of this Epistle is to be found in the
part between i. 1 5 and iii. 4 ; out- of which however we
may conveniently abstract the passage i. 23 . . . ii. 5, in
which St. Paul speaks of himself. The Son of God who
came in the flesh is declared to be the Image of the
invisible God, and the Head of all creation, but especially
of redeemed humanity. Let those who talk of "the
Fulness " know that the Fulness dwelt in Christ. In itself
the Divine nature is unfathomable, unapproachable ; but
Christ enables us to behold God as the Father. ("And as
God does not approach us by a gradation of principalities
and powers, but has come near to us afe^once in the Son ;
so we, in our weak and corrupt humanity, have not to
climb up laboriously by means of observances and self-
discipline to God, but are made one with Christ, if we will
accept the fellowship ; and have in him through faith and
submission a complete human perfeclionj We shall know
God by contemplating Christ : we shall rise to him and
have our true life by consenting to be simply members of
Christ. The theology which thus dwells on the Son of God as

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 83
the head of creation and the living force by which its
order is maintained, and as the fulness and perfection of
humanity, may justly be represented as specially character
istic of this Epistle ; but at the same time recollections will
occur to every careful student of St. Paul's writings, of
places in his other Epistles in which the same doctrine
is plainly, though less fully and prominently, stated or
implied. St. Paul, in the Epistle to the Colossians, is not
inconsistent with himself, but he approaches more nearly
than elsewhere to the theology which we associate with the
name of St. John. The most decided Scriptural parallel to
the passages just referred to is to be found at the beginning
of St. John's Gospel. From the third verse of St. John i.\
to the eighteenth, almost every line contains some illustra
tion of the doctrine of the Epistle to the Colossians. It is
somewhat surprising that St. Paul does not expressly apply j
the title of the Word (Adyos) to the Son of God. Philo
had written his books, and St. Paul, certainly through
Apollos and probably through others, had come into direct
contact with the ideas of the Alexandrian school ; and it
was apparently as open to him, as it was afterwards to
St. John, to adopt a name which had so much congruity
with the views he was expressing. With the exception
however of the use of this name, the doctrine of the first
chapter of St. John is in close agreement with that of
St. Paul in this Epistle. In another book bearing the
name of St. John there is a sentence of similar import.
"To the angel of the Church in Laodicea write, These
things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the
beginning of the creation of God " ^R^JoJL 11). - The
close connexion of the Church at Laodicea with that of
Colossse, and the probability that the Apocalypse was
written a very few years after our Epistle, render the
coincidence the more interesting. To these parallel pas
sages we may add the striking words at the beginning of
G 2

84 INTRODUCTION TO 'THE
the Epistle to the Hebrews, " the Son ... by whom he
made the worlds (or ages, tovs alwvas) . . . the brightness
of his glory and the express image of his person, (dirav-
yao-pa ttjs Bo^tjs real %apaicrr)p rrjs viroaT^crews avTOV,) up
holding all things by the word of his power " (Heb. i. 2, 3).
It may be worth while to remind the reader, that
St. Paul looks at the mystery of the universe, not from
the point of view of natural science, but from that of
theology. He is concerned professedly about God and
man, not about the laws of nature. But the phenomena
of the outer world insist upon being recognised and
demand to be accounted for. Man's life is involved in
extricably in perplexing relations with outward things.
All systems which attempted to set forth the nature of God
and to explain the life of man had offered some theory of
the connexion of the natural world with God and with
man. The peculiarity of St. Paul's teaching, as addressed
to disciples of the school of Philo or to students of Oriental
theosophy, was not so much that it suggested any new
theory of the universe, but that it firmly comprehended in
the Person of the Son of God all that had been imagined
of creative action in the world, and of the possibilities of
a human ideal. The Father, the Son, the created universe ;
the Father, the Son, the human family : and in each series
the terms livingly united by the Spirit. This was the
doctrine which St. Paul opposed to the multiplication of
intermediate beings, and to schemes of spiritual self-
exaltation. And, so far as it was possible, St. Paul desired
his doctrine to be rigorously tested by experience. T He
bade his disciples live on the understanding that they were
united to Christ and through Christ to the Father, and
that all things were subject to Christ./ No man ever more
thoroughly intended that his highest principles should be
made the ground^ of common life. He included the whole
xange of human activity within the laws of man's relation

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 85
to God in Christ. He claimed all men as Christ's, and all
their actions as to be done for Christ.
The investigations of natural science have started from
a different point, and have had a different aim, from
St. Paul's. Inquiries into the causes or connexions of
phenomena have been successful in finding out laws, which
it was their business to seek. They have never found God
in phenomena, but it was not to be expected that they
should. But after the laws have been discovered, and
when lower laws have been seen to resolve themselves into
higher and more comprehensive laws, the question arises,
What are these laws 1 Whence do they come ? Why do
they exist? — and to this question the New Testament sup
plies the answer, that they are utterances of the mind of
the Creator, forms which the Word of God has impressed
upon things. This answer leaves natural science free to
do its own work : far from assailing that work, it puts a
high honour upon it. But it professes to give the human
mind light and satisfaction upon points concerning which
natural science has nothing to say.
Similarly with regard to ethics, or the whole theory of
human fife. Systems of duty may be built up by ascer
taining through experience what promotes the well-being
of society. Their deductions may be right ; their method
the New Testament, at least, will not deny to be sound.
But if we ask further, What is the object of society and
its well-being ? What is the relation between man's work
and his Maker ? St. Paul is ready with a definite answer,
when he teaches that the ideal of manhood is in Christ,
that the Sonship of the Son is the chief law of humanity,
and that God as a Father is seeking the perfection through
love of mankind and of every man.
It is not easy to break up the Epistle into parts further
than has been done above. Its style is marked by continuity

86 INTRODUCTION TO EPISTLE TO COLOSSIANS.
as well as closeness and vigour, and the two great theo
logical passages in the first and second chapters are wrought
into the texture of a genuine letter. It begins with thanks
givings and prayers on behalf of the Colossians, which lead
on naturally to the work and kingdom of Christ, and so to
his nature and his relation to the Father and to the world and
to men. At the end of the twenty-third verse of the first
chapter St. Paul pauses to speak of his own apostolical task
and of his interest in the spiritual condition of his readers.
He returns in ii. 9, with a tone of warning, to a setting
forth of the nature of Christ and of the meaning and
power of his death and resurrection and ascension. In the
third chapter he appeals to his readers to live as members
of a Head who was in heaven, and proceeds to give
warnings and practical exhortations in detail. The latter
part of the fourth chapter, from verse seven to the end,
contains various personal allusions.

nP02 KOAA22AEI2
*• ' nauAoy airoaroXos Xpiarov Irjaov Sia BeXrjparos
2 Beov Kal Ti/xoBeos 6 dSeXcpos rols ev KoXaaaals dyiois
Kai iriarols aSeX(pols ev Xpiarco. XaPls vpiv Kal
elprjvrj awo Beov irarpos rjpcov.
3 Evxapiarovpev rco Beep rrarpl tov Kvpiov rjpueov
Irjaov Xpiarov iravrore rrepl vpcov irpoaev^opevoi,
4 aKOvaavres rrjv irianv vpcov ev Xpiarco Irjaov Kal
5 rrjv ayaTrrjv rjv ex6re €ls Travras tovs ayiovs Sia
rrjv eXiriSa rrjv airoKeipevrjv vplv ev rols ovpavols,
rjv TrporjKOvaare ev rco Xoyco rrjs aXrj&eias tov evayye-

1. TipoBeoc b dle.Xtpog. Timothy
is similarly associated with St.
Paul in both the Epistles to the
Thessalonians, in the Second to
the Corinthians, and in those to
Philemon and the Philippians.
If he did not accompany the
Apostle in the voyage from Caesarea
to Eome, he must have joined
him soon after his arrival. Of all
his converts and friends there does
not seem to have been one on
whom St. Paul leaned so much
for sympathy and assistance as on
his "own son" Timothy. His
habit of associating others with
himself in the writing of' his

letters is a noticeable and cha
racteristic one.
3, 4. Compare Eph. i. 15, 16.
5. ltd rrjv eXirila. The faith
and the love are represented as
stirred up by the hope, or the
thing hoped for. The Gospel
came with an offer of blessing ;
and the hope awakened by this
offer was the very beginning of
the Christian life. Compare rrj
iXirilt iawdripev, Eom. viii. 24 ;
and, for " the hope laid up in the
heavens," Eph. i. 11—14, 18.
r<a \6yio rrjg u\., " the word of
truth," as in Eph. i. 13 ; the word
of truth proclaimed by the Gospel.

88 EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. [I- 6—12.
6 Xiov tov irapovros els vpas KaBcos Kai ev Travn rco
Koapeo, Kal eariv Kapirocpopovpevov kcli avtjavopevov
KaBcos Kal ev vplv, d(p' rjs rjpepas rjKovaare Kai
7 eireyvcore rrjv XaPlv T0^ Beov ev aXrjBeia' KaBcos
ejiaBere airo ^iracppa rov ayairrjrov avvSovXov rjpcov,
os eanv iriaros virep vpicov SiaKOvos tov Xpiarov,
8 6 Kal SrjXcoaas rjplv rrjv vpcov ayairrjv ev Trvevpan.
9 Aia tovto Kal rjpeis, d(p' rjs rjpepas rjKOvaapev, ov
iravopeBa virep vpcov irpoaevxopevoi Kal alrovpevoi
Iva irXrjpcoBrjre rrjv eiriyvcoaiv rov BeXrjparos avrov
10 ev Traarj aocpia. Kai avveaei irvevpanKy, irepiirarrjaai
vpas d^lcos rov Kvpiov els iraaav apeaKeiav, ev iravri
epyco ayaBco Kapirocpopovvres Kal av^avopevoi els rrjv
ii eiriyvcoaiv rov Beov, ev iraay Svvapei Svvapovpevoi
Kara to Kparos rrjs So^rjs avrov els iraaav viropovrjv
12 Kal paKpoBvpiav, pera xapds evxapiarovvres rco irarpl

6. tov irapovrog elg vpdg. The called by him his "fellow-prisoner"
two notions of coming to you, (Philemon 23), but probably this
and being present, are combined, refers only to a voluntary com-
" Which (the Gospel) has come panionship in St. Paul's imprison-
amongst you." ment.
KaBwg. The repetition of KaBcig 9. 'iva irXriptirBrj-e rr/v eirlyvtiraiv,
causes a part of the awkwardness " that you may be made full as to
of this roughly-constructed sen- the knowledge of his will," — that
tence. If Kai is prefixed to eanv you may gain a complete know-
Kapir., we must supply irdpeariv to ledge.
iv iravri rip Koapto. But Lach- 10. irepnraTrjaai, " SO that you
mann, with some of the best MSS., may walk."
reads KaBfog Kal iv iravri tw Koapto  ^apeaKEta is generally " com-
iarlv Kapiro^opovpevov, k. t. X. ^plaisance " in an unfavourable
7. airo 'En-a^pd. Epaphras was sense ; but here it expresses ami-
evidently one of the chief teachers, ability, favour with God and men.
if he was not the founder, of the 12. " Giving thanks to the
Church at Colossa?. He was now Father who has called us effectu-
with St. Paul at Eome and is ally to our portion of the inherit-

I. 13, 14.]

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

89

rep iKavcoaavn rjpas els rrjv pepiSa rov KXrjpov rcov
13 ayicov ev rco (pcori, bs eppvaaro rjpas eK rrjs eijovaias
rov aKorovs Kal perearrjaev els rrjv /3aaiXeiav tov
H viov rrjs ayairrjs avrov, ev ep exopiev rrjv aTroXvrpcoaiv,

ance of the saints in light." There
is some doubt about the right
reading in this clause. KaXiaavn
is in some MSS. substituted for
iKavuaavTt, in others added (with
Kai) before it, in others omitted.
"We can easily suppose that the
Apostle, having written raXe aav-i,
felt that a stronger word was
needed to express his meaning,
" — who has called us, and enabled
us,'' with an emphasis on the
second word. This would account
for the irregular phrase kavuaavri
eig rrjv peplca. Or, on the other
hand, if iKavtoa-avri only was
written, it was very natural that
KaXiaavn should be given as a
gloss, and so come into the text.
The Apostle is not speaking of
the preparation of Christians on
earth for a future inheritance.
" The inheritance of the saints in
light " is represented as already
entered upon, being contrasted
with that "power or dominion of
darkness," from which the be
lievers in Christ had been de
livered. " The portion," f/ pepig,
is the share of each in the general
inheritance. Men could not have
taken possession of this in their
own strength. Their " sufficiency "
was of God. Eor this use of
iKavCJaai, compare 2 Cor. iii. 6,

og Kal imvwaev ripdg liaKovovg
Kaivfjg ItaBfiKrjg. The construction
of the two passages would be
identical; if we substituted pero-
Xovg for eig rrjv peplla, " who has
enabled us as partakers," or made
us competent to be partakers.
Observe that it is " the Father "
who has given this sufficiency.
The inheritance is in fact that of
sonship to God, with all its privi
leges. 13. There are two opposing
dominions, the one that of the
powers of darkness, the other that
of the kingdom of light and peace
in which the Son of God reigns
over his brethren. The Christians,
in obeying the call of the Gospel,
had been brought out of the one
into the other. Compare Eph. v.
5, 8, "has no inheritance in the
kingdom of Christ and of God ;"
..." you were once darkness, but
now you are light in the Lord ; "
and Eph. vi. 12. Passages from
the Zend Avesta relating to the
opposition of Angro - mainyus
(Ahriman) to Ahura-mazda (Or-
muzd) are given in the Essay on
foreign Elements in the Theology of
these Epistles.
14. Identical with Eph. i. 7,
except that there ltd rov a'iparog
avrov is added after airoXirpwatv,

90

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

[I. 15, 16.

iS rrjv a(peaiv tcov apapncov, os eanv cIkcov tov Beov
16 rov aoparov, TrpcororoKos Traarjs Kriaecos, on ev avrcp
eKriaBrj ra Travra ra ev rols ovpavols Kal ra eirl

and TrapaTrrtopdriav occupies the
place of apapTiiov. Here, we must
connect the diroXvTpaiaig with the
deliverance just mentioned. Those
who were now free subjects and
citizens of Christ's kingdom had
found their deliverance from the
dominion of darkness in receiving
that forgiveness of sins which was
embodied, so to speak, in Christ
and his blood.
15. eiKtov rov Beov rov aoparov,
" the visible image of the invisible
God." The word ehiov here seems
to refer to the bodily person of
Christ. In Heb. i. 3, on the other
hand, the terms diravyaapa rrjg
Soijj/e Kal xapaKTrjp rrjg viroardaetag
avrov may probably be understood
without reference to the Incar
nation, as expressing the rela
tion of the Son to the Father
in the mystery of the Divine
nature. TrpwroroKog Traorjg Kriaewg. The
only exact translation of these
words is "firstborn of all creation }''
and from this title it might with
out doubt be logically inferred that
the Son was a part of creation.
But this phrase belongs to a
class of expressions in which the
strictest grammatical sense is by
no means always what is meant.
We do not infer from the phrase
"fairest of her daughters, Eve,"

that Eve was one of her own
daughters. And irptaroroKog Traarrg
Kriaewg might be written by one
who meant to convey that the Son
was begotten before any part of
creation. It would scarcely be
maintained that St. Paul would
have applied the term KrurBeig to
the Son. It is a fair and natural
way of explaining the words to
say, that the Son, with reference
*°_ ^l?!L_?£.e5M2B;" occupied the
place of '^first-born." He is prior
to, and at the head of, all existence.
The next sentence is sufficient, to
correct any false impression that
St. Paul was speaking of the Son
as a created being.
16. iv qftry eKriaBn ra Travra.
It is confessedly difficult to explain
the meaning of statements like
this, and it may seem wise to pass
them by as expressing mysteries
which we cannot pretend to fathom.
Any attempt to describe by a
definition that relation to God, or
the Lord, or Christ, which St. Paul
so often affirms in the phrase " in
him," must necessarily be a failure.
We must be content to deny our
selves a precise answer to the
question, what St. Paul meant
when he said, "All things were
created in the Son of God," or
when he said, " In God we live
and move and are." But we ough^

I. 17, 18.]

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

91

rrjs yrjs, ra opara Kal ra dopara, eire Bjjovoi e'ire
Kvpj.0Trjres e'ire apyai e'ire elovaiai. ra iravra Si
17 avrov Kai els avrov eKnarai, Kal avros eanv irpo
18 Travrcov Kai ra iravra ev avrcp avvearrjKev, Kai avros

to go with the mind of the Apostle
when he uses such language as far
as any reflections we can make
will enable us to go. And with
that view we should probably be
right in pursuing such considera
tions as these :
(1.) The Son of God is a living
power sustaining and embracing
all things. The life, the coherence,
the movement, of the universe,
are due to his presence.
(2.) The order of the universe is
a reflection_of the mind of God.
" All things " not only depend on
the Son of God, but they also
manifest him. The invisible law
of the universe, the Koapog vorfrog,
is a thought of God. The rela
tions and processes of the whole
I creation will be better understood
by regarding them in the light of
I the Divine nature, and of that
-nature in its Filial aspect.
- These doctrines are not amongst
the discoveries of modern physical
science. It does not belong to
science either to affirm or to con
tradict them. But it might be
possible to trace analogies and
reciprocal illustrations between
this theology of creation and the
principles which science holds to
be most certain.

e'ire Bpovot, k. r. X., an amplifi
cation of the more frequent apxal
ml_ elovaiai. But no distinction (
is to be looked for between these
terms. St. Paul seems to wish to
leave open the question of the
real existence of such entities as
formed the mythology of Oriental
systems. His object is to affirm
that all existences whatsoever, let
them be what they might, were
necessarily created by and in and
for the Son of God. Compare
Eph. i. 21.
ra iravra It avrov Kal eig avrov
EKrurrai. Compare Eom. xi. 36,
tl avrov Kai ll avrov Kal Eig avrov
ra rravra, — said, without restric
tion to the Son, of God or the
Lord. 1 7. ra iravra iv avrw o-vviarnKEV.
As in the English Version, " all
things in him consist, or are held
together." Compare JEcclus. xliii..

26,

Xoya)

avrov avyKeirai

18. That relation of Christ to
humanity which is implied in his
being the Head of the Church is
always closely associated in St.
Paul's mind with the action or
relation of the Son of God as the
fountain and support of creation.
Compare Eph. i. 23.

92

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

[I. 19, 2a

eanv rj KecpaXrj rov acoparos, rrjs eKKXrjaias' os
eanv dpyrj, irpcororoKOs eK rcov veKpcov, Iva yevrjrai
19 ev iraaiv avros irpeoreveov, on ev avrcp evSoKrjaev
20 irav ro irXrjpcopa KaroiKrjaai Kai ou avrov airoKa-
raXXa^ai ra iravra els avrov, elprjvoiroirjaas 81a

6'c eariv apx^i- It would seem
that in this place the Son of God
is called dpxh in his character as
the Head of the Church rather
than in his character as the Crea
tive Word. He is the Origin from
which the Church, the redeemed
Body, has its derivation.
irpwroTOKog^iK twv VEKpwv. Here
also it is the Head of the Church,
the risen Saviour, who_is irparro-
TOKog in this second sense. Above,
the. Son, the Image of the Father,
is _ the. Firstborn of all. creation.
Now he is the Firstborn, by his
resurrection from the dead, of the
new creation of redeemed and
reconciled spirits.
iva yevrjrai iv iraaiv avrog irpw-
rtvuv. " That he might gain the
first place for himself in all things."
Christ descended in order that he
might rise to the highest place,
and so might manifestly originate
a new order.
19. There are two constructions
for this sentence, according as rd
TrXripurpa is taken for an accusative
or a nominative. In the former
case, the rendering of the English
Version is the right one, " it
pleased [God or the Father]," or
more exactly, £ God] was pleased,
that in him all the Fulness should

dwell." The objection to this con
struction is that the omission of
the name of " God" as the subject
is not a natural one. In the latter
case rrdv to irXfiptapa is a_nanie for
the Divine Being. " Forjn him
all the Fulness was pleased to
dwell, and by him to.reconcile all
thingsto himself. " In an ordinary
passage of St. Paul we should not
willingly admit such an expression.
But when we consider how largely
the Apostle has been using the
language of " theosophy " in the.
preceding sentences, there seems
to be no incongruity, as there is
certainly much force, in using a
term which expresses the infinity r
of the Divine nature in place of \
any personal name of God. The /
more lengthened phrase in ii. 9r
irdv to irXriporpa rrjg Beoni-og, does .
not tell directly in favour of either
construction ; but it shows us still
further how much St. Paul's mind
was dwelling on these " mystical "
ideas of God's nature, and so
helps to make the unusual form.
of expression more probable.
20. elprjvoirpiriaag. In either
case, it is God who has made peace
through the blood pf the crossjof
Christ. Compare Eph. jLJJLJB,
and see the note on that passage.

I. 21—23.

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

93

tov aljxaros tov aravpov avrov, Si avrov, e'ire ra
21 eiri rrjs yrjs e'ire ra ev rols ovpavols. Kal v/xds
irore ovras airrjXXorpicopevovs Kal e^Bpovs ry Siavoia
ev rols epyois rols irovrjpols, vvvl Se airoKarrjXXa^ev
22 ev rco acopan rrjs aapKos avrov Sia tov Bavarov,
irapaarrjaai vpas ayiovs Kal dpcojiovs Kal dveyKXrjrovs
23 Karevcoiriov avrov, e'i ye e.Trip.evere rfj iriarei reBepieXico-
pevoi Kai eSpaioi Kal prj peraKivovpievoi airo rrjs eXiri-
Sos rov evayyeXiov ov rjKOvaare, rov KtjpvxBevros ev
Traarj Knaei rfj viro tov ovpavov, ov eyevojxrjv eyco
HavXos SiaKOvos.

Ii avrov, "through him," em
phatic. The blood of the cross
meant Him who shed his blood,
Christ dying as a self-oblation.
Observe in this verse how the
Apostle insists on the universality
of ihaxeconciliation, and on Christ
being thejmemedium of it.
21. /cai vpag. A direct and
particular application is given to
the universal statement, just as
in Eph. ii. 1.
dirr)XXorpiuipevovg. Comp. Eph.
iv. 18, 19.
ev roigepyoig rolg Trovqpo'ig. The
estrangement and enmity had its
seat and manifestationandnourish-
nient in evil acts.
diroKUTrjXXalev. " He (that is,
God, as before,) has reconciled
you in the body of Christ's flesh."
The sentence does not run very
smoothly, and transcribers appear
to have stumbled at the le added
for emphasis to vwi. Lachmann
gives preference to the almost im

possible reading dTroKarriXXdyrjTe.
There are other various readings, of
which dTroKaraXXayivTeg (also im
possible) holds next place.
The doctrine is still the same,
— that in the living person of
Christ, who gave himself up to
man's death and was raised again
by the Father, men, as men, are
reconciled to God.
22. irapaarrjaat. It is God,
again, who presents his reconciled
children before himself. Compare
Eph. i. 4.
23. e'i ye iiripevere, " if you
abide in the faith," — not rejecting
that filial condition to which God
has called you.
ev irdar] Kriaei. We can hardly
suppose this to have been an un
meaning exaggeration. It is to
be remembered, (1) that the wide
diffusion of the Gospel was a point
of great importance to St. Paul,
as expressing so fitly that opening
of God's favour to all men uni-

94

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

[I. 24, 25.

24 Nvv ^a//9&> ev rols Tra&rjpuaaiv virep vpcov, Kai
avravairXrjpco ra vareprjpara rcov BXtyecov rov Xpiarov
ev rfj aapKi pov virep rov acoparos avrov, o eanv rj
2S eKKXrjaia, rjs eyevoprjv eyco SiaKOvos Kara rrjv olkovo-
piav tov Beov rrjv SoBelaav p.oi els vp.as TrXrjpcoaai

versally in which he gloried ; and
(2) that the Gospel had been pub
lished over a very remarkably wide
area for that age. St. Paul's own
work in this preaching had been
wonderful in its geographical ex
tension, as well as in other charac
teristics. Nevertheless the ex
pression cannot be made out to
be a strictly accurate one, nor is
it necessary that it should be.
St. Paul was speaking from the
point of view of theology, not of
statistics. Compare verses 5, 6,
of this chapter.
24. vvv xa'Pft'- MS. authority
is in favour of the omission of og
before vvv, but this may partly be
accounted for by the similar end
ing of liaKovog. The sentence is
considerably injured by the ex
cision of this copula.
The feeling here expressed of
joy and pride in his sufferings
was habitual to St. Paul. Whilst
he held it to be a general Christian
privilege to "glory in tribulations,"
he regarded his own peculiar af
flictions as a seal of his Apostle-
ship. But the language of this
verse is the most remarkable that
he anywhere uses in speaking of
his sufferings.

cai avravarrXripio, k.t.X. There is
something startling in the words,
"the shortcomings of the afflic
tions of Christ," and in St. Paul's
pretensions to supply in his person
what had been left wanting by
Christ. But we must bring to
the reading of this passage St.
Paul's idea of the Head and the
members. The Body was the
irXripwpa or complement of Christ
(Eph. i. 23) ; without it he was
not complete. The Church was
to be built up out of sufferings, —
the sufferings of Christ first, and
the sufferings of his members in
their turn and place; and each
member, in doing his part, was
supplying that which was left
vacant, so to say, for him to
supply. St. Paul, who knew his
part in the building up of the
Church to be a great one, might
honestly speak of his sufferings
as contributing an important com
plement to the total sum of the
afflictions of Christ and his mem
bers. The dvri in aV-avas-Xijpw pro
bably implies a kind of response
on the part of the members,
echoing the action of the Head.
25. Kara rr)v o'lKOVopiav. In

I. 26, 27.]

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

95

26 tov Xoyov tov Beov, ro pjvarrjpiov to aTTOKeKpvpipevov
airo tcov alcovcov Kal airo tcov yevecov, vvvl Se e(pave-
27 pcoBrj tois ayiots avrov, ols rjBeXrjaev 6 Beos yvcopiaai
ri to irXovros rrjs Sofjrjs tov pvarrjpiov tovtov ev rols
eBveaiv, os eanv Xptaros ev vplv, rj eXirls rrjs So^rjs,

Eph. iii. 7, the same place is filled
by the words Kara rrjv Itirpeav rrjg
Xapirog rov Beov rrjg loBEto-irg poi.
And in the second verse of the
same chapter the equivalent phrase
is rr)v otKovopiav rrjg xapirog rov
Beov njc loBeiorjg poi. On the
word okovopia see the note on
Eph. i. 10. It is here used in
the second of the senses there
given, and represents an appoint
ment or commission given by the
Lord to his servant Paul. It
answers to luped in Eph. iii. 7, —
the word most commonly used
to denote this commission being
xdptg- This is also the sense of
oiKovopia in Eph. iii. 2.
TrXrjpwaai rdv Xoyov tov Beoii,
It would seem as if St. Paul,
when a word became strongly
impressed on his mind, had a
pleasure in using it in various
senses. HXrjpovv and TrXripapa are
among the special words of these
Epistles. Here, to "fill" or
" fulfil " the word of God,-must
mean to proclaim it to the full;
to fill the appointed measure in
the bearing or making known of
God's word.
26. Compare Eph. iii. 9.
etpavepw&r), written as if o aVe-

Kpv<pBrj had gone before, instead of
its equivalent, to diroKeKpvppevov.
27. ri to irXovrog rrjg Solrjg rov
pvarrjpiov tovtov iv rolg eBveaiv.
It is instructive to compare this
with the parallel phrase in Eph.
i. 18, rig 6 irXovrog rrjg lolwg rrjg
kXripovopiag avrov iv rolg ayioig.
There is just the same kind of
recurrence and variation of words
which we observe as characteristic
of St. Paul not only in different
compositions, but in the same
letter. The variation of gender
in the use of irXovrog may be
regarded as purely casual. The
different expressions in either
sentence are in obvious harmony
with the line of thought in. each
passage respectively, ev rolg 'eBve
aiv, "among the Gentiles," should
be referred to the whole subject, —
" the wealth of the glory of this
mystery ; " it implies that the
Gentile world was the element,
in and through which this glory
was realized.
o'c [or o] eariv Xpioroc iv vpiv.
The mystery, once hidden but now
manifested, is " Christ in you."
In the next verse, St. Paul speaks
of presenting every man reXeiov
iv Xpiorj), Christ in you, — you

96

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. [I. 28,29, II. 1. 2.

28 bv rjpeis KarayyeXXopev vovBerovvres iravra avBpcoirov
Kal SiSaaKOvres iravra avBpcoirov ev iraarj aocpia, Iva
irapaarrjacopev iravra avBpcoirov reXeiov ev Xpiarco'
29 eis o Kai Koirao ayeovi^opevos Kara rrjv evepyeiav avrov
rrjv evepyovpevrjv ev epol ev Svvapiei.
n- I QeXco yap vpas elSevai rjXiKOv ayeova eyco irept
vpcov Kal rcov ev AaoSiKeia. Kal baoi ovx ecopaKav
2 to irpoacoirov pov ev aapKi, 'iva TrapaKXrjBcoaiv al
KapSiai avrcov, avpfiifiaaBevres ev ayairrj Kal els
irdv to irXovros rrjs irXr}po(popias rrjs avveaecos, els

in Christ. We are reminded of
our Lord's own saying (St. John
XV. 4) piivare ev epol, Kayi) iv
vp'tv. Such a spiritual relation to
Christ is implied as may be ex
pressed by either phrase, Christ
dwells in us, or, We dwell in
Christ ; or best by both these
phrases. " We are one with
Christ and Christ with us." This
close fellowship with Christ is
the revealed mystery of God's
eternal purpose, and it constitutes
the hope of glory yet to be mani
fested. 28. The repetition of iravra
dvBpdiirov in this verse is what
chiefly attracts attention. We
may trace it to that thought of
universality and completeness which
has become a passion in the Apos
tle's mind. He saw everything on
the largest scale, but yet felt that
no individual part was insignifi
cant or to be neglected. The
mystery of Christ was for the
whole universe, for mankind uni

versally ; but each individual
person needed to receive the mys
tery, to be instructed, to be in
formed, to be brought to a con
dition of personal perfection.
29. And the effort to do his
part in this work called for all
the energetic labour which St.
Paul, or the power of God in
him, could put forth
II. 1. fiXiKov aydva e'xw- Re
ferring to ayu>vi£6pevog in the
preceding verse. Compare iv. 13.
The fact of not being known by
face to the believers at CoIossjb
and Laodicea adds a kind of
hungry yearning to the Apostle's
desire for their spiritual welfare.
From iv. 16 it appears that there
was familiar intercourse between
the Churches here mentioned.
2. avpfiifiaaBevreg. In con
struction, this word agrees with
the supposed subject of the pre
ceding clause ; — it is expressed as
if " that they might.be comforted "

II. 3—6.]

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

97

3 eiriyvcoaiv tov pvarrjpiov tov Beov, ev do elaiv iravres
ol Brjaavpol rrjs aocpias Kal rrjs yvcoaecos dirbicpvcpoi.
4 tovto Se Xeyco iva jxrjSels vp.as TrapaXoyiCrjTai ev
5 TTiBavoXoyia. el yap Kal rfj aapKi aireipt, dXXa rco
Trvevpan aw vplv elpi, xa^Pa)V KaL fiXeircov vpcov
Trjv ra^iv Kal to arepecopa rrjs els Xpiarov Triarecos
6 vpcov. 'Q.s ovv irapeXa^ere tov Xpiarov 'Irjaovv

had gone before. For the idea,
compare Eph. iv. 13 — 16. Ad
vance in knowledge is made depen
dent upon growth in Christian
life, — that is, in the love and
fellowship which bind the mem
bers of a true Body together.
rov Beov. There is a great con
fusion in the MSS. as to the read
ing here. The words Beov, irarpog,
and Xpiarov, are variously con
nected or omitted. The readings
of the best MSS. are as follows :
tov Beov Xpiarov, B, received by
Lachmann ; rov Beov irarpog Xpia
rov, the Sinaitic ; rov Beov irarpog
rov Xpiarov, A. C. These readings
do not differ in sense from one
another, if Xpiarov be taken as in
apposition to rov pvarrjpiov. The
mystery is Christ, as in i. 27,
" unto the knowledge of the
mystery of God (or, of God the
Father), namely, Christ."
3. The words aotyia, yvwatg,
Brjaavpol airoKpvtpoi, have a strongly
Gnostical stamp, like other terms
which follow in this chapter ; and
we cannot but conclude that St.
Paul is quoting or borrowing them

from theosophical speculations by
which, in his judgment, the Colos-
sian brethren were in danger of
being misled. Yet the thought
is almost identical with what we
find in other Epistles, as for ex
ample in 1 Cor. i. 24, 30 ; ii.
2, 7 j in the last of which places
we have XaXovpev Beov aofiav iv
pvarijpiifi Trjv airoKeKpvppevrjv.
4. St. Paul's earnest protest,
by which he hoped to guard the
Colossians against plausible false
teachers, was this, — that all the
yvioaig of which they spoke, in
cluding whatever was most hidden
or mystical, was in Christ, and
was to be learnt through the Study
of him.
5. This assurance, interposed in
the midst of an anxious exhor
tation, is highly characteristic of
St. Paul, and shows the teacher
not afraid to use his personal
authority, wishing to commend
rather than to censure, and bring
ing forward the good points in
his readers which he sought to
strengthen against the dangers
besetting them.

98

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

[II. 7—10.

7 rbv Kvpiov, ev avrcp TrepiTrarelre, eppi(^copevoi Kal eiroiKo-
Sopovpevoi ev avrcp Kal fiefiaiovpevoi rfj iriarei KaBcos
8 e8i8d\Brjre, irepiaaevovres ev avrfj ev evxapiana.. /3Ae-
irere prj ris earai vpds o avXaycoyeov Sia rrjs (piXo-
aocpias Kal Kevrjs airarrjs Kara rrjv urapaSoaiv tcov
dvBpcoircov, Kara ra aroi^ela tov Koapov Kal ov Kara
9 Xpiarov, on ev avrcp KaroiKel Trav to TrXrjpcopa rrjs
i° Bebrrjros acopariKcos Kai eare ev avrcp TreTrXrjpcopevoi, os

7. eiroiKoSopovpevot. The pre
sent tense ought to be noticed, —
" in process of being built up," —
as avvoiKolopeio-Be in Eph. ii. 22.
8. Kara rrjv irapaloaiv rwv av-
Bptoiriiiv. St. Paul's language seems
to imply that there was no absolute
novelty in the speculations offered
to the Colossians. They were
probably in the main traditions,
and commended by their sup
porters as having the authority of
tradition. ra aroix^ia rov Koapov, also in
verse 20. Compare the " weak and
beggarly rudiments '' of Gal. iv. 9.
9. The passage which follows
is one of the most difficult in the
M"ew Testament, partly on account
of the want of finish in the
construction, — the connexion of
clauses being especially imperfect
and uncertain, — and partly on ac
count of the mystical character
of the ideas expressed. It may
safely be inferred that St. Paul
has in his mind Judaistic doctrine
relating to circumcision, festivals
abstinence, and the like, and also

" gnostical " doctrine (to use a
later term) concerning the irXripwpa
and the heavenly orders. And
most probably both kinds of doc
trine were combined in the specu
lations of the same teachers. The
Apostle subjects all such theories
to the doctrine of Christ; — of
Christ fully Divine, truly human,
manifested by death and resurrec
tion, uniting all mankind directly
to God.
KaroiKei, " dwells," not "dwelt."];
1 0. Kai Jare„ £ v. a ir ji TreTrXrjpu)-
pevoi. A parenthetic clause, due
to the impression made on St.
Paul's mind by the word and
thought of "fulness." " The ful
ness of the Godhead is inChrist,
— and your fulness also (in a true
but not quite the same sense) is
in him." The perfection of God
and the perfection of man meet
in Christ. In Christ men have
their complete ideal ; in proportion
as they dwell in him they become
perfect. apxng Kal il. As in verse 15,
i. 16; Eph. iii. 10.

II. 11—13.]

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

99

n eanv rj KecpaXrj Traarjs dpxrjs Kal etjovaias, ev cp Kal
TrepierprjBrjre irepiropJcj dxeipoTroirjrcp, ev ry direKSvaei
rov acofxaros rrjs aapKOs, ev rfj irepiropfj rov Xpiarov,
12 avvracpevres avrcp ev rco fiaTrriapan, ev cp Kal avvrj-
yepBrjre Sia rrjs Triarecos rrjs evepyeias tov Beov tov
13 eyeipavros avfov eK tcov veKpcov' Kal vpas veKpovs

11. In all probability, as has
been said above, some Judaistic
enforcement of circumcision gave
occasion to what St. Paul says
here. It is to be borne in mind that,
to St. Paul, the essential reality
of all spiritual relations was that
mystical order, that Divine or
ganization, which subsisted in
Christ. All sacramental symbols
derived their meaning and worth
from the reality which they repre
sented, — a reality on which they
were dependent, but which was
not dependent upon them. The
strength of this feeling in St.
Paul's mind enabled him to use
sacred symbols for the purpose of
illustration with greater freedom
than is natural to us. In this
passjge^th^jMCunMsjojaof^Christand the_bapJ;isni_of_&e_Chmtian
are both appealed to as external
facts which _giy^_expj«ssfon_and
body_to_the great mystical laws of
spiritual fellowjhip_with Christ.
iv £ Kal TtepierpiiBrjTe. " In
Christ ypjLJwere circumcised. ' '
¦.Wlieji-fe^-" .Wien-&fi-jra§_cjrcum-
cised." "In his circumcision, be-
lieve that "you had the sins of your

flesh stripped off." Again, " You
have heen buried with Christ. "
When ? "In your baptism."
" Believe that you then died with,
Christ and rose again with Christ."
It would have been equally Pauline
to say, " You were buried when
Christ was buried, and you rose
again when Christ rose again," as
to say, "You went down ink)
death with Christ when you went
under the Avater, and rose up alive
with him when you came out of
the water." The historical facts
of Christ's life, and the sacred
symbols of the Christian life, are
equally, though not in an identical
manner, expressions of the Divine
law or will which governs the
higher existence of man.
12. lid rrjg irioTetag . . . The
rising_to life only becomes actual
through faith. "Believe in that
putting^ forth of Divine Will
which wrought when God raised
Christ from the dead, and„ you
also are raised again." Compare
Eph. i. 19, 20, and the notes on
that passage.
13. The clauses which follow
resemble very closely Eph. ii. 1,
5, 14, 15, 16.
H 2

100

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

[II. 14, 15.

ovras ev rols TrapaTrrcopaaiv Kal rfj aKpofivana. rrjs
aapKos vpxov, avve^cooiroirjaev vpas aw avrcp, Xa/°f~
14 aapevos rjplv iravra ra irapairrcopara, e$jaXei\j/as to
Kaff rjpcov x€LP°ypa(p01' T°i? Soypaaiv o rjv virevavnov
rjplv, Kal avro rjpKev ck tov pieaov, irpoarjXcoaas avro
rS rco aravpco, aireKSvaapevos ras apxas Kal ras e^ovaias
eSeiypanaev ev irapprjaia, Bpiajj,/3evaas avrovs ev
avrco.

14. In the parallel passage Eph.
ii. 15, the^tratten law, the system
of decrees, is represented primarily
as a barrier between Jews and
Gentiles : here it is primarily a
barrier between men and God.
By its power jo condemn jt^repels
men from God. Christ by the re
conciliation displayed in him has
effaced all the separative power
of the Law.
ek rov piaov, " from the midst,"
i.e. from intervening between us
and God.
15. The difficulty of connecting
this verse with what goes before,
through the absence of a copula,
is trifling compared with the diffi
culty of translating and under
standing the words themselves.
What is the sense of aTreK.lv-
udpevog %
What were the apxal and ilov-
aiai to be triumphed over in
Christ's work of redemption
through sacrifice ?
It is almost better to give up
the word aireKlvadpevog in despair,
than to render it " having spoiled."
It is not that St. Paul was in

capable of bad grammar ; but
that there is no conceivable reason
for his using a common word in a
totally false sense. His use of
direKlvaig, a very few lines above,
in its right sense, makes such a
false application of direKlvcrdpevog
still more incredible. To render
it " having spoiled " is not simply
to assume that the middle is
wrongly used for the active voice.
In the active direKcvo-ai would be
to strip off clothes, not to strip the
body of clothes. The a'pxat and
ilovaiai would still be stripped
off, not spoiled.
Then, what are these dpyai and
ilovaiai 1 It is said, evil powers,
devils. And this interpretation is
supported by Eph. vi. 12. But
just above, Christ is spoken of as
the liead of all principalities and
powers. And it is certainly usual
in these Epistles to find a'pxat and
elovaiai used in a neutral or com
prehensive sense.
The most prudent course would
perhaps be to leave the passage
uninterpreted, as apparently un
finished and therefore obscure.

11.16,17.] EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 101
16 M77 ovv ris vpas Kpiverco ev fipcoaei Kal ev irbaei rj
17 ev pepei eoprrjs rj vovpirjvias r) aafifiarcov, a eanv aKia

The literal rendering i> tn say
that^ " God in Christ" stripped off
from himself the  principalitifiS
and powers, and made a show of,
thenL  May_ggme .such ..thought
as this be indicated 1 — • " False
teachers are enveloping and smo
thering the person of Christ with
a cloud of ethereal beings. But
I say that Christ, in the glory of
his cross, stripped himself clear
of all that cloud. He rose up
into a higher sphere, and placed
himself distinctly above all powers
of the invisible world." So it is
said in Eph. iv. 10 that Christ
rose " far above all heavens," and
in Eph. i. 21 that God "placed
him far above all apxai and elov-
ttiai. There is an idea of hostility, it
is true, expressed in the words
ileiy pdriaev and BpiappEvaag. I_f
the apxai and ilovaiai beregaidfid.
as m some way connected with
'The adininistraSonr oF Ehejaw,
^compare what is said of " angels"]
in Gal. iii. 19, Acts vii 53, andl
^Hebrews ii. 2,)^ a victory over)
themjtmgB£]je spoken of inucon.^
nexion_with a_yictory pjer_ihe
Law. Or, if they are simply re
garded as powers which hid Christ
from men, Christ in clearing him
self from them might be said to
vanquish them as rivals.
iv avru. Probably " in him ; "

not "in it," viz. the cross. _A11
through the sentence/Croc? in ChrisiD

is the subject.
16 — 23. This passage carries on
the warning begun in the 8th
verse. The believers were in
danger of being robbed of their
freedom and life given to them in
Christ by being brought under
a complicated system of obser
vances. The Apostle exhorts them
to refuse to be thus degraded.
The language of this paragraph
presents to us a succession of diffi
culties, including some uncertain
ties of text, which strengthen
that impression of crudeness in
the composition which is con
veyed by some preceding passages.
It may be supposed, perhaps, that
St. Paul's dictation did not always
take place under equally favourable
circumstances. 16. M17 oZv rig vpag Kpivirio.
You are made alive and exalted
with Christ : therefore do not sub
mit to be treated as subjects of a-
lower dispensation, hound by an
external religion.
iv pepei, " with reference to,"
" in the matter of." pepog was
used for " what concerns," as rov-
pbv pepog, so far as relates to me.
aaflfldThrv, though plural, may
mean a single Sabbath. Compare
St. Matthew xxviii. 1, &c.
17. Ceremonial institutions were

102

EPISTLE -TO THE COLOSSIANS.

[II. 18-

-20.

18 tcov peXXovrcov, ro Se acopa Xpiarov. prjSels vpas
KarafipafteveTCO BeXcov ev raireivo(ppoawr) Kal BprjaKeia.
tcov ayyeXcov, a prj ecopaKev epftarevcov, e'lKrj (pvaiov-
19 pevos viro rov voos rrjs aapKos avrov, Kal ov Kparcov
rrjv KecpaXrjv, e£ ov Trav to acopa Std rcov dcpcov Kal
avvSeapcov eiri^oprjyovfievov Kal av/xfitfiafiopevov av£ei
20 rrjv av^rjaiv tov Beov. Et dire&avere aw Xpiarco dirb

but a shadow of the substance
signified by them. As Christ, the
substance of the Jewish institu
tions, had come, ra piXXovra is
probably to be understood of things
which had been " future " when
the ceremonies were instituted.
to awpa. " The body is [the
body] of Christ." 'Ztipa is used
in a twofold sense. The Person of
Christ is the body or substance
of which these institutions are
shadows. KaTa/Jpafievirh). This word
means properly to decide against
a person's claim to a prize. It is
difficult to say whether the idea
of defrauding is here to take pre
cedence of that of condemning. If
so, the (jpafie'wv might be fellow
ship with Christ. Compare Phi
lippians iii. 14, tie ro l3pa/3e~tov rrjg
avot KXrjaeiog rov Beov ev Xptar^
'Irjaov. BeXwv, " at his will " or pleasure.
iv rair., preaching humility, &c.
BprjaKeia rSiv dyyeXiov, " wor
ship paid to angels ;" not, as some
have understood it, " angelical de
votion." Such devotion does not
appear to have been one of the

dangers which St. Paul was con
templating, nor would it have been
well expressed by BpnaKeia. Wor
ship of angels is contrasted with
holding the Head.
d prj eiipaKev ip/3arevu>v, "en
tering upon, or going into, things
which he has not seen," — such as,
by his theories, he might be sup
posed to have seen, but has not.
The other reading a id>p., which
has almost better MS. authority,
cannot be made to give any tole
rable meaning. Compare the fol
lowing expressions in Philo : Tf,
(prjaiv, 10 Bavpaaioi, roaovrov attpvi-
liov apBevreg dirb yrjg tig vypog
eirivtJxeaBe Kal rov depa virepKv\pav-
reg alBcpofiarelre ; (i. 465.)
19. Compare Eph. iv. 16, and
note, rijv avlrjaiv rov Beov, "the
growth which God designs and
grants." 20. oTOixtla tov Koo-pnv. As in
verse 8, "Christ" and "the ele
ments of the world " are put in
opposition to one another. The
elements of the world are here, as
in Galatians iv. 9, chiefly rules of
an external and superficial nature
relating to observances.

II. 21—23.]

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

103

tcov aroixeicov rov Koapov, ri cos ^covres ev Koapco
21 Soypari^eaBe Mr? a^rrj jxrjSe yevarj jxrjSe Biyrjs, a
.22 eanv iravra els (pBopav rfj diroxprjaei, Kara ra evraX-
23 para Kal SiSaaKaXias tcov avBpcoircov ; ariva eanv
Xoyov pev exovra aocpias ev eBeXoBprjaKeia. Kal ra-
TreivoiPpoavvr} Kal acpeiSia. acoparos, ovk ev npfj nvl
irpos TrXrjapovrjv rrjs aapKos.

22. d iartv eig (pSopav. The
objects to which the rules Touch
not, &c. refer are those creatures of
God which are made to be used
and done with. Some have thought
that it is of these rules themselves
that St. Paul says that they are
meant to perish in the using ;
which would be an instructive
observation, but seems less natural
than the sense commonly re
ceived. 23. This verse, though not per
fectly symmetrical in construction,
would have no great difficulty
except for the apparently unsuit
able meaning of irXrjapovrjv. Those
rules of abstinence, says St. Paul,
have a pretension of wisdom in
the voluntary devotion and humi
lity and unsparing usage of the
body which they prescribe, but
are not in any honour, or of any
value, to the satiating of the flesh.
But they were never intended to
satiate the flesh ; and why should
that object be thought desirable 1
UXijapovt) so certainly denotes more
than legitimate satisfaction, that
I confess I cannot conceive it to
have been used by St. Paul in a

good sense. We seem to want
some word meaning "effectual con
quest" rather than "repletion."
The flesh was to be subjugated,
according to the doctrine of St.
Paul as well as of the Gnostical or
Judaizing teachers : the question
was whether epyov went with
Xoyog, whether formal rules of
abstinence really subdued the flesh.
" Those rules are plausible," says
St. Paul ; we expect him to go on
to say that they are delusive. The
nearest approach to such a sense
would be by putting some force
upon rrpog, and understanding it
to mean " with reference to," i.e.
" so as to withstand or overcome."
Another solution is to leave the
sentence without any apodosis
answering to pev, and to make
ovk. iv riprj k.t.X. a development
of drpeileia awparog, " not giving
any honour to the flesh to the
satisfying of it." A third expla
nation is to separate rrpbg ttK from
ev riprj nvi, and render it " tend
ing (but really tend) to the sa
tiating of the flesh." But there
is something very forced in all
these interpretations.

104

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

[III. 1-4.

III. i

Et ovv avvrjy'epBrjre rco Xpiarco, ra avco grjreire,
ov b Xpiaros eanv ev Seijid rov Beov KaBrjpevos' ra
3 avco cppovelre, prj ra eirl rrjs yrjs. direBavere yap,
Kal r) far) vpcov KeKpvTrrai aw rep Xpiarco ev rep Beep'
4 brav 6 Xptaros (pavepcoBfj, r) far) rjpcov, Tore Kal vpeis
aw avrco cpavepcoBrjaeaBe ev Sotjrj.

In this difficulty, it may be ex
cusable to mention a conjectural
emendation, although conjectural
emendations are rightly excluded
from the text of Scripture. If
we were to read imXriapovriv, "for-
getfulness," for TrXrjaporrjv, we
should get, I think, a very good
sense. It is just the failure of
ascetic rules, that they do not
tend to a forgetting of the flesh.
'EiriXnapovrj is a Hellenistic word,
being used by St. James (i. 25)
and in the LXX. St. Paul, in a
passage which has some resem
blance to what we are now read
ing, uses the expression ra pev
oiriaw inXavBdvopevog (Phil. iii.
13). A change from l7rt\. to irX.,
not very violent for the copyist,
would be easier to one writing
from dictation, and the word aapKog
might half suggest to the ear the
congenial irXrjapovi].
III. 1. St. Paul assumes that the
believers had risen with Christ.
Compare ii. 12, avvratpevreg atiVw
iv ra jiairriapaTi, iv w Kal avvrj-
yipBrjre. This co-rising with Christ
was involved in his being the
Head. When the Head rose, the

members also rose. But the rising
was expressed, and wrought into
the life of the individual, in
Baptism. The passage beginning with this
verse is a very striking exposition
of the highest Pauline doctrine of
fellowship with Christ. We are
again reminded of Philippians iii.,
where we have the expressions rav
iiriyeia ipporovvreg' rjpwv yap to
rroXirevpa iv ovpavdig {nrdpx^i, W.
1 9, 20. St. Paul would carry out
to the utmost his principle, that
in the descending and ascending
of Christ was laid the true basis
for each man of his regenerate
life. " Consider yourselves to have
died, risen, and ascended to heaven,
with Christ ; and live now the life
of those who are properly living,
not on the earth, but with Christ
in heaven."
3, 4. KeKpvirrai. (pavepioBrj.
" Now, this heavenly life must be
content to be, in its inward con
sciousness, hidden from the world,
as Christ is hidden from the world.
When the veil is withdrawn from
Christ, it will also be withdrawn
from your membership with
him."

III. 5—9.] EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

105

5 NeKpcoaare ovv ra pieXrj ra eirl rrjs yrjs, iropveiav,
aKaBapaiav, iraBos, eiriBvpiiav KaKijv, Kal rrjv TrXeo-
6 ve^iav rjns eariv elScoXoXarpeia, Si a epx^rai rj opyr)
7 rov Beov. ev ols Kal vpeis TrepieTrarrjaare irore ore
8 etgjre ev rovrois' vwl Se airoBeaBe Kal vpeis ra iravra,
opyrjv Bvpov KaKiav fihaacprjpiiav alaxpoXoyiav eK rov
9 aropiaros vpcov, prj \j/evSeaBe els aXXrjXovs, aireKSv-

5. ra peXrj vptav. These " mem
bers " are explained to be evil
affections and habits. Habits form
parts of a body, with which the
inward life clothes itself. Compare
ore i^fjre iv rovroig, ver. 7.
Compare verses 5 and 6 with
Eph. v. 5, 6.
6. The received text, which
adds the words " upon the children
of disobedience," is supported by
the Sinai MS.
7. iv dig Kal vpelg TrepieTrarrjaare
ttote ote i^rJTE iv rovroig. The
"walking'' refers rather to the
outward conduct, the "living" to
inward habits and relations. Com
pare Gal. V. 25, ei iwpev Trvevpan,
Trvevpan Kal aroixUper.
8. Kai vpelig. In verse 7 "you
also " meant " you, like the rest
of the heathen or children of dis
obedience." Here it should mean
" you, as others have done." But,
as there has been no recent refer
ence to Christian converts, Kal
vpe'ig in this verse may be only an
echo of Kal vpelg in the preceding
verse. rd iravra, " the whole of them,"
— a more summary expression

(without raiira) for "all those
habits." flXaaiprjpiav, not limited, like
our word "blasphemy," to re
proaches against God, but, gene
rally, all abusive language.
9. pr) ipevleade. Lying was
natural to a condition in which
every man was supposed to be set
against bis neighbour, but un
natural to one in which unity and
not division was the law.
It is interesting to compare this
passage with the parallel one in
Ephesians (iv. 22— 25). The ideas
of " the old man " and " the new
man," of " putting off" and " put
ting on" are the same in both
passages. But here the putting
off and putting on are presented
as already done ; there, as rather
to be done, because involved in the
knowing of Christ. In Ephesians,
the present participle ipBeipopevov,
on the one side, answers to the
present participle dvaKaivovpevov
on the opposite side in this Epistle.
The old man is being destroyed,
the new man is being renewed.
In Ephesians, knowledge is made
the cause or beginning of the

106

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. [III. 10— 12.

adpevoi rbv iraXaibv avBpcoirov aw rais irpa£eaiv
io avrov Kal evSvaapevoi tov veov rov avaKaivovp,evov
11 els eiriyvcoaiv Kar' e'tKOva rov Kriaavros avrov, oirov
ovk 'evi'HiXXrjv Kal lovSalos, irepiroprj Kal aKpofivana,
fidpfiapos, "2,KV&rjs, SovXos, eXevBepos, aXXa ra iravra
Kal ev Trdatv Xptaros.
12 'YivSvaaaBe ovv cos ckXcktoI tov Beov ayioi Kal
rjyaTrrjpevoi airXayxva o'lKTip/xov, yjprjarorrjTa, rairewo-

change ; here, it is made the end
of it (eig eiriyvwaiv).
11. oirov. The antecedent to
oirov is the dispensation or con
stitution implied in the preceding
sentence. " In the society of the
new creation there is no distinc
tion between Greek and Jew."
Compare Eomans x. 12, ov yap
eanv liaaroXr) 'lovlaiov re Kal'EX-
Xrjvog' 6 yap avrog Kvpiog iravrarv.
dXXa rd iravra Kal iv iraaiv
Xpiarog. The corresponding phrase
just quoted, 6 avrbg Kvpiog irdvriav,
has not the Pauline depth of this.
The new society is the Body of
Christ. In and to his Body Christ
is everything. Distinctions of race
and condition are absorbed in the
new relation. In more ordinary
language we might have said,
" We no longer call this man a
Gentile, that man a Jew, this man
barbarian, that man civilized ; all
are Christians, and all our signifi
cant characteristics are Christian."
For " Christian " St. Paul more
forcibly says " Christ." " Every
thing, in the new creation, is
Christ : Christ is in all." Com

pare tov pvarrjpiov tovtov, bg eariv
Xpio-rog ev vpiv, rj iXirlg rrjg lolrjg
(i. 27) ; and dxptg oi popfioBrj
Xpiarog iv vpiv, Gal. iv. 19.
12. <og iKXeKrol rov Beov ayioi
Kal fiyairripevoi. There can be no
question that ayioi Kal i\y. are not
in the vocative case. But it may
be doubted whether iKXeKrol is to
be taken by itself, or characterizes
ayioi or both it and r)yairrjpevoi.
In any case riyawrjpivot will be
"loved" not by St. Paul, but by
God. It is perhaps most in ac
cordance with Pauline usage to
understand ayioi only as depend
ent upon £kXek7-o«. The meaning
will thus be, " as those whom God
has chosen to be holy and has
loved ; " " as God's chosen saints,
and beloved of God." The ex
pressions are then very similar to
those in Eomans i. 9, rots iv 'Pw/ijj
ayairrjro'ig Beov, kXijtoIq ayiotg.
airXa yxva oiKrippnv. The word
airXayxva in its literal sense hardly
means bowels. It was used to
describe such inward parts as the
heart, the lungs, and the liver.
These parts in sacrificial victims

III. 13—16.]

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

107

x3 (Ppoawrjv, irpavrrjTa, paKpoBvpiav, dvexbpevoi dXXrj-
Xcov Kal xaPl&P-€1'01 eavrols edv ns irpbs nva exi)
popicprjv, KaBcos Kal o Xptaros eyapiaaro vplv ovrcos
14 /cat vpeis, eirl iraaiv Se tovtois rrjv ayairrjv, b eanv
15 avvSeapos rrjs reXeiorrjTos. Kal rj elprjvrj rov Xpiarov
fipafieverco ev rais KapSiais vpcov, els rjv Kal eKXrjBrjre
16 ev evl acopan' Kal evxapiaroi yiveaBe. 'O Xoyos rov

were distinguished from the bowels,
— the viscera thoracis from the
viscera abdominis. See Liddell and
Scott's Lexicon. The word "heart"
therefore more nearly corresponds
to airXayxva than "bowels." It
denotes the seat of tender natural
feeling. The affections enumerated
in this verse are the mutual duties
incumbent on true members of the
Body of Christ, the discharge of
which will preserve the proper
unity of the Body.
13. dvExop-evoi dXXrjXwv. See
note on Eph. iv. 2, in which verse
some of the expressions of this
passage are found. But the place
in Ephesians which most nearly
corresponds to this is iv. 24 — 32.
6 Xpiarog. It is doubtful whether
this, or 6 Kvpiog, be the right
reading. 14. iirl iraaiv le rovroig. In this
place, as in Eph. vi. 1 6, iirl iraaiv
dvaXajiovreg rbv Bvpebv rrjg irla-
reuig, there is some inducement to
take iiri in the sense " over," " to
cover." But it means more pro
perly " in addition to." "Add to
all these love."
0 eariv avvleapog rrjg reXeioTrjrog,
" which is the binding together

of perfectness." The less precise
reference of 8 (instead of »;) to
ayairrjv ought to be marked. We
may take "the putting on of
love " as the antecedent to 8.
15. rj eiprjvrj rov Xpiarov ftpa-
flevlTw. Compare Philip, iv. 7,
il eiprjvrj rov Beov cppovpfjaei rag
KapSiag vpwv. " The peace of
Christ" recalls the saying of our
Lord, " My peace I give you "
(St. John xiv. 27). Both here and
in the passage quoted from Philip
pians St. Paul uses an uncommon
expression to describe the do
minion of peace. " Let the peace
of Christ decide differences, exer
cise authority, in your hearts."
" The peace of God shall garrison
your hearts." We may more easily
realize this active power of Christ's
peace by thinking of Christ him
self as shedding abroad his peace
in the heart, and making it pre
vail over all dissension. Verses
14, 15, have great similarity of
expression to Eph. iv. 3, 4. iv
rip avvleirpip rfjg eiprjvrjg. ev atipa
Kal ev irvEvpa, KaBivg Kal iKXijBfjre
ev pia iXirlli rrjg KXrjaeuig vptSv.
16. 6 Xoyog rov Xpiarov. "The
word of Christ," the> uttered mind

108

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

[III. 17—20.

Xpiarov evoiKeirco ev vplv irXovaicos, ev iraarj aocpia.
SiSdaKovres Kal vovBerovvres eavrovs, y^aXpoLS vpvois
cpSals irvevpartKals ev rfj yapiri aSovres ev rfj KapSia
17 vpxov rep Beep, Kal irdv b n eav iroirjre ev Xoycp
rj ev epyeo, iravra ev bvopari Kvpiov Irjaov, evyapi-
arovvres rep Beeo irarpl 81 avrov.
18 At yvvalKes, viroraaaeaBe rols avSpaaiv, cos avrjKev
19 ev Kvpico. ol dvSpes, dyairdre ras ywalKas Kal prj
20 TriKpaivea&e irpbs avrds. Ta reKva, viraKOvere rols
yivevaiv Kara iravra' tovto yap eanv evapearov ev

of Christ, nearly equivalent to
" the inspiration of Christ."
It seems almost certain that the
division of this sixteenth verse
given in the English version is'
the right one. It is singular to
find " psalms, hymns, and spiritual
songs " represented as the media
of instruction and admonition.
But the parallel passage in Ephe
sians (v. 19, 20), Xa\o5j'rEC£au7-otc
yjaXpdig k.t.X., makes it more than
probable that this is what St.
Paul meant. Divine inspiration
will most naturally utter itself, we
must suppose the Apostle to say,
in adoration and thanksgiving :
let these, rather than direct ex
hortations, be your modes of
teaching and admonishing one
another. iv rrj x"PtTl> " with thankful
ness." Compare 1 Cor. x. 30, et
iytii xdpiri perix^r ri fiXaatprjpovpai
virep ol iyia evxapiario ;
17. With this comprehensive
requirement compare, not only
the parallel passage in Ephesians
(v. 20), but the more exactly

similar language in 1 St. Peter
iv. 11, ei rig XaXti, i>g Xoyta 6 tov,
e'i Tig ItaKovel, ibg el laxvog %g
X°pr\yei 0 Beog, 'iva iv iraaiv lola-
£>]rai b Bebg lid 'Irjaov Xpiarov,
(in which the reference is not
only to sacerdotal speaking and
ministering, but to all speaking
and serving whatsoever;) and also
1 Cor. x. 31, e'ire ovv kaBiere e'ire
iriverE e'ire ti ttoie'ite, Travra eig
lolav Beov Troielre.
18. <bg avfjKev iv Kvpia). The
mutual relations of the family
and household belong to a Divine
order, and are to be fulfilled in
accordance with that order.
19. prj iriKpalveaBe, " do not
indulge ill temper towards
them." 20. Kara iravra. Compare iv
iravri, Eph. v. 24. The obedience
is to be general and comprehensive,
not qualified by such exceptions
as those by which the Pharisees
" made the commandment of none
effect" (St. Matthew xv. 3—6).
But the duty of complete obe
dience may be crossed by other

III.21-25;IV.l-4.] EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

109

21 Kvpicp. ol irarepes, prj epeBi^ere ra reKva vpxov, 'iva
22 prj aBvjxcoaiv. Ot SovXoi, viraKOvere Kara iravra rols
Kara aapKa Kvpiois, prj ev 6(p6aXp.o8ovXeiais cos
avBpcoirapeaKOi, aXX ev airXorrjn KapSias (pofiovpievoi
23 tov Kvpiov. 0 eav iroirjre, e/c ^vx^s epyd^ea&e cos
24 rco KVpicp Kal ovk avBpcoirois, elSores on dirb Kvpiov
airoXrjpjtyea&e rrjv dvrairoSoaiv rrjs KXrjpovopias. rco
25 Kvpico Xpiarco SovXevere' o yap aSiKeov Kopiaerai b
rfSUrjaev, Kal ovk eanv irpoacoTroXrjp^ia. 01 Kvpiot,
to 8'iKaiov Kal rrjv laorrjra rols SovXois irapexeaBe,
elSores on Kal vpiels exere KVPL0V ev ovpaveo.
2 Tfj Trpoaevxfj irpoaKaprepelre yprjyopovvres ev avrfj
3 ev evxapiaria, irpoaevxopevoi apa Kal irepl rjpxov, iva
b Beos dvoi^rj rjplv Bvpav tov Xoyov XaXrjaai to
4 pvarrjpiov rov Xpiarov, 81 o Kal SeSepai, 'iva (pave-
duties if the parents do not com- of IovXevetc. But on the whole

V. 1

mand reasonably.
21. The immediate effect of an
irritating use of parental authority
would be to arouse resentment ;
but in the end the effect of such
treatment, as St. Paul well teaches,
must be to break the spirit and
produce a servile temper.
24. rrjg KXrjpovopiag, " the in
heritance " promised to all' God's
children. "Ye shall receive the
requital of the inheritance," i.e.
" the inheritance as a requital."
rji Kvpiip Xpiora IovXevete, " ye
are bond-servants to the Lord
Christ." ydp being omitted on
the authority of the better MSS.,
there is a doubt whether Iov
Xevete is in the indicative or the
imperative. The next clause, 6
yap aliKiiv, k.t.X. would follow
better upon an imperative sense

the sense "ye serve" appears to
agree better with the context ; the
punctuation of the received text
being retained. " Do your service
as to the Lord ; the Lord whom
you serve is Christ. For he that
does a wrong shall receive for the
wrong he has done." In the
parallel passage in Ephesians (vi.
8), doing good stands in the place
of doing wrong.
25. TrpoatoiroXrjp\pia. See note
on Eph. vi. 9.
IV. 1. rijv iaorrjra, " fairness,"
— either actual equality as between
one slave and another, or, more
generally, that treatment which is
commonly called " equal," equitable
treatment. 3. Bvpav -rov Xoyov, " a door of
the word," i. e. of the word in the

110

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

[IV. 5—10.

S pcoaco avro cos Sel pe XaXrjaai. 'Ef ao(pia irepiirareire
6 irpos rovs e^co, rbv Kaipov e£ayopa£ojievoi. o Xoyos
vpcov irdvrore ev yapin, aXari rjprvpievos, elSevai ircos
Sel vpas evl eKaareo airoKpiveaBai.
7 Ta Kar epe Travra yvcopiaei vjxlv Tuy/ko? o aya-
irrjros aSeXcpos Kal iriaros SiaKOvos Ka\ awSovXos ev
8 Kvpico, ov 'eirep\\ra irpos vpas els avro tovto iva yvco
9 ra irepl vpcov Kal irapaKaXearj ras KapSias vpxov, aw
'Ovrjaipeo rep iriarco Kal ayairrjrcp aSeXdjco, os eanv e£
vpxov' iravra vplv yvcopiovaiv ra coSe.
io ' Kaira^erai vpas Apiarapyos b awaixpaXeoros pov,

sense of the Gospel. Compare i.
25, 26, rbv Xoyov rov Beov, to
pvarijpiov . . . e<pavtpu)8rj.
5. rov Kaipov ilayopa^opevoi.
Here, as in Ephesians (v. 16),
this remarkable phrase occurs in
connexion with exhortations to
careful and discreet behaviour.
The Christians, being placed in
circumstances of great difficulty
and delicacy, needed to watch for
the fit times of action, to "buy
up the right moment."
6. It is again interesting to
observe the likeness and the dif
ferences between this verse and
its parallel in Ephesians (iv. 29).
Speech "seasoned with salt" is
opposed to Xoyoc aairpog. Salt is
the purifying and preserving prin
ciple, and speech thus seasoned
answers to that which is " good
for edification." " To know how
you ought to answer each several
person," is to know how you may
do him the most good (iv,a l£
Xaptv). The word x"-pl£> which

has so many shades of meaning;
appears not to be used in exactly
the same sense in the two pas
sages. In Ephesians, lovvai xdpiv
appears to be "to impart a benefit."
Here iv x°PlTl *s " with grace,"
or, as we might say, " gracious."
Kindness, not that of mere good
nature, but that of a thoughtful
and spiritual disposition, is ex
pressed by x^P's*
7, 8. So in Eph. vi. 21, 22.
ItaKovog, " a helper," as in that
passage. 9. avv'Ovrjaipa. See the whole
letter of St Paul to Philemon.
It is implied in that letter by the
mention of Archippus, (compare
Philemon 2 with Col. iv. 17,) that
Philemon, and therefore Onesi-
mus, belonged to Colossse.
10. Aristarchus, a Macedonian
of Thessalonica, had been a com
panion of St. Paul for some time.
He is at Ephesus at the time of
the great tumult there (Acts xix.
29), travels with St. Paul from

IV. 11, 12.]

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

111

Kat MapKOs 6 dveyj/ibs Bapvdfia, irepl ov eXafiere ev-
ii roAay, (eav eXBrj irpbs vpas, SefjaaBe avrov), Kal 'Irjaovs
o Aeyopevos lovaros, oi ovres e/c irepiroprjs' ovroi
povoi awepyoi els rrjv fiaaiXeiav tov Beov, o'inves
12 eyevrjBrjaav poi iraprjyopia. aairdfarai vpas 'Eira-
(ppds o eg vpcov, SovXos Xpiarov 'Irjaov, iravrore
dycovifapevos virep vpcov ev rais irpoaevxals, 'iva arrjre
reXeioi Kal TreirXrjpo(poprjpevoi ev iravri BeXrjpan tov

Greece to Jerusalem (Acts xx. 4),
and is with him on the voyage
from Caesarea to Italy (Acts xxvii.
2). He is now sharing St. Paul's
imprisonment at Eome.
Ma'prac. The naming of Mark
(here and in Philemon 24, see also
2 Tim. iv. 11) as a companion of
St. Paul has the peculiar interest
of proving that the breach de
scribed in Acts xiii. 13 and xv.
36 — 40, had not been a permanent
one. John, who had once de
parted from Paul and Barnabas,
j^_id Barnabas with whom Paul
had so sharp a contention because
he wished afterwards to have his
kinsman John with him that a
temporary separation was the re
sult, are now mentioned in terms
of friendship ; and " John sur-
named Mark" appears to be an
object of St. Paul's special soli
citude. 11. If the clause ol bvrsg . . .
rov Beov be read (as it is by Lach-
mann) without any pause after
TrepiToprjg, the meaning will be,
" who, alone of the circumcision,

are my fellow-workers unto the
kingdom of God." But I should
prefer placing a comma after irept-
roprjg, and taking ovroi povoi o-v-
vepyol in apposition to the pre
ceding names ; " — who are of
the circumcision, these only being
my fellow-workers unto the king
dom of God, men who have been
a comfort to me." With a colon
after TrepiToprjg, oirroi povoi awepyoi
will be, " these alone are my fel
low-workers." 12. It seems probable that the
anxiety of the good Epaphras on
behalf of his friends, and his
report to St. Paul both of the
Christian virtues of the Colossian
Christians and of the dangers to
which they were exposed, had
much to do with the writing of
this Epistle.
iv rravrl OeXr/pari rov Beov, " in
all God's will." The more regular
rendering would be " in every will
of God;" but the usage of BeXrjpa,
corresponding to that of "will,"
makes the former rendering the
more eligible.

112

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

[IV. 13—18.

•3 Beov. paprvpco yap avrcp on exet ttoXvv ttovov virep
vpcov Kal rcov ev AaoSiKeia Kal rcov ev lepairoXei.
14 a0-7ra£erat vpas AovKas b larpbs b dyaTrrjros Kai
is Arjpas- dairaaaaBe tovs ev AaoSiKeia a8eX(povs Kai
16 Nvpcpav Kal rrjv Kar oIkov avrov eKKXrjaiav. Kai
orav dvayvcoaBfj irap vplv rj eiriaroXrj, iroirjaare iva
Kal ev rfj AaoSiKeeov eKKXrjaia. avayvcoa&fj, Kai rrjv
17 e/c AaoSiKeias 'iva Kal vpeis avayvcore. Kal e'nrare
' Apxiirircp BXeire irjv StaKoviav rjv irapeXafies ev Kvpico,
iva avrrjv irXrjpols.
18 'O aairaapos rfj epfj X6lPl IlavAou. pvrjpovevere
p.ov tcov Seapxov. rj xdpi? p£@ vpxov.

13. ttoXvv irovov. Probably to
be explained by reference to dyui-
vt^opevog in the preceding verse :
" much labouring of mind." Com
pare ii. 1.
14. AovKag Kal Arjpdg. Both
are named again in Phil. 24. In
2 Tim. iv. 10, 11, Demas is said
to have forsaken St. Paul, Luke
to be still with him.
1 5. Lachmann reads, with some
MS. authorities, " Nympha and
the church in her house."
16. Laodicea, Hierapolis, and
Colossse were within a few miles
of each other. Attempts have
been made to identify the letter
to the Laodiceans with that to
Philemon or with that to the
Ephesians. These attempts have
no doubt been prompted by the
hypothesis that no Epistles were
written by St. Paul except those
which have been preserved. But
this is a most untenable theory.
The greater probability is that a

very large number of letters were
written by him upon whom came
daily the care of all the Churches.
And it is most reasonable to as
sume that the letter referred to
was one of those which have not
been preserved.
17. It may fairly be assumed
that the liamvia to which Arehip-
pus was to take heed was the office
of superintending the Church at
Colossse. Compare Phil. 2.
18. The only part written by
St. Paul, the rest of the Letter
being dictated by him.
It is remarkable to observe how
frequently St. Paul refers to his
imprisonment as giving him a kind
of authority, or a better right to
be heard, amongst his fellow-be
lievers. Compare, amongst many
other passages, Philip, i. 12 — 14.
Here, the only appeal made in his
own handwriting is "Eemember
my bonds."

TO THE COLOSSIANS.
Paul an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, t.
and Timotheus the brother, to the holy and faithful . 2
brethren in Christ at Colossse. Grace be to you and
peace from God our Father.

We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord ,
Jesus Christ always in prayers on your behalf, having .
heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love
which you have towards all the saints, on account of s
the hope laid up for you in the heavens, of which
you heard before in the word of truth of the Gospel,
which has come amongst you, as also in all the world 6
it is bearing fruit and increasing even as it does
amongst you, from the day you heard it and came
to know the grace of God in truth, even as you 7
learnt it from Epaphras our beloved fellow-servant,
who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,
who also made known to us your love in the spirit. 8
On this account we also, since the day we heard of it,
do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may
have the full knowledge of his will in all wisdom
and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk 10
worthily of the Lord unto all acceptableness, in every
good work bearing fruit and increasing in the know-

114 EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.
i. ii ledge of God, strengthened with all power according
to the might of his glory unto all patience and long-
12 suffering, with joy giving thanks to the Father who
has enabled us to take our portion of the inheritance
'3 of the saints in the light, who has delivered us from
the power of darkness and transferred us into the
14 kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have our
is redemption, the remission of our sins, — who is the
image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation,
16 inasmuch as in him were created all things in the
heavens and on the earth, things visible and mvisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
powers, all things have been created through him
17 and unto him, and he is before all, and all things
18 are held together in him, and he is the head of the
body, the Church, — who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that he in all things might have
19 priority, inasmuch as in him all the Fulness was
20 pleased to dwell, and by him to reconcile all things
unto himself, having made peace through the blood of
his cross, by him, whether things on earth or things
21 in the heavens ; and you who were once alienated and
enemies in mind in wicked works, now he has re-
22 conciled in the body of his flesh through his death,
to present you holy and blameless and without re-
23 proach before him, if you abide in the faith grounded
and settled and not moved away from the hope of the
Gospel which you heard, which has been preached
in all the creation under heaven, of which I Paul
was made a minister.
24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf,
and fill up in my turn that which was lacking of the

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 115
afflictions of Christ in my flesh on behalf of his i. 24
body, which is the Church, of which I was made a 25
minister according to the dispensation of God given
to me towards you, to fulfil the word of God, the 2S
mystery which from the ages and from the generations
has been hidden, but now has been made manifest to
his saints, to whom God has willed to make known 2?
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among
the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory,
whom we proclaim instructing every man and teaching 28
every man in all wisdom, that we may present every
man perfect in Christ ; unto which also I labour 29
striving according to his energy which works in me
with power.
For I wish you to know, what a conflict I have on 11. 1
your behalf, and for them at Laodicea, and for all
who have not seen my face in the flesh, that they may 2
be comforted in their hearts, being knit together in
love and unto all the riches of the fulness of under
standing, unto the knowledge of the mystery of God,
even Christ, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom 3
and knowledge hidden. This I say, that no one may 4
mislead you with plausible words. For if in the flesh 5
I am absent, yet in the spirit I am with you, rejoicing
and beholding your order and the firm foundation of
your faith in Christ As therefore you have received 6
Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted and being 7
built up in him, and becoming established in [the]
faith as you have been taught, abounding in it with
thanksgiving. Beware lest there shall be any one who 8
shall make a prey of you through philosophy and vain
deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to
1 2

116 EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.
n. 8 the rudiments of the world, and not according to Christ ;
9 because in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead
io bodily, and you are in him fulfilled, who is the head
u of all principality and power, in whom also you have
been circumcised with a circumcision not done by
hands, in the stripping off of the body of the flesh
12 in the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with
him in your baptism, in which also you were raised
with him through the faith of the working of God
13 who raised him from the dead. And you being dead
in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, he has made alive with him, having forgiven
14 us all our trespasses, wiping out the handwriting
against us in decrees, which was contrary to us, and
has taken it out of the midst, nailing it to the cross ;
15 having stripped off principalities and powers he made
a show of them confidently, triumphing over them
in him.
,6 Let no one therefore judge you in eating or in
drinking, or in respect of feast or new moon or
17 sabbath, which are the shadow of future things, but
18 the body is that of Christ. Let no one take your
prize from you at his will by preaching humility
and the veneration of angels, going into things which
he has not seen, vainly puffed up by the mind of
19 his flesh, and not holding fast the Head, from whom
all the body being through the joints and ligaments
supplied and knit together grows with the growth of
20 God. If you have died with Christ from the rudi
ments of the world, why, as if you were living in
21 the world, have you rules laid down for you, " Handle
22 not, taste not, touch not," (things which are all

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 117
meant to perish in using,) according to the pre- n. 22.
scriptions and teachings of men ?— Which rules have 23
indeed a show of wisdom in voluntary religion and
humility and unsparing usage of the body, but are
not of any value to the satisfying of the flesh.
If then you have risen together with Christ, seek in. 1
the things above, where Christ is sitting at the right
hand of God ; mind things above, not things on the 2
earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden 3
with Christ in God : when Christ shall be manifested, 4
who is our life, then shall you also with him be
manifested in glory.
Mortify therefore your members which are upon 5
the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire,
and covetousness, which is idolatry, on account of 6
which the anger of God comes upon the children of
disobedience. In which things you also walked once, 7
when you lived in them. But now, you also, put off 8
all these things, anger, wrath, malice, evil speaking,
filthy language out of your mouth ; lie not one to 9
another, having put off the old man with his deeds,
and having put on the new man, which is being 10
renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that
created him, where there is not Greek and Jew, n -
circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian,
bond and free, but Christ is all things and in all.
Put on therefore, as God's chosen saints and loved ones, 12
a heart of pity, kindness, humility, meekness, long- .
suffering, bearing from one another and forgiving one 13
another if any have a complaint against any, even as
Christ has forgiven you, so do you ; and in addition 14
to all these put on love, which is the bond of perfect-

118 EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.
in. is ness. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
unto which you have also been called in one body ;
16 and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in
you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
17 with gratitude singing in your hearts to God. And
whatsoever you do in word or in deed, do all in the
name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the
Father through him.
18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is becoming
19 in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not
20 irritable towards them. Children, obey your parents
in all things : for this is well-pleasing in the Lord.
21 Fathers, provoke not your children, lest they be dis-
22 couraged. Bond-servants, obey in all things your
masters according to the flesh, not with eye-service
as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart fearing
23; the Lord. Whatsoever you do, work from the heart
24 as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the
Lord you shall receive the recompense of the in-
25 heritance ; the Lord whom you serve is Christ. For
he that does a wrong shall receive what he has
done wrong, and there is no respect of the person.
iv. 1 Masters, afford to your bond-servants justice and
equality, knowing that you also have a Master in
heaven.
2 Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanks-
3 giving, praying at the same time for us also, that God
may open to us a door of the word, to speak the
mystery of Christ,, for the sake of which Lam also
4 bound, that I may make, it manifest as I ought to
5 speak. Walk in wisdom towards them that are with-

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 119
out, buying up the right time. Let your speech be iv. 6
always with grace, seasoned with salt, to know how
you ought to answer every one.
All about me Tychicus will make known to you, 7
who is a beloved brother and faithful minister and
fellow-servant in the Lord, whom I have sent unto 8
you for this very purpose, that he may know about
you and may comfort your hearts ; with Onesimus, 9
the faithful and beloved brother, who is of you. They
will inform you of everything here.
Aristarchus my fellow-prisoner salutes you, and 10
Marcus cousin to Barnabas, concerning whom you
have received injunctions, (if he come to you, receive
him,) and Jesus called Justus, who are of the circum- u
cision, these alone being fellow-workers unto the king
dom of God, who have been a comfort to me. Epaphras 12
your fellow! ownsman salutes you, a servant of Christ
Jesus, always striving in your behalf in prayers, that
you may stand perfect and fulfilled in all God's will.
For I bear him witness that he has much labour for 13
you and those at Laodicea and those at Hierapolis.
Luke' the beloved physician and Demas greet you. I4
Greet the brethren at Laodicea and Nymphas and 15
the church in his house. And when this letter has 16
been read amongst you, cause that it also be read in
the Church of the Laodiceans and that you also read
that from Laodicea. And say to Archippus, Look to 17
the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord,
that thou fulfil it.
The salutation of me Paul with my own hand. 18
Remember my bonds. Grace be with you.

INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO
PHILEMON.
The chief interest of the short Letter to Philemon is in
the light it throws on the social operation of the Gospel.
The word preached by the Apostles, whilst it was unfolding
the various relations which constitute Christian theology,
was also working rapidly towards a social revolution
through its personal and domestic influences. The Epistles
to the Ephesians and the Colossians contain exhortations
addressed both to masters and to slaves. Here in the
Epistle to Philemon we have a living picture of the Gospel
actually at work upon the institution of slavery. The
picture includes the figures of Philemon the master, One
simus the slave, and Paul the spiritual father of both. If
we perceive in Ephesians some resemblance to a hymn,
We may see in Philemon an idyll of the progress of
Christianity. The Epistle to Philemon was evidently written at the
Same time and sent by the same messenger as the Epistle
to the Colossians. Philemon was a Christian of Colossse,
and the head of a considerable household, which may have
included many slaves. He had received the Gospel either
directly from the mouth of Paul himself, or by such a
channel that he might virtually attribute his conversion to
the Apostle (verse 19). Onesimus was a slave of his who
had deserted him and made his way to Rome. There he
was brought into contact with St. Paul, and became a

122 INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON.
believer in Christ. It seems probable that he was a
person of spirit, not corrupted by the baseness natural to
the servile condition, and that he had rebelled against the
restraints of slavery. Such a person was more likely to
yield to the trying demand now made on him by the
Apostle. His father in Christ bade him go back again and
surrender himself to his master ; and Onesimus, whatever
struggles it may have cost him, was prepared to obey.
The Apostle, having gained this submission from the slave,
feels that he, may count upon a corresponding advance from
the master. He begs him to receive Onesimus no longer
as a slave, but as a beloved brother, or fellow-Christian.
We do not feel, as readers of the Epistle, any doubt
that Philemon would act according to the Apostle's wish
Apart from his sense of what he owed to Christ and to
St. Paul, he would be greatly moved by such an act as his
slave's voluntary return to him. But St. Paul pleads
earnestly with him, acknowledging that he had been
wronged by the desertion of his slave, and making the
kindness for which he asked altogether an act of favour on
Philemon's part. And he appeals to the claims which he,
the veteran Apostle, the sufferer, the prisoner, had on the
allegiance of Philemon, with that tender personal exacting-
ness which would have been egotism if it had not been
guarded by such pure disinterestedness.
The history of the work of Christianity in suppressing
slavery could not have been begun more nobly than by
this proof that the new relations created by the Gospel
were incompatible with the natural relations of slavery,
and that, if slaves were taught by the Christian doctrine
to submit to the law of the land without murmuring,.
masters were taught to acknowledge themselves as bound
by a higher law which would compel them to renounce
the legal rights of owners of their fellow-men.

ITP02 $IAHMONA.

i nauAos1 Seajxios Xpiarov Irjaov Kal TipoBeos o
2 a8eX(pos QiXrjjxovi rco ayarrrjrep Kal avvepyco rjpxov Kal
Air(pia rfj ayairrjrfj Kal ApxiTrirco rep awarpariioTrj
3 rjpxov Kal rfj Kar oIkov aov eKKXrjaia. xaPls vpiiv
Kal eiprjvrj airo Beov rrarpos rj/xcov /cat Kvpiov Irjaov
Xpiarov.
4 Ei>Ya/HO"Tc3 rep Beep p.ov TravTore pveiav aov ttoiov-
5 pevos eirl tcov Trpoaevxbov pov, aKOvcov aov rrjv dya-
rrrjv Kai rrjv irianv rjv exety "^P0? TCV Kvpiov irjaovv

1. <biXr)povi. Nothing is known
of Philemon beyond what may be
gathered from this Letter. See the
Introduction. 2. rfj dyairrrrrj. Another reading
of high authority, preferred by
Lachmann, is rrj aleX<j>jj.
'Ap%iir7rh> rd avvarpaTiiirrj. Men
tioned in Col. iv. 17 : "And say
to Archippus, Take heed unto the
ministry which thou hast received
in the Lord, that thou fulfil it."
The title " fellow-soldier" is given
to Epaphroditus in Philip, ii. 25.
The warfare implied is no doubt
active warfare in the cause of the
Gospel. rrj Kar oikov aov eKKXrjaia. As

in Eom. xvi. 5, where the Church
in the house of Aquila and Pris-
cilla is mentioned. The phrase is
purposely indefinite, and would
include all believers who were in
any way attached to the house
hold. Archippus seems to have
been a member of Philemon's
household, whether as a near rela
tion or in some other connexion,
we have no means of knowing.
4. The Apostle's thanksgivings
and prayers are blended together
in his phrase as well as in reality.
5. It is possible that only the
" love," and not the "faith," is to
be considered as referring to " all
the saints." But we may under-

124

EPISTLE TO PHILEMON.

[6—9.

6 Kai eis Travras rovs ayiovs, oircos rj Koiveovia rrjs Tri
arecos aov evepyrjs yevrjrai ev eiriyvcoaei iravros ayaBov
7 rov ev rjplv els Xpiarov Irjaovv. xaPlu 7aP ^X°P£V
TroXXrjv Kal TrapaKXrjaiv eirl rfj ayairrj aov, on ra
airXayxva tcov ayicov avaireiravrai Sia aov, aSeX^e.
8 Ato iroXXrjv ev Xpiarco irapprjaiav c^aw eiriraaaeiv
9 aoi ro avrJKOv, Sia rrjv ayairrjv pdXXov irapaKaXco.
toiovtos cov cos ITaiiAoy Trpeap^vrrjs, vwl Se Kal S'eapios
stand " faith towards all the which there was in Paul himself.

saints," in the light of the phrase
which follows, r] Kotvivvia rrjg tti-
o-rtioe aov, as meaning a readiness
tp acknowledge the community of
faith with all other believers.
6. This is the purport of the
Apostle's prayer. It. is somewhat
obscurely expressed. The uncer
tainty arises in part out of what
is a frequent cause of ambiguity
in Si. Paul's language, his use of
the first person plural. It is not
impossible that iv iiplv here means
"in me." The Apostle's desire is
that Philemon may feel entirely
with him as to what is " good " in
the matter about which he writes.
He himself loved Onesimus, and
rejoiced to own him as a brother
in Christ. He had been com
mending the sense of brotherhood
shewn by Philemon towards his
fellow-believers. A common Chris
tian consciousness will manifest
its activity in a common apprecia
tion of the same things as good.
St. Paul prays, therefore, that
Philemon's fellow-feeling as a
Christian may be operative in the
recognition of every good thing

The same sense may be retained
in a more generalized form, if we
take iv r)piv to refer to Christians
in general. Other interpretations
seem to leave the words iv iin-
yvoraei irairds dyaBov tov iv r/piv
rather pointless. Compare the
phrases ro dyaBov aov (verse 14)
and el ovv pe exeig koivojvov (verse
17). "Was Christian brotherhood
to be a real power of goodness or
not 1 was the question St. Paul
was putting, eig Xpiarov 'Irjaovv.
Christ is named as the end to
which all such activity of the
common Christian consciousness
should have reference.
7. Xdpiv yap ixopev TroXXijv.
We need not hesitate to adopt the
easier reading, xaPav yap iroXX-^v
'iaxov, which is found in almost
all the more important MSS.
9. roiovrog Jiv wg HavXoc, " such
a one as Paul is," namely, an elder,
and now a prisoner. It seems
better to place a comma, as Lach-
mann does, after UavXog. The
Apostle lays great stress, as he
does so often, upon the sufferings
of his imprisonment as giving him

10—18.]

EPISTLE TO PHILEMON.

125

10 Xpiarov 'Irjaov, irapaKaXco ae irepl tov epov tckvov,
n bv eyevvrjaa ev rols Sea/xols, Ovrjaipov, tov irore aoi
axpTjcTTOv, vwl Se aol Kal epol evxpTjo~rov, bv ave-
I2 irepylra. av Se avrov, tovt eanv ra epa airXayxva,
i3 bv eyco e/3ovXoprjv irpos epavrov Kareveiv, iva virep aov
14 p.01 SiaKOvfj ev rols Seapols tov evayyeXiov, ^Q)/)ty Se
rrjs arjs yvcojxrjs ovSev rjBeXrjaa iroirjaat, iva prj cos
Kara dvayKrjv to aya&ov aov y aXXa Kara eKOvaioV
15 rdxa yap 81a tovto excopiaBrj irpos copav iva aicovioy
16 avrov direxxis, ovk en cos SovXov aXX' virep SovXov,
d8eX(pov dyairrjTOV, jxaXiara ep,oi, iroaep Se pidXXov aol
17 Kal ev aapKi /cat ev Kvpico' e'i ovv pe e^ety koivcovov,
ig irpoaXafiov avrov cos ep.e. el Se n rjSiKrjaev ae rj
bering that all his occupation
and interest lay in preaching the
Gospel. 14. ro dyaBov, Compare this
with rrdvrog dyaBov in verse 6..
If St. Paul had retained Onesimus,
presuming on Philemon's willing
ness to give up his claim to his
services, the goodness, or good act,
would have been this sacrifice,
rendered without choice being
given him. As Onesimus was re
turning to his master, Philemon's
goodness must take another form,
that of forgiving Onesimus and
treating him as a brother. For it
does not appear that St. Paul
wished Philemon to part with
Onesimus. See the next verse,
iva aluiviov avrov aTrixng.
15. The running away of One
simus may have been permitted,
with a view to its being overruled
for good.

a title to be heard with the more
respect and affection.
10. 'Ovrjaipov. This word, mean
ing "profitable" or "useful," was
probably a common slave's name.
Its signification is referred to in
the words which follow, axpnarov,
evxP'iarov. 12. av li avrov. The word
irpoaXafiov after these is omitted
by Tischendorf ; but it has con
siderable MS. authority in its
favour, and we are obliged
to supply some such word in
translation. Lachmann omits ov
li also, reading ov dvEirEpipd
aoi, avrov, rovriariv ra ipd
airXayxva. 13. The nature of the "minis
try " implied in the words lidmrog
and liaKovEiv is often somewhat
doubtful. We may take it here
as including whatever help could
be rendered to St. Paul, remem-

126

EPISTLE TO PHILEMON.

[19—25.

19 oepeiXei, tovto epol eXXoya. eyco IlauAoy eypa^ra rfj
epfj X€lPh ty00 diroriaco' iva prj Xeyco aoi on Kai
20 aeavrov pot irpoao(peiXeis. vai, aSeXdje, eyco aov
bvaijxrjv ev Kvpico' avairavaov jiov ra airXayxva ev
Xpiarcp.
21 YleiroiBcos rfj viraKofi aov eypayj/a aoi, elScos on Kal
22 virep o Xeyco iroirjaeis. apa Se Kal eroipxt^e poi
£evlav' eXirifa yap on Sia rcov Trpoaevx^v vpxov
¦yapiaBrjaopuat vplv.
23 ' Aarrafarai ae 'Ynraxppds b avvaiXpaXeoros pov ev
24 Xpiarcp 'Irjaov, MapKos, ' Apiarapxos, Arjpxis, AovKas,
01 awepyoi pov.
25 'H XaPls T0V KVPL0V Tjpxov Irjaov Xpiarov piera tov
Trvevparos vpcov.

19. It is possible that St. Paul's
autograph begins here, the pre
vious part of the Epistle having
been dictated ; but this is doubtful.
aeavrdv TrpoaotpeiXeig., Philemon
had apparently owed his conver
sion to St. Paul ; but this may
have taken place at Ephesus or
elsewhere, and it is not necessary
to assume that St. Paul had been
at Colossse.
20. ovaiprjv. The word is al
most certainly suggested by the
name 'Ovr)atpog.
22. It is not safe to infer from
the hope expressed here, that it
was realized. There was no in
fallibility attaching to St. Paul's
anticipations. He had said to the
Ephesians (Acts xx. 25), " I know
that ye all among whom I have
"gone preaching the kingdom of
God, shall see my face no more."

Yet, if he went to Colossae, he was
sure to go to Ephesus also. And
in 1 Tim. iv. 13, he says, " Till I
come [to Ephesus], give attendance
to reading, to exhortation, to
doctrine." 23. 'En-a^oae. See Col. i. 7 ;
iv. 12, 13. He must have been a
personal friend of Philemon.
24. Ma'picoc. Col. iv. 10; Acts
xv. 37 — 39. 'Aplarapxog. Col.
iv. 10 ; Acts xxvii. 2. Arjpag,
Aovicag. Col. iv. 14 ; 2 Tim. iv.
10, 11.
25. ^lEra rov rrvevparog vpwv.
So at the end of the Epistle to the
Galatians ; and of the second to
Timothy, except that aov stands
there instead of vp&v. Here St.
Paul is probably referring to the
household of Philemon. He as
sumes, as in Gal., that there is
one spirit of many members.

TO PHILEMON.
Paul a prisoner of Christ Jesus and Timotheus the •
brother, to Philemon our beloved friend and fellow-
worker, and to Apphia the beloved, and to Archippus *
our fellow-soldier, and to the Church in thy house :
Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and 3
our Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God, always making mention of thee 4
in my prayers, hearing of thy love and faith which s
thou hast towards the Lord Jesus and towards all the
saints, that the fellowship of thy faith may be made 6
effectual in the acknowledging of every good thing
in us unto Christ Jesus. For I have had much joy y
and consolation in thy love, because the hearts of the
saints have been refreshed by thee, brother. Where
fore, having much confidence in Christ to enjoin thee 8
what is becoming, for love's sake I rather beseech g
thee; being such a one as Paul, an elder, and now
also a prisoner of Christ Jesus, I beseech thee con- io
cerning my own child, whom I have begotten in my
bonds, Onesimus, who was once useless to thee, but n
is now useful to thee and to me, whom I have sent 12
back; do thou receive him, that is, my own heart.
Whom I wished to retain with me, that in thy behalf 13
he might minister to thee in the bonds of the Gospel :

128 EPISTLE TO PHILEMON.
M but without thy mind I would not do anything,
that thy goodness should not be as of necessity,
J 5 but willingly. For perhaps on this account he was
separated for a time, that thou mightest receive him
16 for ever, no longer as a slave, but beyond a slave,
a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much
17 more to thee both in the flesh and in the Lord. If
then thou holdest me as a partner, receive him as
»8 myself ; and if he has injured thee or owes thee any-
19 thing, put it to my account. I Paul have written it
with my own hand, I will repay it ; — that I may not
tell thee that thou owest even thyself to me. Yes,
20 brother, let me have profit of thee in the Lord ;
refresh my heart in Christ.
21 Trusting in thy obedience I have written to thee,
knowing that thou wilt do even beyond what I say.
22 And at the same time prepare me a lodging; for
I hope that through your prayers I shall be given to
23 you. There salute thee Epaphras my fellow-prisoner
24 in Christ Jesus, Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas,
25 my fellow-workers. The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with your spirit.

ON THE TEACES OF FOEEIGN ELEMENTS IN THE
DOCTBINE OF THESE EPISTLES; AND ESPE
CIALLY ON THE GNOSTICAL TEEMS OCCUEEING
IN THEM.
There are certain terms occurrmg in important passages of
these Epistles, especially in that to the Colossians, which
became prominent afterwards in the phraseology of the
Gnostical systems of the second century. The presence of
such terms in the New Testament has been made one of the
strongest arguments for the later date and spurious compo
sition of some of its books. It has been contended, espe
cially by Baur and the school of Tubingen, that the books
in which the Gnostical terms occur must be contempora
neous with the great Gnostical systems, and therefore can
not be the writings of St. Paul or St. John. It is a very
arbitrary assertion that those terms could not have been
used before the Gnostical theories were developed ; but the
questions raised by the occurrence of these terms are of
great interest and importance. Was there a Gnostical
element in the teaching of the Apostles? Were the
Apostles protesting against rival systems of religion ? Did
the leading Gnostics appropriate to their own use language
which properly belonged to the Apostles \ What are we to
say as to the phrases " the Pleroma or Fulness," " principali
ties and powers," "the prince of the power of the air,"
" the world-rulers of this darkness," " the image of the in
visible God," " the first-born of all creation," which belong
to Gnostical systems as much as to these Epistles ?
K

130 ON THE TRACES OP FOREIGN ELEMENTS
Little as we know of the Church history of the latter
half of the first century, we are not without materials for
giving a general answer to such questions. It is true that
the great and prolific development of matured Gnostical
systems took place in the course of the second century.
It may be admitted as very probable that no sect of
Gnostics existed in Asia Minor at the time when we sup
pose St. Paul to have been writing to the Ephesians and the
Colossians. But the Gnosis was not an original creed or
philosophy. Some of its leading sects may well have arisen
quite independently of one another. They took up
elements already existing in the speculative traditions of
the age, and combined them in various forms. Any one
describing Gnosticism must say that it mixed some of the
notions of Oriental theosophy with some of the tenets of
the Christian Church. It belongs to its very essence to be
composite. And when any one of the Gnostical systems is
analysed, the largest portion of it will always be referred to
more ancient mystical speculations. The only question will
generally be, to which of the older theosophies it should be
affiliated. The Zend Avesta, Buddhism, Hinduism, the reli
gions of Egypt and of Phoenicia, the Grseco-Judaism of
Philo, all put in claims which are entitled to consideration*
It is a most important fact for the early history of the
Christian Faith, that in the age of Christ and of the
Apostles there was a general intermingling, especially in
Egypt, Syria, and Asia Minor, of almost all the speculations
of the ancient world. This was brought about partly by
the movements of the Jews, partly by the conquests of
Alexander. The long Captivity of the Jews in Babylon,
and the dispersion which continued after their return, had
made them familiar with the Oriental ways of thinking
concerning the invisible world. The expeditions of Alex-
* A very lucid analysis of Gnosticism may be found in the work of M. Matter,
" Histoire du Gnosticisme."

IN THE DOCTRINE- OF THESE EPISTLES. 131
ander had brought the West and the far East into contact.
Alexandria, under his successors, became the point of con
fluence of all religions and all philosophies. The extension
of the Eoman empire still further increased the locomotion
of old ideas. All the notions which had ever been sys
tematized in the East may be said to have been floating
loosely together in the intellectual heaven at the beginning
of the Christian era. Almost anywhere a thinking and in
quiring mind had access to some variety of Oriental lore.
Another fact which concerns us is, that Jews were more
disposed than men of other nations to assimilate foreign
religion and philosophy. From whatever cause, the most
actively eclectic minds in those ages were Jewish minds.
This is something of a paradox. For undoubtedly the Jews
by their law and worship were in a peculiar degree sepa
rated from other nations. But the depth and the truth of
their own faith appear to have given them an interest in
whatever had laid hold strongly of the convictions of other
races. The Jewish intellect was accordingly more fertile
than any other in new theosophic combinations. The
nascent Christian Church received all its influences of
foreign thought through Jewish channels. Simon Magus,
the earliest teacher to whom a Gnostical school referred
itself, being a Samaritan, is hardly to be regarded as an
exception. It is important, when we observe the mixture
of Jewish with Oriental or Platonizing ideas implied in the
Apostolical writings, to remember that all the rival teachers
in the Church, whatever they taught, began with Judaism,
and spoke to the believers in Christ as inheritors with them
of the common Jewish traditions.
The principal terms or ideas in these Epistles which
remind us of the subsequent Gnostical systems, and of
which we are to seek illustrations in writings anterior to
the age of St. Paul, may be stated as follows : —
1. The Pleroma, or Fulness. This word occurs as. an
K2

132 ON THE TRACES OF FOREIGN ELEMENTS
equivalent to the infinite Divine Nature, in Col. i. 19, " all
the Fulness was pleased to dwell in him," and in Col. ii. 9,
" In him dwells all the Fulness of the Godhead bodily." It
is used to denote Divine perfection in Eph. iii. 19, " that ye
may be filled unto all the fulness of God ; " and in Eph.
iv. 13, "until we all attain to the measure of stature of
the fulness of Christ." In Eph. i. 23, the Church, the Body
of Christ, is called " the Fulness of him who fills all things
in all." As this last passage reminds us, cognate forms of
the word " full " are frequent in these Epistles, and produce
phrases which are at least embarrassing to translate, if the
meaning of them is not also somewhat indefinite. It is
evident that terms expressive of the idea of fulness were
welcome to the writer's mind.
2. The Son, the Image of the invisible God, the First
born of all creation, the Head of the Universe, the ideal
Man. ft is a matter of surprise that the title of the Logos
or Word "does not occur in these Epistles. It would be a
mistake, I imagine, to draw any inference from its absence*
or to regard the non-occurrence of it otherwise than as an
accident. 3. The Prince of the power of the air, and the power or
kingdom of darkness (Eph. ii. 2 ; Col. i. 13).
4. The principalities and powers, good and evil (Eph.
iii. 1 0, &c. ) ; the world-rulers of this darkness.
5. The use of special religious and ascetical practices in
order to rise from the earthly to the heavenly (Col. ii.
16—23). These ideas, whether as adopted or rejected by St. Paul,
would serve as points of contact between his teaching in
these Epistles, and the various systems of Gnosticism which
sprang up in the next century : but our present object is to
see whether they are not equally to be found in books or
traditions to which St. Paul and his contemporaries had
access. The writings of the Neo-Platonists are therefore

IN THE DOCTRINE OF THESE EPISTLES. 133
beyond our scope ; and, although in the opinion of some
critics the distinctive speculations of the Kabbalah are to be
traced back to a date before the coming of Christ, the
books of the Kabbalah are themselves so much more
modern, and its earlier traditions, — supposing them to exist
independently, — are so similar to the doctrines of Philo and
of the Zend Avesta, that we may conveniently put the
Kabbalah also aside. ,
The lore which may really have influenced the mind of
St. Paul is to be found in the Apocrypha, in Philo, and in
the Zend Avesta.
Two books of the Apocrypha, " Ecclesiasticus " and the
" Wisdom of Solomon," are remarkable for their doctrine
concerning Wisdom. In the canonical book of Proverbs
Wisdom is represented as speaking to men, and there is
much praise of knowledge and understanding ; but the lan
guage used there is not to be identified with- that of the two
Apocryphal books. In these Wisdom is not merely personi
fied, but treated as a second Divine person. What else
where would be the Divine Word is here the Divine Wis
dom. Ecclesiasticus is the older book of the two, and is
considered to be more exclusively Jewish. The Wisdom of
Solomon bears marks of a later origin, — its date however
being still anterior to the age of Philo, — and of being
affected by Grecian thought. The following passages are
from Ecclesiasticus xxiv. : " I [Wisdom] came out of the
mouth of the Most High, and covered the earth as a cloud
(v. 3)." " He created me from the beginning before the
world, and I shall never fail. In the holy tabernacle I
served before him : and so was I established in Sion. Like
wise in the beloved city he gave me rest, and in Jerusalem
was my power. And I took root in an honourable people,
even in the portion of the Lord's inheritance" (w. 9 — 12).
" I am the mother of fair love, and fear, and knowledge,
and holy hope : I therefore, being eternal, am given to all

134 ON THE TRACES OF FOREIGN ELEMENTS
my children which are named of him" (v. 18). The style
of the " Wisdom of Solomon " is more rhetorical and ornate,
and its language is hardly to be taken as plain prose ; but
it exhibits an evidently increased tendency to regard Wis
dom as a distinct Divine emanation. " Wisdom was with
thee : which knoweth thy works, and was present when
thou madest the world,, and knew what was acceptable in
thy sight, and right in thy commandments" (ix. 9). " For
Wisdom, which is the worker of all things, taught me : for
in her is an understanding spirit, holy, one only, manifold,
subtil, lively, clear, undefiled, plain, not subject to hurt,
loving the thing that is good, quick, which cannot be letted,
ready to do good, kind to man, steadfast, sure, free from
care, having all power, overseeing all things, and going
through all understanding pure and most subtil spirits.
For Wisdom is more moving than any motion : she passeth
and goeth through all things by reason of her pureness. For
she is the breath of the power of God, and a pure influence
flowing from the glory of the Almighty : therefore can no
defiled thing fall into her. For she is the brightness of the
everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God,
and the image of his goodness. And being but one, she
can do all things : and remaining in herself, she maketh all
things new : and in all ages entering into holy souls, she
maketh men friends of God, and prophets" (vii. 22 — 27).
The fine passage describing God's judgment in the destruc
tion of the firstborn in Egypt shews that the writer of this
book used the expression " the Word" rather in the manner
of St. Paul than of the Targums or Philo or St. John.
" For while all things were in quiet silence, and that night
was in the midst of her swift course, thine Almighty word
leaped down from heaven out of thy royal throne, as a
fierce man of war into the midst of a land of destruction,
and brought thine unfeigned commandment as a sharp
sword, and standing up filled all things with death ; and it

IN THE DOCTRINE OF THESE EPISTLES. 135
touched the heaven, but it stood upon the earth" (xviii.
14—16). With the Apocrypha we may connect such indications
of the tendencies of Jewish thought as may be found in
the Septuagint Version and in the paraphrases called the
Targums. The Septuagint shews traces of a repugnance to use ex
pressions which speak of God as being in any way visible. The,
Hebrew text says that when Moses and Aaron, Nadab and
Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, went up, " they
saw the God of Israel" (Ex. xxiv. 10) ; but the Greek
Version has " they saw the place where the God of Israel
stood :" and in the next verse, for "they saw God," "they
were seen in the place of God" is substituted. In Num
bers xii. 8, for " the similitude of the Lord shall he behold,"
the Septuagint has "he saw the glory of the Lord." In
Isaiah xxxviii. 11, for "I shall not see the Lord, even the
Lord, in the land of the living," we have in the Greek " I
shall no longer see the salvation of God in the land of the
living." The word " powers," Swapeis, which is a significant
word both in Philo and in St. Paul, is the rendering of the
LXX. for Sabaoth or tsebaoth in the phrase "the Lord of
hosts." Tsebaoth means the army or fighting men of the
children of Israel. But the Greek translators preferred to
think of God as the Lord of the armies of heaven. In
Gen. i. 27, we have another variation. The Hebrew has
" male and female created he them." The Greek, " male and
female created he him" {apo-ev Kal 6r)\v eiroirjaev avrov), im
plying the creation of the ideal Man with a twofold nature.
The Targums are a kind of paraphrase in Chaldee or
Aramaic of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. After
the Captivity the Hebrew had become an unfamiliar dialect
to the Jews, and it was necessary to translate the Scrip
tures when they were read on the Sabbath days into the
popular language. This was done orally by persons called

136 ON THE TRACES OF FOREIGN ELEMENTS
interpreters, and for many generations it was strictly for
bidden to write down and embody in a book the traditional
explanatory version. About the end of the second century
after Christ the Targum is said to have been first committed
to writing ; but what was then written had been handed
down from earlier times. The Targum on the Pentateuch,
called the Targum of Onkelos, embodies the earliest tradi
tional version of the Hebrew text. In this Targum is
observed " an aversion to anthropopathies and anthropomor
phisms ; in fact to any term which could in the eyes of the
multitude lower the idea of the Highest Being. ... a repug
nance to bring the Divine Being into too close contact, as
it were, with man. It erects a kind of reverential barrier,
a sort of invisible medium of awful reverence, between the
Creator and the creature." To this Targum belongs especially
the- use of the term "Memra," the Word or Logos, and
also of " Shekinah," the holy presence or glory of God.
Thus, for " The voice of the Lord God was heard" (Gen.
iii. 8), the Targum has " The voice of the Word." For
" He will dwell in the tents of Shem,"— " the Shekinah
will dwell." For "the Lord went up from Abraham,"—
" the glory of God went up." For " God came to Abimelech,"
— " the Word from God came." [See Mr. Deutsch's Article
on Targums in the Dictionary of the Bible.]
Philo. That peculiar form of Judaism, of which the
Book of Wisdom is an early representative, found its home
in Alexandria. A great number of Jews settled in Egypt,
and there became thoroughly imbued with Greek philo
sophy and literature, without abandoning their ancient
faith. Continuing to accept their sacred books as of Divine
authority, they studied them through a Greek medium.
A habit grew up of treating the Biblical narrative as alle
gory, and of attaching a more or less arbitrary spiritual
significance to its names and incidents and phrases. The
school of Grecian Judaism was fortunate enough to find a

IN THE DOCTRINE OF THESE EPISTLES. 137
first-rate literary representative in Philo. Not an original
philosopher himself, he had a very quick and fertile mind,
and was eminently ingenious in maturing and expounding
the method of interpretation which prevailed in his time at
Alexandria. He was born about 20 B.C., and went on an
embassy to the Emperor Caius Caligula in a.d. 40. His
works consist chiefly of a series of commentaries on the
books of Moses, his language being that of the Platonic school
of his day. Philo becomes a most interesting study when
considered as a contemporary of our Lord and of the
Apostles. What we have for our present purpose to ob
serve is that Philo evidently did not stand alone, but repre
sented the Judaism of Egypt ; that St. Paul must have
had many opportunities of reading the works of Philo, and
that the Alexandrian mode of interpreting Scripture could
not possibly have escaped his knowledge. One of the
Apostle's most powerful coadjutors at Ephesus and in
Achaia was Apollos, " born at Alexandria, an eloquent man
and mighty in the Scriptures " (Acts xviii. 24 — 28). It
can hardly be an error therefore to assume in St. Paul an
acquaintance with any doctrines which are to be found in
Philo. The passages which I proceed to quote are chiefly
intended to illustrate the views then prevailing amongst
an important section of the Jews as to the development
of the Divine nature in Creation and in the government
of the world. For those who desire to know more of
Philo, his writings are not at all difficult to read and are
easily accessible.
Upon the saying " the Lord came down to see the city
and the tower," (Gen. xi. 5,) Philo observes that motion can
only be predicated of God figuratively or in the way of accom
modation. " But all things are filled by God, who embraces
and is not embraced, to whom alone it belongs to
be both everywhere and nowhere :> — nowhere, because he

138 ON THE TRACES OF FOREIGN ELEMENTS
has himself begotten both room and space together with
material objects, and it is not legitimate to speak of that
which made it as being embraced in anything that has
been made ; and everywhere, because having extended his
powers through earth and water and air and heaven he
has left no part of the world desert, but having drawn
together all things through all he has bound them tight
with invisible chains, that they should never be loosed."
(De confusione linguarum, i. 426.) Similarly he says (i. 88),
" God has filled all things and has gone through all, and
has left nothing empty or desert of himself."
Concerning the Word of God, the language of Philo may
be conveniently learnt from the various titles given under
the heading Verbum Divinum in the index of the edition
of Mangey. " The Divine Word, the ideal locus or place
of the world, the idea of ideas, the image of God, the
exemplar of light, God's elder, eldest, firstborn, Son, maker
of the world, ruler of things, most ancient of all things,
eternal, pillar and bond, seal of things, divider (jopevs),
mediator, chief pontiff of God, sees through all things,
nourishment of souls, God of imperfect things, waters the
virtues like a stream, fountain of delight, vicegerent of
God, contains and fills all things, second God." The
passage referred to under the word " divider " is one of
the most curious. On the words "he divided them in
the midst," (Gen. xv. 10,) Philo comments as follows :
"Understand that God cuts the natures of bodies and
things which seem most firmly united, by his Word, the
cutter of all things, — which, sharpened to the finest edge,
divides without ceasing all perceptible things; and when
it has penetrated to the elements which are said to be
indivisible and without parts, this cutter begins, from these,
to divide the things contemplated in thought into unnamed
and uncircumscribed portions, and ' cuts the leaves of gold
into hairs/ (Exod. xxxix. 3,) as Moses says, length without

IN THE DOCTRINE OF THESE EPISTLES. 139
breadth, like imaginary lines." Philo then mentions various
divisions, as into light and heavy, rational and irrational,
&e. ; and concludes, " Thus God having sharpened his word
the cutter of all things divides the shapeless and unqualified
.substance of things in general, and the four elements of the
world which are separated out of it, and the animals and
plants which are constituted of these." (Quis divinarum
heres, i. 491.)
God sees all things by his own light. " For the Eye of
absolute Being needs no other light in order to perceive,
but being itself the archetypal brightness it sends out a
thousand rays, none of them perceptible by sense, but all
by intellect." (De Cherubim, i. 156.)
Moses having asked to be permitted to see God himself,
is told that this is impossible. He acquiesces, but goes on
to plead, — ¦" But I entreat that I may behold at least the
glory that surrounds thee ; and thy glory I deem to be
the powers which form thy body-guard, which not having
yet perceived I earnestly desire to behold. God answered
and said, The powers which thou seekest after are altogether
invisible and to be apprehended by the understanding, as I
am. I do not say that they are already being apprehended
by the understanding, but that, if they could be appre
hended, it would not be by sense, but by the purest intelli
gence. But being naturally inapprehensible in their essence
they yet exhibit a kind of impress and likeness of their
activity. Just as seals, when applied to wax or any similar
material, stamp off any number of impressions, without
losing any part of themselves, but remaining as they were,
— so you must conceive of the powers which surround me
as communicating qualities to things unqualified and forms
to formless things, and neither changing nor losing any
thing of their eternal nature. Those among you who name
them 'ideas' [forms] are not far from the mark, since
they give form to all existing things, ordering things

140 ON THE TRACES OF FOREIGN ELEMENTS
disordered, and imparting limits and definition and shape
to things without boundaries, undefined, and shapeless, and
generally altering the worse into the better. Do not hope
therefore that you will ever be able to apprehend either me
or any of my powers in essence. But things attainable, as
I said, I readily and gladly communicate." (De monarchic,
ii. 219.)
Angels are ministers of the All-ruler. " These are called
by the other philosophers dcemons, but the sacred word ¦ is
wont to call them angels [messengers], using a more appro
priate name, because they convey the commands of the
father to his offspring, and the wants of the offspring to
their father ; wherefore they are introduced as ' ascending
and descending,' not because God who knows all before
hand needs messengers to inform him, but because it was
expedient for us mortal creatures to have ' words ' [a name
for angels] as intervening mediators, on account of the
dread and amazement with which the All-ruler and the
mighty strength of his sovereignty would strike us. . . .
For, not to say punishments, but even surpassing and
untempered benefits would be more than we could bear,
if he should himself put them forth to us by himself, with
out using others as his ministers." (De somniis, i. 642.)
There is a high strain in Philo's doctrine with regard to
the ascent of the soul towards God. " The mind," he says,
" when it purely worships God, is not human, but divine."
(i. 485.) In the following passage he is explaining that
the soul must " go out of itself" if it would inherit Divine
things. The soul is represented as saying that it has " gone
out," not only from the body and from sense or perception,
but also from reason. " I removed from reason also, when
I became aware of its great unreasonableness, although it
lifted up and inflated itself. For it ventured on no trifling
enterprise, to shew me objects by means of shadows, things
by means of words, which was impracticable. Therefore it

IN THE DOCTRINE OF THESE EPISTLES; 141
poured itself around unstable things, and babbled about
them, being unable to set forth with distinct presentation
the peculiarities of things by the community of names.
But being taught by experience like a foolish child, I learnt
that it was better to go out from all these, and to offer up
the powers of each to God, who gives its bodily frame to
the body,, and causes the perception to perceive, and enables
the reason to speak." The soul is then addressed : "In the
same way in which thou hast gone out from those other
things, withdraw and remove from thyself also. And what
is this ? — Do not deal out thought and reflection and appre
hension to thyself, but carry these also and offer them up
to him who enables thee to understand accurately, and to
apprehend without mistake." (Quis rerum divinarum heres,
i. 483.) Faith, and Grace, are both made much of by Philo.
There is a somewhat rhetorical eulogy of Faith in De
Abrahamo, ii. 39, where it is called "the queen of virtues,"
" the only infallible and certain good, . . . the bettering in
all things of the soul which has cast itself for support upon
the Author of all things, who can do all, and who desires
what is best." " The covenant is a symbol of grace, which
God has set between himself who bestows and man who
receives. This is a surpassing benefit, that nothing should
intervene between God and the soul except maiden grace."
(De mutatione nominum, i. 586.)
The Zoroastrian Religion.
It is a disputed question, whether the elements which
Philo has blended with the doctrine of the Hebrew Scrip
tures were drawn exclusively from Grecian philosophy, or
in part from Oriental traditions. On the one hand, it is
quite conceivable that the mingling of the Platonic theory
of iBeai with the Jewish faith might have produced all that

142 ON THE TRACES OF FOREIGN ELEMENTS
we find in Philo. But on the other hand, Philo, living and
studying at Alexandria, can hardly have failed to be influ
enced by Eastern systems of theosophy ; and the very faith
which he inherited from his fathers had certainly been
affected by its contact with one great Eastern religion, and
that the one of which Philo's language most reminds us.
This was the Zoroastrian, the religion of the Persians.
Before the termination of the Jewish Captivity, Babylon
was conquered by Cyrus the Persian. This took place in
the year 538 B.C. The return of the Jews began in the
year 536 B.C. and was continued during the reign of Darius
the son of Hystaspes, who came to the throne in b.c 521.
The favourable expressions in the book of Isaiah with regard
to Cyrus (the Lord's shepherd, the Lord's anointed) are well
known (xliv. 28, xlv. 1). The religion of the Persians,
which had no worship of idols, was received with sympathy
by the Jews, and exercised an undoubted influence upon
the Jewish mind. Concurrently with* other causes, it led to
a greater development of liturgical prayer, and to a more
definite belief in a heavenly hierarchy, including both good
and evil angels.
The religion of Cyrus and Darius is known to have been
the worship of Or-muzd, or Ahura-Mazda. The Inscriptions
recently deciphered at Behistun and Persepolis bear abundant
testimony to this fact. The worship of Or-muzd is called
Zoroastrian, because its traditions name Zoroaster, or Zer-
duscht, or Zarathustra, as the teacher and legislator from
whom it is derived. The Zoroastrian religion is peculiarly
interesting because of its great antiquity, and because its
ancient books are only now beginnning to be thoroughly
known. The doctrinal resemblances of the Zoroastrian
system to the language of St. Paul and St. John, as well as
to the later Gnostical systems, make it especially important
for the study of the development of Christian doctrine.
The ancient books of this system are contained in the

IN THE DOCTRINE OF THESE EPISTLES. 143
collection called the Zend Avesta. These are the only books
now existing in the language called the Zend, which has
been found by comparison to be a sister dialect to Sanskrit.
The books have been preserved in the hands of the Parsees
in India, the modern remnant of the Zoroastrians, and were
brought to Europe towards the close of the last century by
MvAnquetil du Perron. The aids for deciphering and inter
preting the Zend MSS. have been a Sanskrit version
(Neriosengh's), a more ancient version into a language called
Pehlevi, and the traditional renderings of the Parsees. M.
Anquetil made an imperfect translation into French by
means of Parsee assistance in Bombay ; but since his time,
the study of scholars versed in the languages of the same
stock (including that of the Cuneiform Inscriptions) has
done much to fix the meaning of the Zend, and to enable
the learned to discriminate between dialectic varieties in
the Zend books themselves. The use of the words Zend
and Avesta is conventional, Avesta being supposed to mean
" Scriptures," and Zend " oral tradition." The English
reader has an opportunity of studying the whole of the
Avesta in a work published at the cost of a Parsee gentle
man—Spiegel's German translation of the Avesta rendered
into English by Mr. Bleeck. Translations of parts of the
Avesta may also be found in a volume of Essays by Haug.
Unfortunately, the renderings of these two scholars exhibit
considerable differences ; but they agree sufficiently to shew
that for general purposes the language is now fairly under
stood. I shall take the extracts which follow from Mr.
Bleeck's translation, which seems to be done with care in a
closely literal style.
There are no available data for fixing even approximately
the age of Zoroaster or of the books of the Avesta. These
books are almost without a history. The only existing
MSS. of them are said to be comparatively modern. It is
believed that their contents were not committed to writing

144 ON THE TRACES OF FOREIGN ELEMENTS
till the time of the Sassanian dynasty (third century), having
been handed down through long centuries by oral tradition.
But there is sufficient proof from internal evidence of their
great antiquity. A comparison of the Zend Avesta with
the Vedas shews that the Zoroastrian rehgion and that of
the earliest Vedas were branches of one stock ; and there
are allusions in the Avesta which point to an original home
of the Aryan race in Bactria, from which one section of the
race migrated to India, whilst the Iranian section moved
westwards. It is conjectured that the separation of these
two branches of the race was caused by a religious schism ;
and Mr. Ernest de Bunsen has seen in the story of Cain and
Abel a mythical representation of this conflict. (See his
book on The Hidden Wisdom, c. i.) The principal division
of the Zend Avesta is into the Vendidad, the Yasna
together with the Vispered, and the Khordah Avesta (or
little Avesta). The Vendidad is the Zoroastrian Law-book.
The Vispered and the Yasna form the liturgy for the
priests. The Gathas, or hymns, in this part, are the most
ancient compositions in the Avesta. The Khordah Avesta
contains various prayers, intended for general use, and
especially a series of Yashts, or invocations, addressed to the
good Genii.
The special characteristic of this religion is the worship
of Ahura-Mazda. True believers are called Mazdayasnians,
(the word Yasna meaning sacrifice or worship,) and the law
is called the good Mazdayasnian law. With Ahura-Mazda,
but strictly subordinate to him, are associated a number of
divinities, called Ameshaspentas, or Amshaspands. An evil
power, named Angra-mainyus, (afterwards Ahrimanes,)
works in opposition to Ahura-Mazda and the good creation,
and he is aided by innumerable daevas, (devas, divs,)
against which good Mazdayasmians are to wage war. The
chief quality of Ahura-Mazda is purity, symbolized by
light, and the counter-quality is pollution, symbolized by

IN THE DOCTRINE OF THESE EPISTLES. 145
darkness. The ideas of light and darkness, purity and im
purity, are perpetually recurring in the Avestan books ; and
the object of the worshipper is always to keep himself
morally and ceremonially pure. Praise of all pure beings,
and defiance of all impure, are the chief religious agencies
for the elevation of the soul. Words, especially prayers and
invocations, are the potent weapons for driving away evil.
The great formative ideas of this religion are high and
noble, and they are expressed with a striking simplicity.
Indeed the reiteration of simple formulas conveys an im
pression of baldness and sterility : for good and for evil,
speculation seems to have stopped short with the Zoroas-
trians at certain elementary conceptions with regard to the
creation. In the received accounts of the Zoroastrian religion, the
most conspicuous feature of it is the Dualism represented by
the names Ormuzd and Ahriman. These two powers are
described as being co-eternal. But this does not appear to
be stated in the Avesta. There Angro-mainyus, the Spirit
of darkness, occupies much the same position as that occu
pied by the Devil in the Christian theology of most of the
centuries of the Christian era. The good Creator and the
good creation come first : afterwards the evil spirit seeks
pertinaciously to spoil the good creation by introducing
evil. But there is no vestige of any worship of the dark
spirit : he is always to be overcome. There are two pas
sages in the Gathas in which the two Powers, the good and
the evil, are spoken of as more co-ordinate than they seem
to be in the greater part of the Avesta (Yasna xxx. 3 — 6,
and xliv. or xlv. 2), but in these rery same hymns Ahura-
Mazda is spoken of as primary and dominant.* Some
* Professor Kawlinson speaks of the older part of the Avesta as comparatively
free from the Dualism which characterises the later part ; and he refers to these
passages in the Yasna as containing only the germ of the system subsequently
developed. But I think there are no other passages in the Avesta so dualistic as
these. (See Kawlinson's Ancient Monarchies, III. p. 105.)
L

146 ON THE TRACES OF FOREIGN ELEMENTS
allusions to the Infinite Time (zrvane akerane), or Eternity,
appear to have been also systematized too rigidly into the
conception of a Divine Abyss, answering to the En Soph of
the Kabbalah, out of which Ahura-Mazda had birth.
Ahura-Mazda is the Creator, and there seems to be no
speculation as to his origin.
The first of the Yasnas, or liturgical invocations, begins
thus :
1. "I invoke""': the Creator Ahura-Mazda, the Brilliant,
Majestic, Greatest, Best, Most Beautiful,
2. The strongest, most intellectual, of the best body, the
Highest through holiness ;
3. Who is very wise, who rejoices afar,
4. Who created us, who formed us, who keeps us, the
Holiest among the heavenly.
5. I invoke : Vohu-mano, Asha-vahista, Kshathra-vairya,
Spenta-armaiti, Haurvat, and Ameretat."
These are "the six Amesha-spentas, who have different
provinces of creation under their care. I take the following
account of them from Spiegel's note on this passage.
1. Vohu-mano (otherwise Bahman), the protector of all
living creatures. [The name is said to mean Good Con
science, or Good Mind. ] 2. Asha-vahista (Ardi-behist), the
genius of fire. [The name = high piety, or best truth.]
3. Khshathra-vairya (Shahrevar) is the lord or protector of
metals. The care of the poor is also entrusted to him.
4. Spenta-armaiti is a female genius, the goddess of the
earth. In the older writings she is especially the goddess
of wisdom ; in the later, she bestows a good way of life,
fluency of speech, &c. 5 and 6. Haurvat and Ameretat
are almost always named together. The former is the lord
of the waters, the latter of the trees.
In the later mythology, Ahura-Mazda is not reckoned
* I have substituted this simpler expression for " I invite and announce to "
into which Bleeck has translated Spiegel's German rendering.

IN THE DOCTRINE OF THESE EPISTLES. 147
amongst the Amesha-spentas, and the number seven is
completed by Sraosha or Serosh. His duty was to watch
over the world, and especially to protect it in the night
time. The night is an especial development of the power
of Angro-mainyus, and the Daevas work their deeds in
darkness. Hence morning and evening prayers were
offered to Sraosha. The cock also was sacred to him.
The following passage, relating to the Amesha-spentas, is
from the Khordah- Avesta. "The~strong Kingly Majesty
praise we,
Which belongs to the Amesha-spentas, the shining, having
efficacious eyes, great, helpful, strong, Ahurian, who are
imperishable and pure.
Which are all seven of like mind, like speech, all seven
doing alike, like is their mind, like their word, like is their
action, like their Father and Euler, namely, the Creator
Ahura-Mazda.

They it is who further the world at will so that it does
not grow old and die, does not become corrupt and stinking,
but ever-living, ever-profiting, a kingdom as one wishes it,
that the dead may arise, and immortality for the living may
come, which gives according to wish furtherance for the
world. The worlds which teach purity will be immortal, the
Drukhs [the genius of Pollution] will disappear at the
time. So soon as it comes to the pure to slay him and his
hundred-fold seed, then is it (ripe) for dying and fleeing
away." (Zamyad-Yasht, 14—20.)
Illustrations of the nature of Angro-mainyus, and of the
power of words, or invocations, to overcome all evil spirits,
may be found in the 19th Fargard, or Section, of the
Vendidad.' " 1. From the north region, from the north regions,

148 ON THE TRACES OF FOREIGN ELEMENTS
rushed forth Angro-mainyus, he who is full of death, the
Daeva of the Daevas.
2. Thus spake this evil-witting Angro-mainyus, who is
full of death :
3. 'Drukhs! [Pollution,] run up, slay the pure Zara-
thustra.' 4. The Drukhs ran round him, the perishable, the
deceiver of mortals.
5. Zarathustra recited the prayer Ahuna-vairya* . . .
6. The Drukhs ran away from him grieved. . . .
7. The. Drukhs answered him (Angro-mainyus) : Tor
mentor, Angro-mainyus !
8. I do not see death in him, in the holy Zarathustra. ,
9. Full of brightness is the pure Zarathustra.
* * * * * *
16. Zarathustra informed Angro-mainyus : 'Evil-witting
Angro-mainyus !
1 7. I will smite the creation which was created by the
Daevas, I will smite the Nasus [genii of Pollution] which
the Daevas have created,
18. I will smite thee . . ., until Saoshyans [more com
monly Sosiosch] is born, the victorious, out of the water
Kansaoya, 1 9. From the East region, from the Eastern regions.
[Sosiosch is the Messiah of the Zoroastrian traditions.
The name means " He that will profit or help." .Compare
Jesus, Je-hoshua, Help of Jehovah. "It is the name,"
says Prof. Spiegel in his Commentary on the Vendidad,
p. 421 (Leipsic, 1865,) " of the future Deliverer, who is to
appear at the time of the Eesurrection and establish the
complete dominion of Ahura-Mazda on the Earth." As the
T A short formula of prayer, somewhat obscure, to be found at the beginning
of the Khordah Avesta. The name appears under the form Honover, or Honwar.
Great efficacy was ascribed to this Word. Manthra-spenta is the more general
name for the Holy Word.

IN THE DOCTRINE OF THESE EPISTLES. 149
North is the quarter of the spirits of darkness, so whatever
comes from Ahura-Mazda comes from the East.]
20. Him answered Angro-mainyus who has created the
wicked creatures,
21. Do not slay my creatures, 0 pure Zarathustra !
22. Thou art the son of Pourashaspa, and hast life from
a (mortal) mother !
23. Curse the good Mazdayasnian law, . . .
24. Him answered the holy Zarathustra :
25. I will not curse the good Mazdayasnian law ;
26. Not if bones, soul, and vital power, were to separate
themselves asunder.
27. Him answered Angro-mainyus who has created the
evil creatures :
28. By whose word wilt thou smite, by whose word wilt
thou annihilate, by what well-made arms (smite) my crea
tures, Angro-mainyus' ?
29. Him answered the holy Zarathustra :
30. Mortar, cup, Haoma * [liturgical symbols, used in in
vocations,] and the words which Ahura-Mazda has spoken ;
* The Horn, or Soma, juice, frequently mentioned in the Vedas. It is the
juice of a plant called Asclepias acida, and in the Hindoo rehgion was drunk
fermented: But there is no hint of intoxication by the drinking of the Horn
juice in the Zoroastrian books ; and it seems to me to be in accordance with the
rest of this religion to regard this ceremony as a simple recognition of one of the
benefits of creation, that, namely, conferred in the juice of wholesome plants.
In a passage to he presently quoted, fire, water, cattle, trees, are enumerated
together with the earth, the pure man, the stars, &c. as amongst the good things
of Ahura's creation. All these are represented in the Zoroastrian worship.
Fire is well known as a principal symbol of that worship. Water is represented
by holy water, called Zaothra. Perhaps the Draonas, which were little round
cakes, on which pieces of cooked flesh were placed, and which after certain
prayers were eaten by the priests, may have had something to do with earth. In'
the praises and invocations, we read continually of the mythical Bull, or Cow,
which represented cattle in general; and the use of cow's urine in purifications is
(to this day) one of the chief features of the Mazdayasnian ritual. Trees are
remembered in the consecration of the Baresma or Barsom, a bundle of twigs.
Similarly, the consecration and drinking of the Horn may be an act of thanks
giving for the juices of all plants.

150 ON THE TRACES OF FOREIGN ELEMENTS
31. These are my best weapons ;
32. By this word will I smite, by this word will I anni
hilate, by these well-formed weapons (smite), 0 evil Angro-
mainyus ;
33. Which Spenta-mainyus [the Good Spirit] created;
he created in the infinite time ; *
34. Which the Amesha-spentas created, the good Eulers,
the wise."
The 11th Fargard gives rules as to the use of various
prayers, especially the frequent repetition of the Ahuna-
vairya, by which the evil spirit was to be driven away.
The following passage enumerates the principal representa
tives of the pure creation. " I combat thee, 0 evil Angro-
mainyus, (away) from the dwelling, from the fire, from the
water, from the earth, from the cattle, from the trees, from
the pure man, from the pure woman, from the stars, from
the moon, from the sun, from the lights without beginning,
from all the good things which Ahura has made which have
a pure origin." (Vendidad, Fargard xi. 32.)
The name Daeva or Deva is that which in the Indo- Aryan
family of languages signified a divine being. From the
same root come Zeis and deus. But in the Zend Avesta, it
always stands for an evil spirit. The Daevas are innume
rable ; they haunt darkness and corruption ; their home is
in the pit of darkness. They flock together in the places,
called Dakhmas, where dead bodies are exposed :
" For that is the joy of the Daevas,
All to which stench cleaves.
For in these Dakhmas there are together dissolution,
sickness, fever, uncleanness, cold fever, shivering, and old
remains of hair." (Vendidad, Fargard vii. 1 43 — 145.)
* This is the zrvane-akerane, Time without bounds, mentioned above It
occurs again in this Fargard : " 55. I praise the heaven, the self-created, the
never-ending time, the air which works above."

IN THE DOCTRINE OF THESE EPISTLES. 151
Human beings who admit defilement are liable to be
possessed by Drujas, (daemons,) in this life, and will go to
the abode of the Daevas in the next.
" They are not pure in life, and after death they take no
share in Paradise.
They fill the place which is appointed for the wicked,
The dark, which comes from darkness,
Darkness.This place ye make, ye are who are wicked, through
your own deeds and your own law, the worst of places."
(Fargard v. 173—177, vii. 54—57.)
Next to prayer, the cultivation of the ground was the.
best means of promoting purity.
"87. He who cultivates this earth, 0 holy Zarathustra,
with the left arm and the right, with the right arm and
the left ;
88. Then this earth speaks to him : Man, thou who culti-
vatest me with the left arm and the right, with the right
arm and the left,
89. Always will I come hither and bear.
90. All food will I bear, together with the fruits of the
field. 91. He who does not cultivate this earth, 0 holy Zara
thustra, with the left arm and the right, with the right
arm and the left,
92. Then this earth speaks to him : Man, thou who dost
not cultivate me with the left arm and right, with the right
arm and left,
93. Always thou standest there, going to the doors of
Others to beg for food :
94. Always they bring food to thee, thou who beggest
lazily out of doors :
95. They bring to you out of their superfluity of good
things. 96. Creator of the corporeal world, Pure One !

152 ON THE TRACES OF FOREIGN ELEMENTS
97. What is the increase of the Mazdayasnian law ?
98. Then answered Ahura-Mazda : When one diligently
cultivates corn, 0 holy Zarathustra.
99. He who cultivates the fruits of the field cultivates
purity. 100. He promotes the Mazdayasnian law.
* * * * * *
105. When there are crops then the Daevas hiss,
106. When there are shoots then the Daevas cough,
107. When there are stalks then the Daevas weep,
108. When there are thick ears of corn then the Daevas
fly. 109. There are the Daevas most smitten in the dwelling-
places where the ears of corn are found.
110. To hell they go, melting like glowing ice.
111. After that let this Manthra [word] be recited :
112. No one, if he eats nothing, has any strength ;
113. He is not able to be of pure conduct,
114. Not able to be employed in cultivation :
115. Since with food lives the whole corporeal world,
and without food it dies." (Vendidad, Fargard iii.)
I will only add to these extracts a prayer, or rather laud,
which is one of the favourite Mazdayasnian formulae.
" 1.. I praise the well-thought, well-spoken, well-per
formed, thoughts, words, and works.
2. I lay hold on all good thoughts, words, and works.
3. I abandon all evil thoughts, words, and works.
4. I bring to you, O Amesha-spentas,
5. Praise and adoration,
6. With thoughts, words, and works, with heavenly mind,
the vital strength of my own body." (Yasna xii.)
We have no evidence that St. Paul ever came in contact
with worshippers of Ahura-Mazda. But we know that
there was a considerable population of Jews settled in

IN THE DOCTRINE OF THESE EPISTLES. 153
Babylonia, and spreading into Persia and Media, and that
these for many generations had had opportunities of
becoming acquainted with the Zoroastrian traditions : we
know also that the systems of Gnosticism in the second
and third centuries bore so strong a resemblance to the
Persic mythology that it is impossible not to believe in
some kind of connexion between them. The Epistle to
the Colossians shewTs distinctly that speculations were pre
valent amongst the Jews of Asia Minor, professing to be
a higher Yvwo-is or knowledge to be attained by the more
learned and more religious, which remind us of the Gnos
tical and the Zoroastrian systems. Without, therefore,
laying down any definite propositions as to the filiation
of ideas which it is impossible to circumscribe within the
limits of any one race or religion, we may imagine St.
Paul to be confronted with the doctrines of Philo and of
the Avesta, and we may conceive with certainty how he
would deal with them. When he hears of various attempts
to solve the mystery of creation ; when he learns how men
have travelled back from the definite to an Indefinite out
of which the actual creation has grown ; when he is told
of a primal Fulness, of a development of the Divine nature
in the process of creation, of a formative Word or words,
of powers emanating from the supreme Divinity and ruling
over different departments of the universe, of evil powers
loving darkness and disorder which thwart the good pur
poses of the Creator and his instruments, of manifestations
in which the good Creator reveals himself or some part of
himself in order that he may drive out evil and establish
the reign of harmony and happiness, of modes of approach
to the heavenly powers by which men may rise above the
general condition of sinful mortals ; — St. Paul brings all
such speculations to the test of his own theology, the
theology of his Conversion. So far as they agree with the
doctrine of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, he
M

154 ON THE TRACES OF FOREIGN ELEMENTS, ETC.
will gladly accept any expansion of view which they may
suggest,. he will use their phraseology. But they will not
tempt him to give up his faith in Christ. He sees in Christ
the true representation of the Eternal Fulness, the organ of
creation, the head of all the powers which may be engaged
in the evolution of nature, the prince of the kingdom of
light, the one mediator between God and men, the one
deliverer of the universe from all that troubles it. The
way for men to come to God is to accept fellowship with
Christ and to exercise the trust in God as a Father to
which this fellowship with the Son entitles them. In being
called to believe in Christ, they are called out of darkness
into light, finding in him both peace with God and the
true law of their fife. They are bound to fight with Christ
against all the powers of darkness; and in his triumph
over these powers when he rose from the grave, they have
the pledge of a final and complete victory.

THE END.

R. CLAY, SON, AND TAYLOB, PRINTEES.