ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΛΑΣΣΑΕΙΣ. (continued 5)

300IV. 8]

← ἀδελφὸς καὶ πιστὸς δίακονος καὶ σύνδουλος ἐν Κυρίῳ· ⁸ὃν ἔπεμψα πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο, ἵνα →

καὶ πιστὸς κ.τ.λ.] The connexion of the words is not quite obvious. It seems best however to take ἐν Κυρίῳ as referring to the whole clause πιστὸς δίακονος καὶ σύνδουλος rather than to σύνδουλος alone: for (1) The two substantives are thus bound together by the preceding πιστός and the following ἐν Κυρίῳ in a natural way: (2) The attachment of ἐν Κυρίῳ to πιστὸς δίακονος is suggested by the parallel passage Ephes. vi. 21 Τύχικος ὁ ἀγαπητὸς ἀδελφὸς καὶ πιστὸς δίακονος ἐν Κυρίῳ. The question of connecting ἐν Κυρίῳ with ἀδελπὅς as well need not be entertained, since the idea of ἀδελπὅς, ‘a Christian brother’, is complete in itself: see the note on Phil. i. 14. The adjective πιστός will here have its passive sense, ‘trustworthy, stedfast’, as also in ver. 9: see Galatians p. 154 sq.

δίακονος] ‘minister’, but to whom? To the churches, or to St Paul himself? The following σύνδουλος suggests the latter as the prominent idea here. So in Acts xix. 22 Timothy and Erastus are described as δύο τῶν διακονούντων αὐτῷ. Tychicus himself also was one of several who ministered to St Paul about that same time (Acts xx. 4). It is not probable however, that δίακονος has here its strict official sense, ‘a deacon’, as in Rom. xvi. 1, Phil. i. 1, 1 Tim. iii. 8, 12.

σύνδουλος] The word does not occur elsewhere in St Paul, except in i. 7, where it is said of Epaphras. It is probably owing to the fact of St Paul’s applying the term in both these passages to persons whom he calls δίακονοι, that σύνδουλος seems to have been adopted as a customary form of address in the early Church on the part of a bishop, when speaking of a deacon. In Ignatian letters for instance, the term is never used except of deacons; Ephes. 2, Magn. 2, Philad. 4, Smyrn. 12. Where the martyr has occasion to speak of a bishop or a presbyter some other designation is used instead.

8. ἔπεμψα] ‘I send,’ or ‘I have sent,’ ἔπεμψα being the epistolary aorist; see the note on ἔγραψα, Gal. vi. 11. Tychicus appears to have accompanied the letter itself. For similar instances of the epistolary ἔπεμψα, ἐπέστειλα, etc., see 2 Cor. viii. 18, 22, ix. 3, Ephes. vi. 22, Phil. ii. 25, 28, Philem. 11, Hebr. xiii. 22, Polyc. Phil. 13.

301IV. 9]

← γνῶτε τὰ περὶ ἡμῶν καὶ παρακαλέσῃ τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν, ⁹σὺν Ὀνησίμῳ τῷ πιστῷ καὶ ἀγαπητῷ ἀδελφῷ, ὅς ἐστιν ἐξ ὑμῶν. πάντα ὑμῖν γνωρίσουσιν τὰ ὧδε. →

It is urged indeed, that this is a scribe’s alteration to bring the passage into accordance with Ephes. vi. 21. But against this it may fairly be argued that, on any hypothesis as regards the authorship and relation of the two letters, this strange variation from γνῶτε τὰ περὶ ἡμῶν to γνῷ τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν in the author himself is improbable. On the other hand a transcriber was under a great temptation to substitute γνῷ for γνῶτε owing to the following παρακαλέση, and this temptation would become almost irresistible, if by any chance περὶ ὑμῶν had been written for περὶ ἡμῶν in the copy before him, as we find to be the case in some MSS. See the detached note on various readings.

παρακαλέσῃ κ.τ.λ.] i.e. ‘encourage you to persevere by his tidings and exhortations’. The phrase occurs again, Ephes. vi. 22, 2 Thess, ii. 17: see above ii. 2. The prominent idea in all these passages is not comfort or consolation but perseverance in the right way.

9. σὺν Ὀνησίμῳ] See above, p. 33, and the introduction to the Epistle to Philemon.

τῷ πιστῷ κ.τ.λ.] The man whom the Colossians had only known hitherto, if they knew him at all, as a worthless runaway slave, is thus commended to them as no more a slave but a brother, no more dishonest and faithless but trustworthy, no more an object of contempt but of love; comp. Philem. 11, 16.

γνωρίσουσιν] This form has rather better support from the MSS than γνωριοῦσιν: see also above, iii. 25. On the Attic future from verbs in -ιζω in the Greek Testament generally see Winer § xiii. p. 88, A. Buttmann p. 32 sq. Is there any decisive instance of these Attic forms in St Paul, except in quotations from the LXX (e.g. Rom. x. 19, xv. 12)?

10–14. ‘I send you greeting from Aristarchus who is a fellow-prisoner with me; from Marcus, Barnabas’ cousin, concerning whom I have already sent you directions, that you welcome him heartily, if he pays you a visit; and from Jesus, surnamed Justus; all three Hebrew converts. They alone of their fellow-countrymen have worked loyally with me in spreading the kingdom of God; and their stedfastness has indeed been a comfort to me in the hour of trial. Greeting also from Epaphras, your fellow-townsman, a true servant of Christ, who is ever wrestling in his prayers on your behalf, that ye may stand firm in the faith, perfectly instructed and fully convinced in every will and purpose of God. I bear testimony to the earnestness with which he labours for you and the brethren of Laodicea and those of Hierapolis. Greeting also from Luke the physician, my very dear friend, and from Demas.’

302IV. 10]

← ¹⁰Ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς Ἀρίσταρχος ὁ συναιχμάλωτός →

10. The salutations to Philemon are sent from the same persons as to the Colossians, except that in the former case the name of Jesus Justus is omitted.

Ἀρίσταρχος] the Thessalonian. He had started with St Paul on his voyage from Jerusalem to Rome, but probably had parted from the Apostle at Myra (see Philippians p. 33 sq.). If so, he must have rejoined him at Rome at a later date. On this Aristarchus see Philippians p. 10 and the introduction to the Epistles to the Thessalonians. He would be well known in proconsular Asia, which he had visited from time to time; Acts xix. 29, xx. 4, xxvii. 2.

συναιχμάλωτός μου] In Philem. 23 this honourable title is withheld from Aristarchus and given to Epaphras. In Rom. xvi. 7 St Paul’s kinsmen, Andronicus and Junias, are so called. On the possibility of its referring to a spiritual captivity or subjection see Philippians p. 11. In favour of this meaning it may be urged, that, though St Paul as a prisoner was truly a δέσμιος, he was not strictly an αἰχμάλωτος ‘a prisoner of war’; nor could he have called himself so, except by a confusion of the actual and metaphorical. If on the other hand συναιχμάλωτος refers to a physical captivity, it cannot easily be explained by any known fact. The incident in Acts xix. 29 is hardly adequate. The most probable solution would be, that his relations with St Paul in Rome excited suspicion and led to a temporary confinement. Another possible hypothesis is that he voluntarily shared the Apostle’s captivity by living with him.

Μάρκος] doubtless John Mark, who had been associated with St Paul in his earlier missionary work; Acts xii. 25, xv. 37 sq. This commendatory notice is especially interesting as being the first mention of him since the separation some twelve years before, Acts xv. 39. In the later years of the Apostle’s life he entirely effaced the unfavourable impression left by his earlier desertion; 2 Tim. iv. 11 ἔστιν γάρ μοι εὔχρηστος εἰς διακονίαν.

This notice is likewise important in two other respects. (1) Mark appears here as commended to a church of proconsular Asia, and intending to visit those parts. To the churches of this same region he sends a salutation in 1 Pet. v. 13; and in this district apparently also he is found some few years later than the present time, 2 Tim. iv. 11. (2) Mark is now residing at Rome. His connexion with the metropolis appears also from 1 Pet. v. 13, if Βαβυλῶν there (as seems most probable) be rightly interpreted of Rome; and early tradition speaks of his Gospel as having been written for the Romans (Iren. iii. 1. 1; comp. Papias in Euseb. H.E. iii. 39).

303IV. 10]

← μου, καὶ Μάρκος ὁ ἀνεψιὸς Βαρνάβα, περὶ οὗ ἐλάβετε →

ὁ ἀνεψιὸς] ‘the cousin’. The term ἀνεψιοί is applied to cousins german, the children whether of two brothers or of two sisters or of a brother and sister, as it is carefully defined in Pollux iii. 28. This writer adds that αὐτανέψιοι means neither more nor less than ἀνεψιοί. As a synonyme we find ἐξάδελφος, which however is condemned as a vulgarism; Phryn. p. 306 (ed. Lobeck). Many instances of ἀνεψιοί are found in different authors of various ages (e.g. Herod, vii. 5, 82, ix. 10, Thucyd. i. 132, Plato Charm. 154 B, Gorg. 471 B, Andoc. de Myst. § 47, Isæus Hagn. Her. § 8 sq., Demosth. c. Macart. § 24, 27, etc., Dion. Hal. A. R. i. 79, Plut. Vit. Thes. 7, Vit. Cæs. 1, Vit. Brut. 13, Lucian Dial. Mort. xxix. 1, Hegesipp. in Euseb. H.E. iv. 22), where the relationship is directly defined or already known, and there is no wavering as to the meaning. This sense also it has in the LXX, Num. xxxvi. 11. In very late writers however (e.g. Io. Malalas Chron. xvii. p. 424, Io. Damasc. adv. Const. Cab. 12, II. p. 621; but in Theodt. H.E. v. 39, which is also quoted by E. A. Sophocles Gr. Lex. s.v. for this meaning, the text is doubtful) the word comes to be used for a nephew, properly ἀδελφιδοῦς; and to this later use the rendering of our English versions must be traced. The German translations also (Luther and the Zürich) have ‘Neffe’. The earliest of the ancient versions (Latin, Syriac, Egyptian) seem all to translate it correctly; not so in every case apparently the later. There is no reason to suppose that St Paul would or could have used it in any other than its proper sense. St Mark’s relationship with Barnabas may have been through his mother Mary, who is mentioned Acts xii. 12. The incidental notice here explains why Barnabas should have taken a more favourable view of Mark’s defection than St Paul, Acts xv. 37–39. The notices in this passage and in 2 Tim. iv. 11 show that Mark had recovered the Apostle’s good opinion. The studious recommendation of St Mark in both passages indicates a desire to efface the unfavourable impression of the past.

The name of Mark occurs in five different relations, as (1) The early disciple, John Mark, Acts xii. 12, 25, xv. 39; (2) The later companion of St Paul, here and Philem. 24, 2 Tim. iv. 11; (3) The companion and ‘son’ of St Peter, 1 Pet. v. 13; (4) The evangelist; (5) The bishop of Alexandria. Out of these notices some writers get three or even four distinct persons (see the note of Cotelier on Apost. Const. ii. 57). Even Tillemont (Mem. Eccl. II. p. 89 sq., 503 sq.) assumes two Marks, supposing (1) (2) to refer to one person, and (3) (4) (5) to another. His main reason is that he cannot reconcile the notices of the first with the tradition (Euseb. H.E. ii. 15, 16) that St Mark the evangelist accompanied St Peter to Rome in A. D. 43, having first preached the Gospel in Alexandria (p. 515). To most persons however this early date of St Peter’s visit to Rome will appear quite irreconcilable with the notices in the Apostolic writings, and therefore with them Tillemont’s argument will carry no weight. But in fact Eusebius does not say, either that St Mark went with St Peter to Rome, or that he had preached in Alexandria before this. The Scriptural notices suggest that the same Mark is intended in all the occurrences of the name, for they are connected together by personal links (Peter, Paul, Barnabas); and the earliest forms of tradition likewise identify them.

Βαρνάβα] On the affectionate tone of St Paul’s language, whenever he mentions Barnabas after the collision at Antioch (Gal. ii. 11 sq.) and the separation of missionary spheres (Acts xv. 39), see the note on Gal. ii. 13. It has been inferred from the reference here, that inasmuch as Mark has rejoined St Paul, Barnabas must have died before this epistle was written (about A. D. 63); and this has been used as an argument against the genuineness of the letter bearing his name (Hefele Sendschr. d. Apost. Barnab. p. 29 sq.); but this argument is somewhat precarious. From 1 Cor. ix. 6 we may infer that he was still living, A. D. 57. The notices bearing on the biography of Barnabas are collected and discussed by Hefele, p. 1 sq.

ἐλάβετε ἐντολάς] These injunctions must have been communicated previously either by letter or by word of mouth: for it cannot be a question here of an epistolary aorist. The natural inference is, that they were sent by St Paul himself, and not by any one else, e.g. by St Peter or St Barnabas, as some have suggested. Thus the notice points to earlier communications between the Apostle and Colossæ.

But what was their tenour? It seems best to suppose that this is given in the next clause ἐὰν ἔλθῃ κ.τ.λ. By an abrupt change to the oratio recta the injunction is repeated as it was delivered; comp. Ps. cv (civ). 15 ἤλεγξεν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν βασιλεῖς· μὴ ἅψησθε κ.τ.λ. After verbs signifying ‘to command, charge, etc.’, there is a tendency to pass from the oblique to the direct; e.g. Luke v. 14, Acts i. 4, xxiii. 22. The reading δέξασθαι gives the right sense, but can hardly be correct. If this construction be not accepted, it is vain to speculate what may have been the tenour of the injunction.

304IV. 11]

← ἐντολάς, Ἐὰν ἔλθῃ πρὸς ὑμᾶς, δέξασθε αὐτόν, ¹¹καὶ Ἰησοῦς ὁ λεγόμενος Ἰοῦστος, οἱ ὄντες ἐκ περιτομῆς· οὗτοι μόνοι συνεργοὶ εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, οἵτινες →

11. καὶ Ἰησοῦς] He is not mentioned elsewhere. Even in the Epistle to Philemon his name is omitted. Probably he was not a man of any prominence in the Church, but his personal devotion to the Apostle prompted this honourable mention. For the story which makes him bishop of Eleutheropolis in Palestine, see Le Quien Oriens Christ. in III. p. 633.

Ἰοῦστος] A common name or surname of Jews and proselytes, denoting obedience and devotion to the law. It is applied to two persons in the New Testament, besides this Jesus; (1) Joseph Barsabbas, Acts i. 23; (2) A proselyte at Corinth, Acts xviii. 7. It occurs twice in the list of early Jewish Christian bishops of Jerusalem, in Euseb. H.E. iii. 35, iv. 5. It was borne by a Jew of Tiberias who wrote the history of the Jewish war (Joseph. Vit. §§ 9, 65), and by a son of the historian Josephus himself (ib. § 1). It occurs in the rabbinical writings (יוסטא or יוסטי, Schöttgen on Acts. i. 23, Zunz Judennamen p. 20), and in monumental inscriptions from Jewish cemeteries in various places (Boeckh C. I. no. 9922, 9925; Revue Archéologique 1860, II. p. 348; Garrucci Dissertazioni Archeologiche II. p. 182). So also the corresponding female name Justa (Garrucci l.c. p. 180). In Clem. Hom. ii. 19, iii. 73, iv. 1, xiii. 7, the Syrophœnician woman of the Gospels is named Ἰοῦστα, doubtless because she is represented in this Judaizing romance as a proselytess προσήλυτος xiii. 7) who strictly observes the Mosaic ordinances ( τὴν νόμιμον ἀναδεξαμένη πολιτείαν ii. 20), and is contrasted with the heathen ‘dogs’ ( τὰ ἔθνη ἐοικότα κυσίν ii. 19) who disregard them. In some cases Justus might be the only name of the person, as a Latin rendering of the Hebrew Zadok; while in others, as here and in Acts i. 23, it is a surname. Its Greek equivalent, ὁ δίκαιος, is the recognised epithet of James the Lord’s brother: see Galatians, p. 348.

οἱ ὄντες κ.τ.λ.] i.e. ‘converts from Judaism’ (see the note Gal. ii. 12), or perhaps ‘belonging to the Circumcision’; but in this latter case περιτομῆς, though without the article, must be used in a concrete sense, like τῆς περιτομῆς, for ‘the Jews’. Of Mark and of Jesus the fact is plain from their name or their connexions. Of Aristarchus we could not have inferred a Jewish origin, independently of this direct statement.

μόνοι] i.e. of the Jewish Christians in Rome. On this antagonism of the converts from the Circumcision in the metropolis, see Philippians p. 16 sq. The words however must not be closely pressed, as if absolutely no Jewish Christian besides had remained friendly; they will only imply that among the more prominent members of the body the Apostle can only name these three as stedfast in their allegiance: comp. Phil. ii. 20 οὐδένα ἔχω ἰσόψυχον ... οἱ πάντες γὰρ κ.τ.λ. (with the note).

305IV. 12]

← ἐγενήθησάν μοι παρηγορία. ¹²ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς Ἐπαφρᾶς ὁ ἐξ ὑμῶν, δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ, πάντοτε ἀγωνιζόμενος ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς, ἵνα σταθῆτε τέλειοι →

τὴν βασιλείαν κ.τ.λ.] See the note on i. 13.

οἵτινες κ.τ.λ.] ‘men whom I found etc.’; comp. Acts xxviii. 15 οὓς ἰδὼν ὁ Παῦλος εὐχαριστήσας τῷ Θεῷ ἔλαβεν θάρσος, and see Philippians p. 17. For οἵτινες, not specifying the individuals, but referring them to their class characteristics, see the notes on Gal. iv. 24, v. 19, Phil. iii. 7, iv. 3.

παρηγορία] ‘encouragement’, ‘comfort’. The range of meaning in this word is even wider than in παραμυθία or παράκλησις (see the note Phil. ii. 1). The verb παρηγορεῖν denotes either (1) ‘to exhort, encourage’ (Herod. v. 104, Apoll. Rhod. ii. 64); (2) ‘to dissuade’ (Herod. ix. 54, 55); (3) ‘to appease’, ‘quiet’ (Plut. Vit. Pomp. 13, Mor. p. 737 C); or (4) ‘to console, comfort’ (Æsch. Eum. 507). The word however, and its derivates παρηγορία, παρηγόρημα, παρηγορικός, παρηγορητικός, were used especially as medical terms, in the sense of ‘assuaging’, ‘alleviating’; e.g. Hippocr. pp. 392, 393, 394, Galen XIV. p. 335, 446, Plut. Mor. pp. 43 D, 142 D; and perhaps owing to this usage, the idea of consolation, comfort, is on the whole predominant in the word; e.g. Plut. Mor. p. 56 A τὰς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀτυχήμασι παρηγοπίας, p. 118 A τοῖς ἀφαιρουμένοις τὰς λύπας διὰ τῆς γενναίας καὶ σεμνῆς παρηγορίας, Vit. Cim. 4 ἐπὶ παρηγορίᾳ τοῦ πένθους. In Plut. Mor. p. 599 B παρηγορία and συνηγορία are contrasted, as the right and wrong method of dealing with the sorrows of the exile; and the former is said to be the part of men παρῥησιαζομένων καὶ διδασκόντων ὅτι τὸ λυπεῖσθαι καὶ ταπεινοῦν ἑαυτὸν ἐπὶ παντὶ μὲν ἄχρηστόν ἐστι κ.τ.λ.

12. Ἐπαφρᾶς] His full name would be Epaphroditus, but he is always called by the shortened form Epaphras, and must not be confused with the Philippian Epaphroditus (see Philippians p. 60), who also was with St Paul at one period of his Roman captivity. Of Epaphras, as the evangelist of Colossæ, and perhaps of the neighbouring towns, see above, pp. 29 sq., 34 sq.

ὁ ἐξ ὑμῶν] ‘who belongs to you’, ‘who is one of you’, i.e. a native, or at least an inhabitant, of Colossæ, as in the case of Onesimus ver. 9; comp. Acts iv. 6, xxi. 8, Rom. xvi. 10, 11, 1 Cor. xii. 16, Phil. iv. 22, etc.

δοῦλος Χ. Ἰ.] This title, which the Apostle uses several times of himself, is not elsewhere conferred on any other individual, except once on Timothy (Phil. i. 1), and probably points to exceptional services in the cause of the Gospel on the part of Epaphras.

ἀγωνιζόμενος] ‘wrestling’; comp. Rom. xv. 30 συναγωνίσασθαί μοι ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς. See also the great ἀγωνία of prayer in Luke xxii. 44. Comp. Justin Apol. ii. 13 (p. 51 B) καὶ εὐχόμενος καὶ παμμάχως ἀγωνιζόμενος. See also i. 29, ii. 1, with the notes.

σταθῆτε] ‘stand fast’, doubtless the correct reading rather than στῆτε which the received text has; comp. Matt. ii. 9, xxvii. 11, where also the received text substitutes the weaker word.

306IV. 13]

← καὶ πεπληροφορημένοι ἐν παντὶ θελήματι τοῦ Θεοῦ. ¹³μαρτυρῶ γὰρ αὐτῷ ὅτι ἔχει πολὺν πόνον ὑπὲρ →

πεπληροφορημένοι] ‘fully persuaded’. The verb πληροφορεῖν has several senses. (1) ‘To fulfil, accomplish’; 2 Tim. iv. 5 τὴν διακονίαν σου πληροφόρησον, ib. ver. 17 τὸ κήρυγμα πληροφορηθῇ, Clem. Hom. xix. 24 πεπληροφορημένον νῦν ἤδη τριῶν ἡμερῶν. So perhaps Hermas Sim. 2 πληροφοροῦσι τὸν πλοῦτον αὐτῶν ... πληροφοροῦσι τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν, though it is a little difficult to carry the same sense into the latter clause, where the word seems to signify rather ‘to satisfy’. (2)‘To persuade fully, to convince’; Rom. iv. 21 πληροφορηθὲις ὅτι ὃ ἐπήγγελται δυνατός ἐστιν καὶ ποιῆσαι, xiv. 5 ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ νοὶ πληροφορέισθω, Clem. Rom. 42 πληροφορηθέυτες διὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως κ.τ.λ., Ign. Magn. 8 εἰς τὸ πληροφορηθῆναι τοὺς ἀπειθοῦντας, ib. 11 πεπληροφορῆσθαι ἐν τῇ γεννὴσει κ.τ.λ., Philad. inscr. ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει αὐτοῦ πεπληροφορημένη ἐν παντὶ ἐλέει, Smyrn. 1 πεπληροφορημένους εἰς τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν, Mart. Ign. 7 πληροφορῆσαι τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τοῖς προγεγονόσιν, Clem. Hom. Ep. ad Iac. 10 πεπληροφορημένος ὅτι ἐκ Θεοῦ δικαίου, ib. xix. 24 συνετιθέμην ὡς πληροφορούμενος. So too LXX Eccles. viii. 11 ἐπληροφορήθη καρδία τοῦ ποιῆσαι τὸ πονηρόν. (3) ‘To fill’; Rom. xv. 13 πληροφορήσαι ὑμᾶς πάσης χαρᾶς (a doubtful v. l.), Clem. Rom. 54 τίς πεπληροφορημένος ἀγάπης; Test. xii Patr. Dan 2 τῇ πλεονεξίᾳ ἐπληροφορήθην τῆς ἀναιρέσεως αὐτοῦ, where it means ‘I was filled with’, i.e. ‘I was fully bent on’, a sense closely allied to the last. From this account it will be seen that there is in the usage of the word no justification for translating it ‘most surely believed’ in Luke i. 1 τῶν πεπληροφορημένων ἐν ἡμῖν πραγμάτων, and it should therefore be rendered ‘fulfilled, accomplished’. The word is almost exclusively biblical and ecclesiastical; and it seems clear that the passage from Ctesias in Photius (Bibl. 72) πολλοῖς λόγοις καὶ ὅρκοις πληροφορήσαντες Μεγάβυζον is not quoted with verbal exactness. In Isocr. Trapez. § 8 the word is now expunged from the text on the authority of the MSS. For the substantive πληροφορία see the note on ii. 2 above. The reading of the received text here, πεπληρωμένοι, must be rejected as of inferior authority.

ἐν παντὶ κ.τ.λ.] ‘in every thing willed by God’; comp. 1 Kings ix. 11. So the plural τὰ θελήματα in Acts xiii. 22, Ephes. ii. 3, and several times in the LXX. The words are best connected directly with πεπληροφορημένοι. The passages quoted in the last note amply illustrate this construction. The preposition may denote (1) The abode of the conviction, as Rom. xiv. 5 ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ νοΐ; or (2) The object of the conviction, as Ign. Magn. II ἐν τῇ γεννήσει, Philad. inscr. ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει; or (3) The atmosphere, the surroundings, of the conviction, as Philad. inscr. ἐν παντὶ )ελέει. This last seems to be its sense here. The connexion σταθῆτε ... ἐν, though legitimate in itself (Rom. v. 2, 1 Cor. xv. 1), is not favoured by the order of the words here.

13. πολὺν πόνον] ‘much toil’, both inward and outward, though from the connexion the former notion seems to predominate, as in ἀγῶνα ii. 1; comp. Plat. Phædr. p. 247 B πόνος τε καὶ ἀγὼν ἔσχατος ψυχῇ πρόκειται. Of the two variations which transcribers have substituted for the correct reading, ζῆλον emphasizes the former idea and κόπον the latter. The true reading is more expressive than either. The word πόνος however is very rare in the New Testament (occurring only Rev. xvi. 10, 11, xxi. 4, besides this passage), and was therefore liable to be changed.

καὶ τῶν κ.τ.λ.] The neighbouring cities are taken in their geographical order, commencing from Colossæ; see above, p. 2. Epaphras, though a Colossian, may have been the evangelist of the two larger cities also.

307IV. 14]

← ὑμῶν καὶ τῶν ἐν Λαοδικίᾳ καὶ τῶν ἐν Ἱεραπόλει. ¹⁴ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς Λουκᾶς ὁ ἰατρὸς ὁ ἀγαπητός, καὶ Δημᾶς. →

Λαοδικίᾳ] This form has not the same overwhelming preponderance of authority in its favour here and in vv. 15, 16, as in ii. 1, but is probably correct in all these places. It is quite possible however, that the same person would write Λαοδικια and Λαοδικεια indifferently. Even the form Λαοδικηα is found in Mionnet, Suppl. VII. p. 581. Another variation is the contraction of Λαοδ- into Λαδ-; e.g. Λαδικηνός, which occurs frequently in the edict of Diocletian.

14. Λουκᾶς] St Luke had travelled with St Paul on his last journey to Jerusalem (Acts xxi. 1 sq.). He had also accompanied him two years later from Jerusalem to Rome (Acts xxvii. 2 sq.). And now again, probably after another interval of two years (see Philippians p. 31 sq.), we find him in the Apostle’s company. It is not probable that he remained with St Paul in the meanwhile (Philippians p. 35), and this will account for his name not occurring in the Epistle to the Philippians. He was at the Apostle’s side again in his second captivity (2 Tim. iv. 11).

Lucas is doubtless a contraction of Lucanus. Several Old Latin MSS write out the name Lucanus in the superscription and subscription to the Gospel, just as elsewhere Apollos is written in full Apollonius. On the frequent occurrence of this name Lucanus in inscriptions see Ephem. Epigr. II. p. 28 (1874). The shortened form Lucas however seems to be rare. He is here distinguished from οἱ ὄντες ἐκ περιτομῆς (ver. 11). This alone is fatal to his identification (mentioned as a tradition by Origen ad loc.) with the Lucius, St Paul’s ‘kinsman’ (i.e. a Jew; see Philippians pp. 17, 171, 173), who sends a salutation from Corinth to Rome (Rom. xvi. 21). It is equally fatal to the somewhat later tradition that he was one of the seventy (Dial. c. Marc. § 1 in Orig. Op. I. p. 806, ed. De la Rue; Epiphan. Hær. li. 11). The identification with Lucius of Cyrene (Acts xiii. 13) is possible but not probable. Though the example of Patrobius for Patrobas (Rom. xvi. 14) shows that such a contraction is not out of the question, yet probability and testimony alike point to Lucanus, as the longer form of the Evangelist’s name.

ὁ ἰατρὸς] Indications of medical knowledge have been traced both in the third Gospel and in the Acts; see on this point Smith’s Voyage and Shipwreck of St Paul p. 6 sq. (ed. 2). It has been observed also, that St Luke’s first appearance in company with St Paul (Acts xvi. 10) nearly synchronizes with an attack of the Apostle’s constitutional malady (Gal. iv. 13, 14); so that he may have joined him partly in a professional capacity. This conjecture is perhaps borne out by the personal feeling which breathes in the following ὁ ἀγαπητός. But whatever may be thought of these points, there is no ground for questioning the ancient belief (Iren. iii. 14. 1 sq.) that the physician is also the Evangelist. St Paul’s motive in specifying him as the physician may not have been to distinguish him from any other bearing the same name, but to emphasize his own obligations to his medical knowledge. The name in this form does not appear to have been common. The tradition that St Luke was a painter is quite late (Niceph. Call. ii. 43). It is worthy of notice that the two Evangelists are mentioned together in this context, as also in Philem. 24, 2 Tim. iv. 11.

ὁ ἀγαπητός] ‘the beloved one’, not to be closely connected with ὁ ἰατρός, for ὁ ἀγαπητός is complete in itself; comp. Philem. 1, Rom. xvi. 12 (comp. vv. 5, 8, 9), 3 Joh. 1. For the form compare the expression in the Gospels, Matt. iii. 17, etc. ὁ ὑίος μου, ὁ ἀγαπητός κ.τ.λ.; where a comparison of Is. xlii. 1, as quoted in Matt. xii. 18, seems to show that ὁ ἀγαπητός κ.τ.λ. forms a distinct clause from ὁ ὑίος μου.

Δημᾶς] On the probability that this person was a Thessalonian (2 Tim. iv. 10) and that his name was Demetrius, see the introduction to the Epistles to the Thessalonians. He appears in close connexion with St Luke in Philem. 24, as here. In 2 Tim. iv. 10 their conduct is placed in direct contrast, Δημᾶς με ἐγκατέλιπεν ... Λοῦκας ἐστὶν μόνος μετ’ ἐμοῦ. There is perhaps a foreshadowing of this contrast in the language here. While Luke is described with special tenderness as ὁ ἰατρός, ὁ ἀγαπητός, Demas alone is dismissed with a bare mention and without any epithet of commendation.

308IV. 15, 16]

← ¹⁵Ἀσπάσασθε τοὺς ἐν Λαοδικίᾳ ἀδελφὸυς καὶ Νυμφᾶν καὶ τὴν κατ’ οἶκον αὐτῶν ἐκκλησίαν. ¹⁶Καὶ ὅταν →

15–17. ‘Greet from me the brethren who are in Laodicea, especially Nymphas, and the church which assembles in their house. And when this letter has been read among you, take care that it is read also in the Church of the Laodiceans, and be sure that ye also read the letter which I have sent to Laodicea, and which ye will get from them. Moreover give this message from me to Archippus; Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received from me in Christ, and discharge it fully and faithfully.’

15. Νυμφᾶν] as the context shows, an inhabitant of Laodicea. The name in full would probably be Nymphodorus, as Artemas (Tit. iii. 12) for Artemidorus, Zenas (Tit. iii. 13) for Zenodorus, Theudas (Acts v. 36) for Theodorus, Olympas (Rom. xvi. 15) for Olympiodorus, and probably Hermas (Rom. xvi. 14) for Hermodorus (see Philippians p. 174). Other names in ας occurring in the New Testament and representing different terminations are Amplias (Ampliatus, a v. l.), Antipas (Antipater), Demas (Demetrius?), Epaphras (Epaphroditus), Lucas (Lucanus), Parmenas (Parmenides), Patrobas (Patrobius), Silas (Sylvanus), Stephanas (Stephanephorus), and perhaps Junias (Junianus, Rom. xvi. 7). For a collection of names with this contraction, found in different places, see Chandler Greek Accentuation § 34; comp. Lobeck Pathol. p. 505 sq. Some remarkable instances are found in the inscriptions; e.g. Ἀσκλᾶς, Δημοσθᾶς, Διομᾶς, Ἑρμογᾶς, Νικομᾶς, Ὀνησᾶς, Τροφᾶς, etc.; see esp. Boeckh C. I. III. pp. 1072, 1097. The name Nymphodorus is found not unfrequently; e.g. Herod. vii. 137, Thuc. ii. 29, Athen. i. p. 19 F, vi. p. 265 C, Mionnet Suppl. VI. p. 88, Boeckh C. I. no. 158, etc. The contracted form Νυμφᾶς however is very rare, though it appears to occur in a Spartan inscription, Boeckh C. I. no. 1240 )Έυτυχος Νυνφᾶ. In Murat. MDXXXV. 6, is an inscription to one Nu. Aquilius Nymphas, a freedman, where the dative is Nymphadi. Other names from which Nymphas might be contracted are Nymphius, Nymphicus, Nymphidius, Nymphodotus, the first and last being the most common.

Those, who read αὐτῆς in the following clause, take it as a woman’s name (Νύμφαν, not Νυμφᾶν); and the name Nymphe, Nympha, Nympa, etc., occurs from time to time in Latin inscriptions; e.g. Inscr. Hisp. 1099, 1783, 3763, Inscr. As. Prov. etc. 525, Murator. CMXXIV. 1, MCLIX. 8, MCCXCV. 9, MDXCI. 3. But a Doric form of the Greek name here seems in the highest degree improbable.

τὴν κατ’ οἶκον κ.τ.λ.] The same expression is used of Prisca and Aquila both at Rome (Rom. xvi. 5) and at Ephesus (1 Cor. xvi. 19), and also of Philemon, whether at Colossæ or at Laodicea is somewhat uncertain (Philem. 2); comp. Acts xii. 12 τὴν οἰκίαν τῆς Μαρίας ... ὁῦ ἦσαν ἱκανοὶ συνηθροισμένοι καὶ προσευχόμενοι, and see Philippians p. 56. Perhaps similar gatherings may be implied by the expressions in Rom. xvi. 14, 15 τοὺς σὺν αὐτοῖς ἀδελφούς, τοὺς σὺν αὐτοῖς πάντας ἁγίους (Probst Kirchliche Disciplin p. 182, 1873). See also Act. Mart. Justin. § 3 (II. p. 262 ed. Otto), Clem. Recogn. x. 71 ‘Theophilus ... domus suæ ingentem basilicam ecclesiæ nomine consecraret’ (where the word ‘basilica’ was probably introduced by the translator Ruffinus). Of the same kind must have been the ‘collegium quod est in domo Sergiæ Paulinæ’ (de Rossi Roma Sotteranea I. p. 209); for the Christians were first recognised by the Roman government as ‘collegia’ or burial clubs, and protected by this recognition doubtless held their meetings for religious worship. There is no clear example of a separate building set apart for Christian worship within the limits of the Roman empire before the third century, though apartments in private houses might be specially devoted to this purpose. This, I think, appears as a negative result from the passages collected in Bingham VIII. I. 13 and Probst p. 181 sq. with a different view. Hence the places of Christian assembly were not commonly called ναοί till quite late (Ignat. Magn. 7 is not really an exception), but οἶκοι Θεοῦ, οἶκοι ἐκκλησιῶν, οἶκοι εὐκτήριοι, and the like (Euseb. H.E. vii. 30, viii. 13, ix. 9, etc.).

αὐτῶν] The difficulty of this reading has led to the two corrections, αὐτοῦ and αὐτῆς, of which the former appears in the received text and the latter is supported by one or two very ancient authorities. Of these alternative readings however, αὐτοῦ is condemned by its simplicity, and αὐτῆς has arisen from the form Νυμφαν, which prima facie would look like a woman’s name, and yet hardly can be so. We should require to know more of the circumstances to feel any confidence in explaining αὐτῶν. A simple explanation is that αὐτῶν denotes ‘Nymphas and his friends’, by a transition which is common in classical writers; e.g. Xen. Anab. iii. 3. 7 προσῄει μὲν (Μιθριδάτης) ... πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας· ἐπὲι δ’ ἐγγὺς ἐγένοντο κ.τ.λ., iv. 5. 33 ἐπὲι δ’ ἦλθον πρὸς Χειρίσοφον, κατελάμβανον καὶ )εκέινους σκηνοῦντας: see also Kühner Gramm. § 371 (II. p. 77), Bernhardy Syntax p. 288. Or perhaps τοὺς ἐν Λαοδικίᾳ ἀδελφούς may refer not to the whole body of the Laodicean Church, but to a family of Colossian Christians established in Laodicea. Under any circumstances this ἐκκλησία is only a section of ἡ Λαοδικέων ἐκκλησία mentioned in ver. 16. On the authorities for the various readings see the detached note.

309IV. 16]

← ἀναγνωσθῇ παρ’ ὑμῖν ἡ ἐπιστολή, ποιήσατε ἵνα καὶ →

16. ἡ ἐπιστολή] ‘the letter’, which has just been concluded, for these salutations have the character of a postscript; comp. Rom. xvi. 22 Τέρτιος ὁ γράψας τὴν ἐπιστολήν, 2 Thess. iii. 14 διὰ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς, Mart. Polyc. 20 τὴν ἐπιστολὴν διαπέμψασθε. Such examples however do not countenance the explanation which refers ἔγραψα ὑμῖν ἐν τῇ ἐπιστολῇ in 1 Cor. v. 9 to the First Epistle itself, occurring (as it does) in the middle of the letter (comp. 2 Cor. vii. 8).

ποιήσατε ἵνα] ‘cause that’; so John xi. 37, Apoc. xiii. 15. In such cases the ἵνα is passing away from its earlier sense of design to its later sense of result. A corresponding classical expression is ποιεῖν ὡς or ὅπως, e.g. Xen. Cyr. vi. 3. 18.

A similar charge is given in 1 Thess. v. 27. The precaution here is probably suggested by the distastefulness of the Apostle’s warnings, which might lead to the suppression of the letter.

310IV. 17]

← ἐν τῇ Λαοδικέων ἐκκλησίᾳ ἀναγνωσθῇ, καὶ τὴν ἐκ Λαοδικίας ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀναγνῶτε. ¹⁷Καὶ εἴπατε Ἀρχίππῳ, Βλέπε τὴν διακονίαν ἣν παρέλαβες ἐν Κυρίῳ, ἵνα αὐτὴν πληροῖς. →

τὴν ἐκ Λαοδικίας] i.e. ‘the letter left at Laodicea, which you will procure thence’. For this abridged expression compare Luke xi. 13 ὁ πατὴρ ὁ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ δώσει πνεῦμα ἅγιον, xvi. 26 (v. l.) μηδὲ ὁι ἐκεῖθεν πρὸς ἡμᾶς διαπερῶσιν, Susann. 26 ὡς δὲ ἤκουσαν τὴν κραυγὴν ἐν τῷ παραδέισῳ ὁι ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας, εἰσεπήδησαν κ.τ.λ. For instances of this proleptic use of the preposition in classical writers, where it is extremely common, see Kühner Gr. § 448 (II. p. 474), Jelf Gr. § 647, Matthiæ Gr. § 596: e.g. Plat. Apol. 32 B τοὺς οὐκ ἀνελομένους τοὺς ἐκ τῆς ναυμαχίας, Xen. Cyr. vii. 2. 5 ἁρπασόμενοι τὰ ἐκ τῶν οἰκιῶν, Isocr. Paneg. § 187 τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν τὴν ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίας εἰς τὴν )Ευρώπην διακομίσαιμεν. There are good reasons for the belief that St Paul here alludes to the so-called Epistle to the Ephesians, which was in fact a circular letter addressed to the principal churches of proconsular Asia (see above p. 37, and the introduction to the Epistle to the Ephesians). Tychicus was obliged to pass through Laodicea on his way to Colossæ, and would leave a copy there, before the Colossian letter was delivered. For other opinions respecting this ‘letter from Laodicea’ see the detached note.

ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖς κ.τ.λ.] ‘see that ye also read’. At first sight it might seem as though this ἵνα also were governed by ποίησατε, like the former; but, inasmuch as ποίησατε would be somewhat awkward in this connexion, it is perhaps better to treat the second clause as independent and elliptical, (βλέπετἐ ἵνα κ.τ.λ. This is suggested also by the position of τὴν ἐκ Λαοδικίας before ἵνα; comp. Gal. ii. 10 μόνον τῶν πτωχῶν ἵνα μνημονεύωμεν (with the note). Ellipses before ἵνα are frequent; e.g. John ix. 3, 2 Cor. viii. 13, 2 Thess. iii. 9, 1 Joh. ii. 19.

17. Κὰι )έιπατε] Why does not the Apostle address himself directly to Archippus? It might be answered that he probably thought the warning would come with greater emphasis, when delivered by the voice of the Church. Or the simpler explanation perhaps is, that Archippus was not resident at Colossæ but at Laodicea: see the introduction to the Epistle to Philemon. On this warning itself see above, p. 42.

Βλέπε] ‘look to’, as 2 Joh. 8 βλέπετε ἑαυτοὺς ἵνα μὴ κ.τ.λ. More commonly it has the accusative of the thing to be avoided; see Phil. iii. 2 (with the note).

τὴν διακονίαν] From the stress which is laid upon it, the διακονία here would seem to refer, as in the case of Timothy cited below, to some higher function than the diaconate properly so called. In Acts xii. 25 the same phrase, πληροῦν τὴν διακονίαν, is used of a temporary ministration, the collection and conveyance of the alms for the poor of Jerusalem (Acts xi. 29); but the solemnity of the warning here points to a continuous office, rather than an immediate service.

παρέλαβες] i.e. probably παρ’ ἐμοῦ. The word suggests, though it does not necessarily imply, a mediate rather than a direct reception: see the note Gal. i. 12. Archippus received the charge immediately from St Paul, though ultimately from Christ. ‘Non enim sequitur’, writes Bengel, ‘a Domino (1 Cor. xi. 23), sed in Domino’.

πληροῖς] ‘fulfil’, i.e. ‘discharge fully’; comp. 2 Tim. iv. 5 τὴν διακονίαν σου πληροφόρησον.

311IV. 18]

← ¹⁸Ὁ ἀσπασμὸς τῇ ἐμῇ χειρὶ Παύλου. Μνημονεύετέ μου τῶν δεσμῶν. Ἡ χάρις μεθ’ ὑμῶν. →

18. ‘I add this salutation with my own hand, signing it with my name Paul. Be mindful of my bonds. God’s grace be with you.’

Ὁ ἀσπασμὸς κ.τ.λ.] The letter was evidently written by an amanuensis (comp. Rom. xvi. 22). The final salutation alone, with the accompanying sentence μνημονεύετε κ.τ.λ., was in the Apostle’s own handwriting. This seems to have been the Apostle’s general practice, even where he does not call attention to his own signature. In 2 Thess. iii. 17 sq., 1 Cor. xvi. 21, as here, he directs his readers’ notice to the fact, but in other epistles he is silent. In some cases however he writes much more than the final sentence. Thus the whole letter to Philemon is apparently in his own handwriting (see ver. 19), and in the Epistle to the Galatians he writes a long paragraph at the close (see the note on vi. 11).

τῇ ἐμῇ χειρὶ Παύλου] The same phrase occurs in 2 Thess. iii. 17, 1 Cor. xvi. 21. For the construction comp. e.g. Philo Leg. ad Cai. 8 (II. p. 554) ἐμόν ἐστι τοῦ Μάκρωνος ἐργον Γάϊος, and see Kühner § 406 (II. p. 242), Jelf § 467.

τῶν δεσμῶν] His bonds establish an additional claim to a hearing. He who is suffering for Christ has a right to speak on behalf of Christ. The appeal is similar in Ephes. iii. 1 τούτου χάριν ἐγὼ Παῦλος ὁ δέσμιος τοῦ Χ. Ἰ., which is resumed again (after a long digression) in iv. 1 παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς ἐγὼ ὁ δέσμιος ἐν Κυρίῳ ἀξίως περιπατῆσαι κ.τ.λ. (comp. vi. 20 ὑπὲρ ὁῦ πρεσβεύω ἐν ἁλύσει). So too Philem. 9 τοιοῦτος ὢν ὡς Παῦλος ... δέσμιος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ. These passages seem to show that the appeal here is not for himself, but for his teaching—not for sympathy with his sufferings but for obedience to the Gospel. His bonds were not his own; they were τὰ δεσμὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου (Philem. 13). In Heb. x. 34 the right reading is not τοῖς δεσμοῖς μου, but τοῖς δεσμίοις συνεπαθήσατε (comp. xiii. 3). Somewhat similar is the appeal to his στίγματα in Gal. vi. 17, ‘Henceforth let no man trouble me.’ See the notes on Philem. 10, 13.

Ἡ χάρις κ.τ.λ.] This very short form of the final benediction appears only here and in 1 Tim. vi. 21, 2 Tim. iv. 22. In Tit. iii. 15 πάντων is inserted, and so in Heb. xiii. 25. In Ephes. vi. 24 the form so far agrees with the examples quoted, that ἡ χάρις is used absolutely, though the end is lengthened out. In all the earlier epistles ἡ χάρις is defined by the addition of τοῦ Κυρίου [ἡμῶν] Ἰησοῦ [Χριστοῦ]; 1 Thess. v. 28, 2 Thess. iii. 18, 1 Cor. xvi. 23, 2 Cor. xiii. 13, Gal. vi. 18, Rom. xvi. 20, [24], Phil. iv. 23. Thus the absolute ἡ χάρις in the final benediction may be taken as a chronological note. A similar phenomenon has been already observed (τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις) in the opening addresses: see the note on i. 2.

312

On some Various Readings in the Epistle^[535].

Harmonistic readings.

In one respect the letters to the Ephesians and Colossians hold a unique position among the Epistles of St Paul, as regards textual criticism. They alone have been exposed, or exposed in any considerable degree, to those harmonizing tendencies in transcribers, which have had so great an influence on the text of the Synoptic Gospels.

Preponderant evidence (1) for the correct reading;

In such cases there is sometimes no difficulty in ascertaining the correct reading. The harmonistic change is condemned by the majority of the oldest and best authorities; or there is at least a nearly even balance of external testimony, and the suspicious character of the reading is quite sufficient to turn the scale. Thus we cannot hesitate for a moment about such readings as i. 14 διὰ τοῦ ἅιματος αὐτοῦ (from Ephes. i. 7), or iii. 16 ψαλμοῖς καὶ ὕμνοις καὶ ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς, and τῷ Κυρίῳ (for τῷ Θεῷ) in the same verse (both from Ephes. v. 19).

(2) against the correct reading.

In other instances again there can hardly be any doubt about the text, even though the vast preponderance of authority is in favour of the harmonistic reading; and these are especially valuable because they enable us to test the worth of our authorities. Such examples are:

Examples.

|iii. 6, words inserted.|iii. 6. The omission of the words ἐπὶ τοὺς ὑιὸυς τῆς ἀπειθείας (taken from Ephes. v. 6). Apparently the only extant MS in favour of the omission is B. In D however they are written (though by the first hand) in smaller letters and extend beyond the line (in both Greek and Latin), whence we may infer that they were not found in a copy which was before the transcriber. They are wanting also in the Thebaic Version and in one form of the Æthiopic (Polyglott). They were also absent from copies used by Clement of Alexandria (Pæd. iii. 11, p. 295, where however they are inserted in the printed texts; Strom. iii. 5, p. 531), by Cyprian (Epist. lv. 27, p. 645 313ed. Hartel), by an unknown writer (de Sing. Cler.> 39, in Cypr. Op. III. p. 215), by the Ambrosian Hilary (ad loc.), and by Jerome (Epist. xiv. 5, I. p. 32), though now found apparently in all the Latin MSS.

iii. 21. ἐρεθίζετε.

iii. 21. ἐρεθίζετε is only found in B K and in later hands of D (with its transcript E) among the uncial MSS. All the other uncials read παροργίζετε, which is taken from Ephes. vi. 4. In this case however the reading of B is supported by the greater number of cursives, and it accordingly has a place in the received text. The versions (so far as we can safely infer their readings) go almost entirely with the majority of uncials. |Syriac version misrepresented.|The true readings of the Syriac Versions are just the reverse of those assigned to them even by the chief critical editors, Tregelles and Tischendorf. Thus in the Peshito the word used is the Aphel of ܪܓܙ, the same mood of the same verb being employed to translate παροργίζειν, not only in Rom. x. 19, but even in the parallel passage Ephes. vi. 4. The word in the text of the Harclean is the same, ܬܪܓܛܙܘܢܢ, but in the margin the alternative ܬܓܪܓܘܢ is given. White interprets this as saying that the text is ἐρεθίζετε and the margin παροργίζετε, and he is followed by Tregelles and Tischendorf. But in this version, as in the Peshito, the former word translates παροργίζειν in Rom. x. 19, Ephes. vi. 4; while in the Peshito the latter word is adopted to render ἐρεθίζειν in 2 Cor. ix. 2 (the only other passage in the N. T. where ἐρεθίζειν occurs). In the Harclean of 2 Cor. ix. 2 a different word from either, ܚܬܚܬ, is used. It seems tolerably clear therefore that παροργίζετε was read in the text of both Peshito and Harclean here, while ἐρεθίζετε was given in the margin of the latter. |Latin versions.|The Latin Versions seem also to have read παροργίζετε; for the Old Latin has ‘ad iram (or in iram or ad iracundiam) provocare, and the Vulgate ad indignationem provocare’ here, while both have ad iracundiam provocare in Ephes. vi. 4. The Memphitic too has the same rendering ϯϫωⲛτ in both passages. Of the earlier Greek fathers Clement, Strom. iv. 8 (p. 593), reads ἐρεθίζετε: and it is found in Chrysostom and some later writers.

Great value of B.

These examples show how singularly free B is from this passion for harmonizing, and may even embolden us to place reliance on its authority in extreme cases.

Parallel passages.

Col. iii. 16, Eph. v. 19.

For instance, the parallel passages Ephes. v. 19 and Col. iii. 16 stand thus in the received text:

Ephesians.

λαλοῦντες ἑαυτοῖς ψαλμοῖς καὶ ὕμνοις καὶ ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς ᾄδοντες καὶ ψάλλοντες ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ὑμῶν τῷ Κυρίῳ.

Colossians.

διδάσκοντες καὶ νουθετοῦντες ἑαυτοὺς ψαλμοῖς καὶ ὕμνοις καὶ ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς ἐν χάριτι ᾄδοντες ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ὑμῶν τῷ Κυρίῳ.

And A carries the harmonizing tendency still further by inserting ἐν χάριτι before ᾄδοντες in Ephes. from the parallel passage.

In B they are read as follows:

λαλοῦντες ἑαυτοῖς ἐν ψαλμοῖς καὶ ὕμνοις καὶ ᾠδαῖς ᾄδοντες καὶ ψάλλοντες τῇ καρδίᾳ ὑμῶν τῷ Κυρίῳ.

διδάσκοντες καὶ νουθετοῦντες ἑαυτοὺς ψαλμοῖς ὕμνοις ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς ἐν τῇ χάριτι ᾄδοντες ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν τῷ Θεῷ.

314|Alterations for the sake of harmonizing.| Here are seven divergences from the received text. (1) The insertion of ἐν before ψαλμοῖς in Ephes.; (2) The omission of καί, καί, attaching ψαλμοῖς, ὕμνοις, ᾠδαῖς in Col.; (3) The omission of πνευματικαῖς in Ephes.; (4) The insertion of τῇ before χάριτι in Col.; (5) The omission of ἐν before τῇ καρδίᾳ in Ephes.; (6) The substitution of ταῖς καρδίαις for τῇ καρδίᾳ in Col.; (7) The substitution of τῷ Θεῷ for τῷ Κυρίῳ in Col.

Of these seven divergences the fourth alone does not affect the question: of the remaining six, the readings of B in (2), (6), (7) are supported by the great preponderance of the best authorities, and are unquestionably right. In (1), (3), (5) however the case stands thus:

ἐν ψαλμοῖς.

(1) ἐν ψαλμοῖς B, P, with the cursives 17, 67^**, 73, 116, 118, and in Latin, d, e, vulg., with the Latin commentators Victorinus, Hilary and Jerome. Of these however it is clear that the Latin authorities can have little weight in such a case, as the preposition might have been introduced by the translator. All the other Greek MSS with several Greek fathers omit ἐν.

πνευματικαῖς.

(3) πνευματικαῖς omitted in B, d, e. Of the Ambrosian Hilary Tischendorf says ‘fluct. lectio’; but his comment ‘In quo enim est spiritus, semper spiritualia meditatur’ seems certainly to recognise the word. It appears to be found in every other authority.

τῇ καρδίᾳ.

(5) τῇ καρδίᾳ א^* B with Origen in Cramer’s Catena, p. 201.

ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ K L, and the vast majority of later MSS, the Armenian and Æthiopic Versions, Euthalius (Tischendorf’s MS), Theodoret, and others. The Harclean Syriac (text) is quoted by Tischendorf and Tregelles in favour of ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ, but it is impossible to say whether the translator had or had not the preposition.

ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις א^c A D F G P, 47, 8^pe; the Old Latin, Vulgate, Memphitic, Peshito Syriac, and Gothic Versions, together with the margin of the Harclean Syriac; the fathers Basil (II. p. 464), Victorinus (probably), Theodore of Mopsuestia, the Ambrosian Hilary, Jerome, and others. Chrysostom (as read in the existing texts) wavers between ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ and ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις. This form of the reading is an attempt to bring Ephes. into harmony with Col., just as (6) is an attempt to bring Col. into harmony with Ephes.

It will be seen how slenderly B is supported; and yet we can hardly resist the impression that it has the right reading in all three cases. In the omission of πνευματικαῖς more especially, where the support is weakest, this impression must, I think, be very strong.

Excellence of B elsewhere.

This highly favourable estimate of B is our starting-point; and on the whole it will be enhanced as we proceed. Thus for instance in i. 22 and ii. 2 we shall find this MS alone (with one important Latin father) retaining the correct text; in the latter case amidst a great complication of various readings. And when again, as in iv. 8, we find B for once on the side of a reading which might otherwise be suspected as a harmonistic change, this support alone will weigh heavily in its favour. Other cases in which B (with more or less support) preserves the correct reading against the mass of authorities are ii. 2 πᾶν πλοῦτος, ii. 7 τῇ πίστει, ii. 13 τοῖς παραπτώμασιν (omitting ἐν), 315v. 12 σταθῆτε, together with several instances which will appear in the course of the following investigation. On the other hand its value must not be overestimated. |False readings in B.|Thus in iv. 3 τὸ μυστήριον τοῦ Χριστοῦ δι’ ὃ καὶ δέδεμαι^[536] there can be little doubt that the great majority of ancient authorities correctly read δι’ ὅ, though B F G have δι’ ὅν: but the variation is easily explained. A single stroke, whether accidental or deliberate, alone would be necessary to turn the neuter into a masculine and make the relative agree with the substantive nearest to it in position. Again in ii. 10 ὅς ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλή, the reading of B which substitutes ὅ for ὅς is plainly wrong, though supported in this instance by D F G 47^*, by the Latin text d, and by Hilary in one passage (de Trin. ix. 8, II. p. 263), though elsewhere (ib. i. 13, I. p. 10) he reads ὅ. But here again we have only an instance of a very common interchange. Whether for grammatical reasons or from diplomatic confusion or from some other cause, five other instances of this interchange occur in this short epistle alone; i. 15 ὅ for ὅς F G; i. 18 ὅ for ὅς F G; i. 24 ὅς for ὅ C D^* etc.; i. 27 ὅς for ὅ א C D K L etc.; iii. 14 ὅς for ὅ א^* D. Such readings again as the omission of καὶ αἰτούμενοι i. 9 by B K, or of δι’ αὐτοῦ in i. 20 by B D^* F G etc., or of ἡ ἐπιστολή in iv. 16 by B alone, need not be considered, since the motive for the omission is obvious, and the authority of B will not carry as great weight as it would in other cases. Similarly the insertion of ἡ in i. 18, ἡ ἀρχή, by B, 47, 67^**, b^scr, and of καί in ii. 15, καὶ ἐδειγμάτισεν, by B alone, do not appear to deserve consideration, because in both instances these readings would suggest themselves as obvious improvements. In other cases, as in the omission of τῆς before γῆς (i. 20), and of ἑνί in ἐν ἑνί σώματι (iii. 15), the scribe of B has erred as any scribe might err.

The various readings in this epistle are more perplexing than perhaps in any portion of St Paul’s Epistles of the same length. The following deserve special consideration.

i. 3 τῷ θεῷ πατρί.

i. 3 τῷ θεῷ πατρί,]

On this very unusual collocation I have already remarked in the notes (p. 199). The authorities stand as follows:

(1) τῷ θεῷ πατρί B C^*.

(2) τῷ θεῷ τῷ πατρί D^* F G Chrysostom.

One or other is also the reading of the Old Latin (d, e, g, harl.^**), of the Memphitic, the two Syriac (Peshito and Harclean), the Æthiopic, and the Arabic (Erpenius, Bedwell, Leipzig) Versions; and of Augustine (de Unit. Eccl. 45, IX. p. 368) and Cassiodorus (II. p. 1351, Migne).

(3) τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρί א A C² D^c K L P and apparently all the other MSS; the Vulgate and Armenian Versions; Euthalius (Tischendorf’s MS), Theodore of Mopsuestia (transl.), Theodoret, the Ambrosian Hilary, and others.

A comparison of these authorities seems to show pretty clearly that τῷ θεῷ πατρί was the original reading. The other two were expedients 316for getting rid of a very unusual collocation of words. |compared with iii. 17,|The scribes have felt the same difficulty again in iii. 17 εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ θεῷ πατρὶ δι’ αὐτοῦ, and there again we find καί inserted before πατρί. In this latter instance however the great preponderance of ancient authority is in favour of the unusual form τῷ θεῷ πατρί.

and i. 12.

It is worth observing also that in i. 12, where τῷ πατρί has the highest support, there is sufficient authority for τῷ θεῷ πατρί to create a suspicion that there too it may be possibly the correct reading. Thus τῷ θεῷ πατρί is read in א 37, while θεῷ τῷ πατρί stands in F G. One or other must have been the reading of some Old Latin and Vulgate texts (f, g, m, fuld.), of the Peshito Syriac, of the Memphitic (in some texts; for others read τῷ πατρί simply), of the Arabic (Bedwell), of the Armenian (Uscan), and of Origen (II. p. 451, the Latin translator); while several other authorities, Greek and Latin, read τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρί.

Unique collocation.

There is no other instance of this collocation of words, ὁ Θεὸς πατήρ, in the Greek Testament, so far as I remember; and it must be regarded as peculiar to this epistle.

i. 4 τὴν ἀγάπην [ἣν ἔχετε].

i. 4 τὴν ἀγάπην [ἣν ἔχετε].

Here the various readings are;

(1) τὴν ἀγάπην B.

(2) τὴν ἀγάπην ἣν ἔχετε A א C D^* F G P 17, 37, 47; the Old Latin and Vulgate, Memphitic (apparently), and Harclean Syriac Versions; the Ambrosian Hilary, Theodore of Mopsuestia (transl.), and others.

(3) τὴν ἀγάπην τήν. D^c K L; the Peshito Syriac (apparently), and Armenian (apparently) Versions; Chrysostom, Theodoret and others.

If the question were to be decided by external authority alone, we could not hesitate. It is important however to observe that (2) conforms to the parallel passage Philem. 5 ἀκούων σου τὴν ἀγάπην καὶ τὴν πίστιν ἣν ἔχεις, while (3) conforms to the other parallel passage Ephes. i. 15 καὶ [τὴν ἀγάπην] τὴν εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἅγιους. Thus, though ἣν ἔχετε is so highly supported and though it helps out the sense, it is open to suspicion. Still the omission in B may be an instance of that impatience of apparently superfluous words, which sometimes appears in this MS.

i. 7 ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν δίακονοϲ.

i. 7 ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν.

Here there is a conflict between MSS and Versions.

(1) ἡμῶν A B א^* D^* F G, 3, 13, 33, 43, 52, 80, 91, 109. This must also have been the reading of the Ambrosian Hilary (though the editors make him write ‘pro vobis’), for he explains it ‘qui eis ministravit gratiam Christi vice Apostoli.’

(2) ὑμῶν א^c C D^b K L P, 17, 37, 47, and many others; the Vulgate, the Peshito and Harclean Syriac, the Memphitic, Gothic, and Armenian Versions; Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia (transl.), and Theodoret (in their respective texts, for with the exception of Chrysostom there is nothing decisive in their comments), with others.

317The Old Latin is doubtful; d, e having vobis and g nobis.

Though the common confusion between these two words even in the best MSS is a caution against speaking with absolute certainty, yet such a combination of the highest authorities as we have here for ἡμῶν does not leave much room for doubt: and considerations of internal criticism point in the same direction. See the note on the passage.

i. 12 τῷ ἱκανώϲαντι.

i. 12 ἱκανώσαντι.

Against this, which is the reading of all the other ancient authorities, we have

(2) τῷ καλέσαντι D^* F G, 17, 80, with the Latin authorities d, e, f, g, m, and the Gothic, Armenian, and Æthiopic Versions. It is so read also by the Ambrosian Hilary, by Didymus de Trin. iii. 4 (p. 346), and by Vigilius Thapsensis c. Varim. i. 50 (p. 409).

(3) τῷ καλέσαντι καὶ ἱκανώσαντι, found in B alone.

Here the confusion between τωιικανωϲαντι and τωικαλεϲαντι would be easy, more especially at a period prior to the earliest existing MSS, when the iota adscript was still written; while at the same time καλέσαντι would suggest itself to scribes as the obvious word in such a connexion. It is a Western reading.

The text of B obviously presents a combination of both readings.

i. 14 ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν.

i. 14 ἔχομεν or ἔσχομεν?

For ἔχομεν B, the Memphitic Version, and the Arabic (Bedwell, Leipzig), read ἔσχομεν. This is possibly the correct reading. In the parallel passage, Ephes. i. 7, several authorities (א^* D^*, the Memphitic and Æthiopic Versions, and the translator of Irenæus v. 14. 3) similarly read ἔσχομεν for ἔχομεν. It may be conjectured that ἔσχομεν in these authorities was a harmonistic change in Ephes. i. 7, to conform to the text which they or their predecessors had in Col. i. 14. Tischendorf on Ephes. l.c. says ‘aut utroque loco εχομεν aut εσχομεν Paulum scripsisse puto’; but if any inference can be drawn from the phenomena of the MSS, they point rather to a different tense in the two passages.

i. 22 ἀποκατηλλάγητε.

i. 22 ἀποκατηλλάγητε.

This reading is perhaps the highest testimony of all to the great value of B.

The variations are;

(1) ἀποκατηλλάγητε B. This also seems to be the reading of Hilary of Poitiers In xci Psalm. 9 (I. p. 270), who transfers the Apostle’s language into the first person, ‘cum aliquando essemus alienati et inimici sensus ejus in factis malis, nunc autem reconciliati sumus corpore carnis ejus.’

(2) ἀποκατηλλάκηται 17.

(3) ἀποκαταλλαγέντες D^* F G, and the Latin authorities d, e, g, 318m, the Gothic Version, the translator of Irenæus (v. 14. 3), and others.

(4) ἀποκατήλλαξεν, all the other authorities.

Of these (2) is obviously a corruption of (1) from similarity of sound; and (3) is an emendation, though a careless emendation, of (1) for the sake of the grammar. It should have been ἀποκαταλλαγέντας. The reading therefore must lie between ἀποκατηλλάγητε and ἀποκατήλλαξεν. This latter however is probably a grammatical correction to straighten the syntax. In the Memphitic a single letter ⲁϫ for ⲁϥ would make the difference between ἀποκατηλλάγητε and ἀποκατήλλαξεν; but no variation from the latter is recorded.

ii. 2 τοῦ θεοῦ, χριϲτοῦ.

ii. 2 τοῦ Θεοῦ Χριστοῦ.

The various readings here are very numerous and at first sight perplexing; but the result of an investigation into their several claims is far from unsatisfactory. The reading which explains all the rest may safely be adopted as the original.

Original reading.

(1) του θεου χριϲτου.

This is the reading of B and of Hilary of Poitiers, de Trin. ix. 62 (I. p. 306), who quotes the passage sacramenti Dei Christi in quo etc., and wrongly explains it ‘Deus Christus sacramentum est’.

Variations;

All the other variations are derived from this, either by explanation or by omission or by amplification.

(a) by interpretation,

By explanation we get;

(2) του θεου ο εϲτιν χριϲτοϲ,

the reading of D, with the Latin authorities d, e, which have Dei quod est Christus. So it is quoted by Vigilius Thapsensis c. Varim. i. 20 (p. 380), and in a slightly longer form by Augustine de Trin. xiii. 24 (VIII. p. 944) mysterium Dei quod est Christus Jesus.

(3) του θεου εν χριϲτω.

So it is twice quoted by Clement of Alexandria Strom. v. 10 (p. 683), ib. 12 (p. 694); or

του θεου του εν χριϲτω,

the reading of 17.

So the Ambrosian Hilary (both text and commentary) has Dei in Christo. And the Armenian has the same lengthened out, Dei in Christo Jesu (Zohrab) or Dei patris in Christo Jesu (Uscan).

(4) Domini quod de Christo

is the Æthiopic rendering. Whether this represents another various reading in the Greek or whether the paraphrase is the translator’s own, it is impossible to say.

(b) by omission,

The two following variations strive to overcome the difficulty by omission;

(5) του θεου,

the reading of D by a second hand, of P, 37, 67^**, 71, 80, 116.

(6) του χριϲτου,

the reading of Euthalius in Tischendorf’s MS; but Tischendorf adds the caution ‘sed non satis apparet’.

(c) by amplification;

319All the remaining readings are attempts to remedy the test by amplification. They fall into two classes; those which insert πατρός so as to make Χριστοῦ dependent on it, (7), (8), and those which separate Θεοῦ from Χριστοῦ by the interposition of a καί, (9), (10), (11).

(i) by inserting πατρός to govern Χριστοῦ;

(7) του θεου πατροϲ χριϲτου,

the reading of א (by the first hand). Tischendorf also adds b^scr* and o^scr; but I read Scrivener’s collations differently (Cod. Aug. p. 506): or

του θεου πατροϲ του χριϲτου,

the reading of A C, 4.

One or other is the reading of the Thebaic Version (given by Griesbach) and of the Arabic (Leipz.).

A lengthened form of the same, Dei patris Christi Jesu, appears in the oldest MSS of the Vulgate, am. fuld. f: and the same is also the reading of the Memphitic (Boetticher).

(8) του θεου και πατροϲ του χριϲτου.

So א (the third hand), b^scr*, o^scr, and a corrector in the Harclean Syriac.

(ii) by separating Θεοῦ from Χριστοῦ by a conjunction.

(9) του θεου και χριϲτου,

the simplest form of the other class of emendations by amplification. It is found in Cyril Thes. p. 287.

(10) του θεου πατροϲ και του χριϲτου.

So 47, 73, the Peshito Syriac (ed. princeps and Schaaf). And so it stands in the commentators Chrysostom (but with various readings) and Theodore of Mopsuestia (Spicil. Solesm. I. p. 131 Dei patris et Christi, but in Rab. Maur. Op. VI. p. 521 Dei patris Christi Jesu).

Pelagius has Dei patris et Christi Jesu>, and so the Memphitic (Wilkins).

The common text the latest development.

(11) του θεου και πατροϲ και του χριϲτου.

This, which may be regarded as the latest development, is the reading of the received text. It is found in D (third hand) K L, and in the great majority of cursives; in the text of the Harclean Syriac, and in Theodoret and others.

Besides these readings some copies of the Vulgate exhibit other variations; e.g. demid. Dei patris et Domini nostri Christi Jesu, tolet. Dei Christi Jesu patris et Domini.

It is not necessary to add any remarks. The justification of τοῦ Θεοῦ Χριστοῦ as the original reading will have appeared in the variations to which it has given rise. The passage is altogether an instructive lesson in textual criticism.

ii. 16 ἐν βρώϲει καὶ ἐν πόϲει.

ii. 16 καί or ἤ?

In this reading B stands alone among the MSS; but it is supported by the Peshito Syriac and Memphitic Versions, by Tertullian (adv. Marc. v. 19), and by Origen (in Ioann. x. § 11, IV. p. 174). The testimony of Tertullian however is invalidated by the fact that he uses et as the connecting particle throughout the passage; and the Peshito Syriac also has ‘and’ for ἤ in the two last clauses, though not in the second.

320The rest have ἐν βρώσει ἢ ἐν πόσει. This may be explained as a very obvious, though not very intelligent, alteration of scribes to conform to the disjunctive particles in the context, ἢ ἐν μέρει ἑορτῆς ἢ νεομηνίας ἢ σαββάτων.

In this same context it is probable that B retains the right form νεομηνίας (supported here by F G and others) as against the Attic νουμηνίας. In the same way in iii. 25 κομίσεται and iv. 9 γνωρίσουσιν B (with some others) has resisted the tendency to Attic forms.

ii. 18 ἃ ἕορακεν.

ii. 18, the omission of the negative.

That this is the oldest reading which the existing texts exhibit, will appear from the following comparison of authorities.

(1) ἃ ἑώρακεν ἑώρακεν) A B א^* D^*, 17^*, 28, 67^**; the Old Latin authorities d, e, m; the Memphitic, Æthiopic, and Arabic (Leipz.) Versions; Tertull. c. Marc. v. 19 (‘ex visionibus angelicis’; and apparently Marcion himself also); Origen (c. Cels. v. 8, I. p. 583, though the negative is here inserted by De la Rue, and in Cant. ii, III. p. 63, in his quæ videt); Lucifer (De non conv. c. hær. p. 782 Migne); the Ambrosian Hilary (ad loc. explaining it ‘Inflantur motum pervidentes stellarum, quas angelos vocat’). So too the unknown author of Quæst. ex N. T. ii. 62 in August. Op. III. Appx. p. 156. Jerome (Epist. cxxi ad Alg. § 10, I. p. 880) mentions both readings (with and without the negative) as found in the Greek text: and Augustine (Epist. 149, II. p. 514), while giving the preference to quæ non vidit>, says that some MSS have quæ vidit>.

(2) ἃ μὴ ἑώρακεν (ἑόρακεν) א^c C D^bc K L P, and the great majority of cursives;

(3) ἃ οὐκ ἑώρακεν F G.

The negative is also read in g; in the Vulgate, the Gothic, both the Syriac, and the Armenian Versions; in the translator of Origen In Rom. ix. § 42 (IV. p. 665), in Ambrose In Psalm. cxviii Exp. xx (I. p. 1222), and in the commentators Pelagius, Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia (Spic. Solesm. I. p. 132 ‘quæ nec sciunt’), Theodoret, and others.

From a review of these authorities we infer that the insertion of the negative was a later correction, and that ἃ ἕωρακεν (or ἕορακεν) represents the prior reading. In my note I have expressed my suspicion that ἃ ἕωρακεν (or ἕορακεν) is itself corrupt, and that the original reading is lost.

The form ἕορακεν.

The unusual form ἕορακεν is found in א B^* C D P, and is therefore to be preferred to ἕωρακεν.

ii. 23 [καὶ] ἀφειδίᾳ ϲώματοϲ.

ii. 23. Is καί to be omitted?

Here καί is found in all the Greek copies except B, but is omitted in these Latin authorities, m, the translator of Origen (In Rom. ix. § 42, IV. p. 665), Hilary of Poitiers (Tract. in xiv Ps. § 7, p. 73), the Ambrosian Hilary, Ambrose (de Noe 25, p. 267), and Paulinus (Epist. 50, p. 292 sq.). We have more than once found B and Hilary alone in supporting the correct reading (i. 22, ii. 2); and this fact gives weight to their joint authority here. The omission also seems to explain the impossible reading of d, e, which 321have in religione et humilitate sensus et vexationem corporis, where for et vexationem, we should probably read ad vexationem, as in the Ambrosian Hilary. There was every temptation for a scribe to insert the καί so as to make ἀφειδίᾳ range with the other datives: while on the other hand a finer appreciation of the bearing of the passage suggests that St Paul would have dissociated it, so as to give it a special prominence.

A similar instance occurs in iii. 12 ὡς ἐκλεκτοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἅγιοι καὶ ἠγαπημένοι, where B omits the καί with 17 and the Thebaic Version^[537]. In 219 καὶ ἅγιοι is read for ἅγιοι καί. The great gain in force leads to the suspicion that this omission may be correct, notwithstanding the enormous preponderance of authority on the other side.

iv. 8. γνῶτε τὰ περὶ ἡμῶν.

iv. 8 γνῶτε τὰ περὶ ἡμῶν.

Of the various readings of this passage I have already spoken (p. 29 sq., note 1, p. 301).

The authorities are as follows:

(1) γνῶτε τὰ περὶ ἡμῶν A B D^* F G P, 10, 17, 33, 35, 37, 44, 47, 71, 111, 116, 137; d, e, g; the Armenian and Æthiopic Versions; Theodore of Mopsuestia^[537], Theodoret^[538], Jerome (on Ephes. vi. 21 sq., VII. p. 682), and Euthalius (Tischendorf’s MS). This is also the reading of א^*, except that it has ὑμῶν for ἡμῶν.

(2) γνῷ τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν א^c C D^bc K L and the majority of cursives; the Memphitic, Gothic, Vulgate, and both Syriac Versions; the Ambrosian Hilary, Jerome (on Philem. I, VII. p. 748), Chrysostom (expressly), and others.

The various readings accounted for.

The internal evidence is considered in the note on the passage, and found to accord with the vast preponderance of external authority in favour of γνῶτε τὰ περὶ ἡμῶν. The reading of א by the first hand exhibits a transitional stage. It would appear as though the transcriber intended it to be read γνῷ τε τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν. At all events this is the reading of III and of Io. Damasc. Op. II. p. 214. The variation γνῷ τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν is thus easily explained. (1) ἡμῶν would be accidentally substituted for ὑμῶν; (2) γνῶτε would then be read γνῷ τε; (3) the awkward and superfluous τε would be omitted. In illustration of the tendency to conform the persons of the two verbs γνῷ, παρακαλέσῃ, (see p. 301) it may be mentioned that 17 reads γνῶτε, παρακαλέσητε, both here and in Ephes. vi. 22.

322iv. 15. κατ’ οἶκον αὐτῶν.

iv. 15 αὐτῶν.

The readings here are:

(1) αὐτῶν א A C P, 5, 9, 17, 23, 34, 39, 47, 73; together with the Memphitic Version, the Arabic (Leipz.), and Euthalius (Tischendorf’s MS). The Memphitic Version is commonly but wrongly quoted in favour of αὐτοῦ, owing to a mistranslation of Wilkins. But both Wilkins and Boetticher give without any various reading ΠΟΥΗΙ, i.e. οἶκον αὐτῶν. This seems also to be the reading of Theodore of Mopsuestia (Spic. Solesm. I. p. 133) quæ in domo eorum est ecclesia; though in Rab. Maur. Op. VI. p. 540 his text runs quæ in domo ejus est ecclesiam, and he is made to say Nympham cum omnibus suis qui in domo ejus sunt.

(2) αὐτῆς B 67^**.

(3) αὐτοῦ D F G K L and the great majority of cursives; and so the Gothic Version, Chrysostom, and Theodoret (the latter distinctly).

Nymphas or Nympha?]

The singular, whether αὐτοῦ or αὐτῆς, is the reading of the old Latin and Vulgate, which have ejus, and of the Armenian. The pronoun is also singular in the Peshito and Harclean Syriac. In this language the same consonants express masculine and feminine alike, the difference lying in the pointing and vocalisation. And here the copies are inconsistent with themselves. |The Syriac versions.|In the Peshito (both the editio princeps and Schaaf) the proper name is vocalised as a feminine Numphē (= Νύμφη), and yet ܒܒܝܬܗ is treated as having a masculine affix κατ’ οἶκον αὐτοῦ. In the text of the Harclean ܕܝܠܗܿ is pointed thus, as a feminine αὐτῆς; while the margin gives the alternative reading ܕܝܠܗ (without the point) = αὐτοῦ. The name itself is written Nympha, which according to the transliteration of this version might stand either for a masculine (as Barnaba, Luka, in the context, for Βαρναβας, Λουκᾶς) or for a feminine (since Demas, Epaphras, are written with an s)^[539]. |The Latin authorities.|The Latin ejus leaving the gender undetermined, the Latin commentators were free to take either Nymphas or Nympha; and, as Nympha was common Latin form of Νύμφη, they would naturally adopt the female name. So the commentator Hilary distinctly.

It should be added that the word is accentuated as a masculine νυμφᾶν in D^c L P, and as a feminine νύμφαν in B^c and Euthalius (Tischendorf’s MS.).

323

On the meaning of πλήρωμα.

The meaning of the verb πληροῦν.

The verb πληροῦν has two senses. It signifies either (1) ‘To fill’, e.g. Acts ii. 2 ἐπλήρωσεν ὅλον τὸν οἶκον; or (2) ‘To fulfil, complete, perfect, accomplish’, e.g. Matt. xxvi. 56 ἵνα πληρωθῶσιν αἱ γραφαί, Rom. xiii. 8 νόμον πεπλήρωκεν, Acts xii. 25 πληρώσαντες τὴν διακονίαν. The latter sense indeed is derived from the former, but practically it has become separate from it. The word occurs altogether about a hundred times in the New Testament, and for every one instance of the former sense there are at least four of the latter.

False issue raised respecting πλήρωμα

|resulting in theological confusion|

In the investigations which have hitherto been made into the signification of the derived substantive πλήρωμα, as it occurs in the New Testament, an almost exclusive prominence has been given to the former meaning of the verb; and much confusion has arisen in consequence. The question has been discussed whether πλήρωμα has an active or a passive sense, whether it describes the filling substance or the filled receptacle: and not unfrequently critics have arrived at the result that different grammatical senses must be attached to it in different passages, even within the limits of the same epistle. Thus it has been maintained that the word has a passive sense ‘id quod impletur’ in Ephes. i. 23 τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἥτις ἐστὶν τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ, τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν πληρουμένου, and an active sense ‘id quod implet’ in Ephes. iii. 19 ἵνα πληρωθῆτε εἰς πᾶν τὸ πληρώμα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Indeed so long as we see in πληροῦν only the sense ‘to fill’, and refuse to contemplate the sense ‘to complete’, it seems impossible to escape from the difficulties which meet us at every turn, otherwise than by assigning to its derivative πλήρωμα both an active and a passive sense; but the greatest violence is thus done to the connexion of theological ideas.

and disregard of grammar.

Moreover the disregard of lexical rules is not less violent^[540]. Substantives in -μα, formed from the perfect passive, appear always to have a passive sense. They may denote an abstract notion or a concrete thing; they may signify the action itself regarded as complete, or the product of|Meaning of substantives in -μα.| the action; but in any case they give the result of the agency involved in the corresponding verb. Such for example are ἄγγελμα ‘a message’, ἅμμα ‘a knot’, ἀργύρωμα ‘a silver-made vessel’, βούλευμα ‘a plan’, δικαίωμα ‘a righteous deed’ or ‘an ordinance’, ζήτημα ‘an investigation’, κήρυγμα ‘a proclamation’, κώλυμα ‘a hindrance’, ὁμοίωμα ‘a likeness’, ὅραμα ‘a vision’, 324στρῶμα ‘a carpet’, σφαίρωμα ‘a round thing’, etc. In many cases the same word will have two meanings, both however passive; it will denote both the completed action and the result or object of the action: e.g. ἅρπαγμα the ‘robbery’ or the ‘booty’, ἀντάλλαγμα the ‘exchange’ or the ‘thing given or taken in exchange’, θήρευμα the ‘hunt’ or the ‘prey’, πάτημα the ‘tread’ or the ‘carpet’, and the like. But in all cases the word is strictly passive; it describes that which might have stood after the active verb, either as the direct object or as the cognate notion. |Apparent exceptions.|The apparent exceptions are only apparent. Sometimes this deceptive appearance is in the word itself. Thus κάλυμμα ‘a veil’ seems to denote ‘that which covers’, but it is really derived from another sense and construction of καλύπτειν, not ‘to hide’, but ‘to wrap round’ (e.g. Hom. Il. v. 315 πρόσθε δέ οἱ πέπλοιο φαεινοῦ πτύγμ’ ἐκάλυψεν, xxi. 321 τόσσην οἱ ἄσιν καθύπερθε καλύψω), and therefore is strictly passive. Sometimes again we may be led astray by the apparent connexion with the following genitive. Thus in Plut. Mor. 78 E δήλωμα τοῦ προκόπτειν the word does not mean, as might appear at first sight, ‘a thing showing’, but ‘a thing shown’, ‘a demonstration given’; nor in 2 Thess. i. 5 ἐνδειγμα τῆς δικαίας κρίσεως must we explain ἕνδειγμα ‘a thing proving’, but ‘a thing proved’, ‘a proof’. And the same is probably the case also with such expressions as συμποσίων ἐρέθισμα (Critias in Athen. xiii. p. 600 D), τόξου ῥῦμα (Æsch. Pers. 147), and the like; where the substantives in -μα are no more deprived of their passive sense by the connexion, than they are in ὑπόδημα ποδῶν or στρῶμα κλίνης; though in such instances the license of poetical construction may often lead to a false inference. Analogous to this last class of cases is Eur. Troad. 824 Ζηνὸς ἔχεις κυλίκων πλήρωμα καλλίσταν λατρείαν, not ‘the filling’, but ‘the fulness of the cups, the brimming cups, of Zeus.’

πλήρωμα connected with the second sense of πληροῦν.]

Now if we confine ourselves to the second of the two senses above ascribed to πληροῦν, it seems possible to explain πλήρωμα in the same way, at all events in all the theological passages of St Paul and St John, without doing any violence to the grammatical form. As πληροῦν is ‘to complete’, so πλήρωμα is ‘that which is completed’, i.e. the complement^[541], the full tale, the entire number or quantity, the plenitude, the perfection.

Its uses in Classical writers.

This indeed is the primary sense to which its commonest usages in classical Greek can be most conveniently referred. Thus it signifies (1) |(1) ‘A ship’s crew.’| ‘A ship’s crew’: e.g. Xen. Hell. i. 6. 16 διὰ τὸ ἐκ πολλῶν πληρωμάτων ἐς ὀλίγας (ναῦς) ἐκλελέχθαι τοὺς ἀρίστους ἐρέτας. In this sense, which is very frequent, it is generally explained as having an active force, ‘that which fills the ships’; and this very obvious explanation is recommended by the fact that πληροῦν ναῦν is a recognized expression for ‘manning a ship’, e.g. 325Xen. Hell. i. 6. 24. But πλήρωμα is used not only of the crew which mans a ship, but also of the ship which is manned with a crew; e.g. Polyb. i. 49. 4, 5 τὴν παρουσίαν τῶν πληρωμάτων ... τὰ προσφάτως παραγεγονότα πληρώματα, Lucian Ver. Hist. ii. 37, 38, ἀπὸ δύο πληρωμάτων ἐμάχοντο ... πέντε γὰρ εἶχον πληρώματα; and it is difficult to see how the word could be transferred from the crew to the ship as a whole, if the common explanation were correct. Fritzsche (Rom. II. p. 469 sq.), to whom I am chiefly indebted for the passages quoted in this paragraph, has boldly given the word two directly opposite senses in the two cases, explaining it in the one ‘ea quibus naves complentur, h. e. vel socii navales vel milites classiarii vel utrique’, and in the other ‘id quod completur, v. c. navigium’; but this severance of meaning can hardly be maintained. On the other hand, if we suppose that the crew is so called as ‘the complement,’ (i.e. ‘not that which fills the ship,’ but ‘that which is itself full or complete in respect of the ship’), we preserve the passive sense of the word, while at the same time the transference to the fully equipped and manned vessel itself becomes natural. In this sense ‘a complement’ we have the word used again of an army, |(2) ‘Population.’|Aristid. Or. I. p. 381 μήτε αὐτάρκεις εσἔσθαι πλήρωμα ἑνὸς οἰκέιου στρατεύματος παρασχέσθαι. (2) It sometimes signifies ‘the population of a city’, Arist. Pol. iii. 13 (p. 1284) μὴ μέντοι δυνατοὶ πλήρωμα παρασχέσθαι πόλεως (comp. iv. 4, p. 1291). Clearly the same idea of completeness underlies this meaning of the word, so that here again it signifies ‘the complement’: comp. Dion. Hal. A. R. vi. 51 τοῦ δ’ ὀλίγου καὶ οὐκ ἀξιομάχου πληρώματος τὸ πλεῖόν ἐστι δημοτικόν κ.τ.λ., Eur. Ion 663 τῶν φίλων πλήρωμ’ ἀθροίσας ‘the whole body of his friends’. |(3) ‘Total amount.’|(3) ‘The entire sum’, Arist. Vesp. 660 τούτων πλήρωμα τάλαντ’ ἐγγὺς δισχίλια γίγνεται ἡμῖν, ‘From these sources a total of nearly two thousand talents accrues to us’. |(4) ‘Entire term.’|(4) ‘The full term’, Herod. iii. 22 ὀγδώκοντα δ’ ἔτεα ζόης πλήρωμα ἀνδρὶ μακρότατον προκέεσθαι. |(5) ‘Fulfilment.’|(5) ‘The perfect attainment’, ‘the full accomplishment’, e.g. Philo de Abr. 46 (II. p. 39) πλήρωμα χρηστῶν ἐλπίδων. In short the fundamental meaning of the word generally, though perhaps not universally, is neither ‘the filling material’, nor ‘the vessel filled’; but ‘that which is complete in itself’, or in other words ‘plenitude, fulness, totality, abundance’.

Use of πλήρωμα in the Gospels. Matt. ix. 16.

In the Gospels the uses of the word present some difficulty. (1) In Matt. ix. 16 αἴρει γὰρ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἱματίου καὶ χεῖρον σχίσμα γίνεται, it refers to the ἐπίβλημα ῥάκους ἀγνάφου which has gone before; but πλήρωμα need not therefore be equivalent to ἐπίβλημα so as to mean the patch itself, as is often assumed. The following pronoun αὐτοῦ is most naturally referred to ἐπίβλημα; and if so πλήρωμα describes ‘the completeness’, which results from the patch. The statement is thus thrown into the form of a direct paradox, the very completeness making the garment more imperfect than before. |Mark ii. 21.|In the parallel passage Mark ii. 21 the variations are numerous, but the right reading seems certainly to be αἴρει τὸ πλήρωμα ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ, τὸ καινὸν τοῦ παλαιοῦ κ.τ.λ. The received text omits the preposition before αὐτοῦ, but a glance at the authorities is convincing in favour of its insertion. In this case the construction will be αἴρει τὸ πλήρωμα (nom.) ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ (i.e. τοῦ ἱματίου, which has been mentioned immediately before), τὸ καινὸν (πλήρωμἀ τοῦ παλαιοῦ (ἱματίοὐ; ‘The completeness takes away from the garment, the new completeness 326of the old garment’, where the paradox is put still more emphatically. |Mark vi. 43.| (2) In Mark vi. 43 the right reading is καὶ ἦραν κλασμάτων δώδεκα κοφίνους πληρώματα, i.e. ‘full’ or ‘complete measures’, where the apposition to κοφίνους obviates the temptation to explain πληρώματα as ‘ea quæ implent’. |Mark viii. 20.|On the other hand in Mark viii. 20 πόσων σπυρίδων πληρώματα κλασμάτων ἤρατε; this would be the prima facie explanation; comp. Eccles. iv. 6 ἀγαθόν ἐστι πλήρωμα δρακὸς ἀναπαύσεως ὑπὲρ πληρώματα δύο δρακῶν μόχθου. But it is objectionable to give an active sense to πλήρωμα under any circumstances; and if in such passages the patch itself is meant, it must still be so called, not because it fills the hole, but because it is itself fulness or full measure as regards the defect which needs supplying.

Usage in St. Paul’s Epistles.

From the Gospels we pass to the Epistles of St Paul, whose usage bears more directly on our subject. And here the evidence seems all to tend in the same direction. |1 Cor. x. 26.|(1) In 1 Cor. x. 26 τοῦ Κυρίου γὰρ ἡ γῆ καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς it occurs in a quotation from Ps. xxiv (xxiii). 1. The expressions τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς γῆς, τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς θαλάσσης, occur several times in the LXX (e.g. Ps. xcvi (xcv). 11, Jer. viii. 16), where τὸ πλήρωμα is a translation of מלא, a word denoting primarily ‘fulness’, but having in its secondary uses a considerable latitude of meaning ranging between ‘contents’ and ‘abundance’. This last sense seems to predominate in its Greek rendering πλήρωμα, and indeed the other is excluded altogether in some passages, e.g. Cant. v. 13 ἐπὶ πληρώματα ὑδάτων. |Rom. xiii. 10.|(2) In Rom. xiii. 10 πλήρωμα νόμου ἡ ἀγάπη, the best comment on the meaning of the word is the context, ver. 8 ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἕτερον νόμον πεπλήρωκεν, so that πλήρωμα here means the ‘completeness’ and so ‘fulfilment, accomplishment’: see the note on Gal. v. 14. |Rom. xv. 29.|(3) In Rom. xv. 29 ἐν πληρώματι εὐλογίας Χριστοῦ ἐλεύσομαι, it plainly has the sense of ‘fulness, abundance’. |Gal. iv. 4.|(4) In Gal. iv. 4 ὅτε δὲ ἦλθεν τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρονοῦ and |Eph. i. 10.|Ephes. i. 10 εἰς οἰκονομίαν τοῦ πληρώματος τῶν καιρῶν, its force is illustrated by such passages as Mark i. 15 πεπλήρωται ὁ καιρὸς καὶ ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία κ.τ.λ., Luke xxi. 24 ἄχρι οὗ πληρωθῶσιν καιροὶ ἐθνῶν (comp. Acts ii. 1, vii. 23, 30, ix. 23, xxiv. 27), so that the expressions will mean ‘the full measure of the time, the full tale of the seasons’. |Rom. xi. 25.|(5) In Rom. xi. 25 πώρωσις ἀπὸ μέρους τῷ Ἰσραὴλ γέγονεν ἄχρις ὁῦ τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν εἰσέλθῃ, it seems to mean ‘the full number’, ‘the whole body’, (whether the whole absolutely, or the whole relatively to God’s purpose), of whom only a part had hitherto been gathered into the Church. |Rom. xi. 12.|(6) In an earlier passage in this chapter the same expression occurs of the Jews, xi. 12 εἰ δὲ τὸ παράπτωμα αὐτῶν πλοῦτος κόσμου καὶ τὸ ἥττημα αὐτῶν πλοῦτος ἐθνῶν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῶν. Here the antithesis between ἥττημα and πλήρωμα, ‘failure’ and ‘fulness’, is not sufficiently direct to fix the sense of πλήρωμα; and (in the absence of anything to guide us in the context) we may fairly assume that it is used in the same sense of the Jews here, as of the Gentiles in ver. 25.

General result.

Thus, whatever hesitation may be felt about the exact force of the word as it occurs in the Gospels, yet substantially one meaning runs through all the passages hitherto quoted from St Paul. In these πλήρωμα has its proper passive force, as a derivative from πληροῦν ‘to make complete’. It is ‘the full complement, the entire measure, the plenitude, the 327fulness’. There is therefore a presumption in favour of this meaning in other passages where it occurs in this Apostle’s writings.

Theological passages in

We now come to those theological passages in the Epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians and in the Gospel of St John, for the sake of which this investigation has been undertaken. They are as follows;

Colossians and Ephesians.

Col. i. 19 ἐν αὐτῷ εὐδόκησεν πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα κατοικῆσαι.

Col. ii. 9 ἐν αὐτῷ κατοικεῖ πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς θεότητος σωματικῶς, καὶ ἐστὲ ἐν αὐτῷ πεπληρωμένοι.

Ephes. i. 23 αὐτὸν ἔδωκεν κεφαλὴν ὑπὲρ πάντα τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, ἥτις ἐστὶν τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ, τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν πληρουμένου.

Ephes. iii. 19 ἵνα πληρωθῆτε εἰς πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ Θεοῦ.

Ephes. iv. 13 εἰς ἄνδρα τέλειον, εἰς μέτρον ἡλικίας τοῦ πληρώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ.

St. John.

John i. 14, 16 καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν (καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός) πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας ... ἐκ τοῦ πληρώματος αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἐλάβομεν καὶ χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος.

Ignatius.]

To these should be added two passages from the Ignatian Epistles^[542], which as belonging to the confines of the Apostolic age afford valuable illustration of the Apostolic language.

Ephes. inscr. Ἰγνάτιος, ὁ καὶ Θεοφόρος, τῇ εὐλογημένῃ ἐν μεγέθει Θεοῦ πατρὸς πληρώματι^[543] ... τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τῇ ἀξιομακαρίστῳ τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν Ἐφέσῳ κ.τ.λ.

Trall. inscr. Ἰγνάτιος, ὁ καὶ Θεοφόρος ... ἐκκλησίᾳ ἁγίᾳ τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν Τράλλεσιν ... ἣν καὶ )ασπάζομαι ἐν τῷ πληρώματι, ἐν ἀποστολικῷ χαρακτῆρι.

The term has a recognised value

It will be evident, I think, from the passages in St Paul, that the word πλήρωμα ‘fulness, plenitude’, must have had a more or less definite theological value when he wrote. This inference, which is suggested by the frequency of the word, seems almost inevitable when we consider the form of the expression in the first passage quoted, Col. i. 19. The absolute use of the word, πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα ‘all the fulness’, would otherwise be unintelligible, for it does not explain itself. In my notes I have taken ὁ Θεός to be the nominative to εὐδόκησεν, but if the subject of the verb were πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα, as some suppose, the inference would be still more necessary. The word however, regarded as a theological term, does not appear to have been 328adopted, like so many other expressions in the Apostolic writers^[544], from the nomenclature of Alexandrian Judaism. |derived from Palestine and not Alexandria.|At least no instance of its occurrence in this sense is produced from Philo. We may therefore conjecture that it had a Palestinian origin, and that the Essene Judaizers of Colossæ, whom St Paul is confronting, derived it from this source. In this case it would represent the Hebrew מלא, of which it is a translation in the LXX, and the Aramaic ܡܘܠܙܐ or some other derivative of the same root, such being its common rendering in the Peshito.

It denotes the totality of the Divine powers, etc. in the Colossian letter.

The sense in which St Paul employs this term was doubtless the sense which he found already attached to it. He means, as he explicitly states in the second Christological passage of the Colossian Epistle (ii. 9), the pleroma, the plenitude of ‘the Godhead’ or ‘of Deity’. In the first passage (i. 19), though the word stands without the addition τῆς θεότητος, the signification required by the context is the same. The true doctrine of the one Christ, who is the absolute mediator in the creation and government of the world, is opposed to the false doctrine of a plurality of mediators, ‘thrones, dominions, principalities, powers’. An absolute and unique position is claimed for Him, because in Him resides ‘all the pleroma’, i.e. the full complement, the aggregate of the Divine attributes, virtues, energies. This is another way of expressing the fact that He is the Logos, for the Logos is the synthesis of all the various δυνάμεις, in and by which God manifests Himself whether in the kingdom of nature or in the kingdom of grace.

Analogy to its usage elsewhere: e.g.

This application is in entire harmony with the fundamental meaning of the word. The term has been transferred to the region of theology, but in itself it conveys exactly the same idea as before. It implies that all the several elements which are required to realise the conception specified are present, and that each appears in its full proportions. |in Philo of the family|Thus Philo, describing the ideal state of prosperity which will result from absolute obedience to God’s law, mentions among other blessings the perfect development of the family: ‘Men shall be fathers and fathers too of goodly sons, and women shall be mothers of goodly children, so that each household shall be the pleroma of a numerous kindred, where no part or name is wanting of all those which are used to designate relations, whether in the ascending line, as parents, uncles, grandfathers, or again in the descending line in like manner, as brothers, nephews, sons’ sons, daughters’ sons, cousins, cousins’ sons, kinsmen of all degrees^[545].’ |and in Aristotle, of the state.|So again Aristotle, criticizing the Republic of Plato, writes; ‘Socrates says that a city (or state) is composed of four classes, as its indispensable elements (τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων): by these he means the weaver, the husbandman, the shoemaker, and the builder; and again, because these are not sufficient by themselves, he adds the smith and persons to look after the necessary cattle, and besides them the merchant and the retail dealer: these together make up the pleroma of a city in its simplest form (ταῦτα πάντα γίνεται πλήρωμα τῆς πρώτης πόλεως); 329thus he assumes that a city is formed to supply the bare necessities of life (τῶν ἀναγκων χάριν) etc.’^[546]. From these passages it will be seen that the adequacy implied by the word, as so used, consists not less in the variety of the elements than in the fulness of the entire quantity or number.

Transition from Colossians to Ephesians.

So far the explanation seems clear. But when we turn from the Colossian letter to the Ephesian, it is necessary to bear in mind the different aims of the two epistles. While in the former the Apostle’s main object is to assert the supremacy of the Person of Christ, in the latter his principal theme is the life and energy of the Church, as dependent on Christ^[547]. So the pleroma residing in Christ is viewed from a different aspect, no longer in relation to God, so much as in relation to the Church. |Corresponding application of πληρωμα to the Church.|It is that plenitude of Divine graces and virtues which is communicated through Christ to the Church as His body. The Church, as ideally regarded, the bride ‘without spot or wrinkle or any such thing’, becomes in a manner identified with Him^[548]. All the Divine graces which reside in Him are imparted to her; His ‘fulness’ is communicated to her: and thus she may be said to be His pleroma (i. 23). This is the ideal Church. The actual militant Church must be ever advancing, ever struggling towards the attainment of this ideal. Hence the Apostle describes the end of all offices and administrations in the Church to be that the collective body may attain its full and mature growth, or (in other words) may grow up to the complete stature of Christ’s fulness^[549]. But Christ’s fulness is God’s fulness. Hence in another passage he prays that the brethren may by the indwelling of Christ be fulfilled till they attain to the pleroma of God (iii. 19). It is another way of expressing the continuous aspiration and effort after holiness which is enjoined in our Lord’s precept, ‘Ye shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect’^[550].

Gospel of St. John.

The Gospel of St John, written in the first instance for the same Churches to which the Epistle to the Ephesians was sent, has numerous and striking points of resemblance with St Paul’s letter. This is the case here. As St Paul tells the Ephesians that the ideal Church is the pleroma of Christ and that the militant Church must strive to become the pleroma of Christ, so St John (i. 14 sq.) after describing our Lord as μονογενής, i.e. the unique and absolute representative of the Father, and as such ‘full (πλήρης) of grace and of truth’, says that they, the disciples, had ‘received out of His pleroma’ ever fresh accessions of grace. Each individual 330believer in his degree receives a fraction of that pleroma which is communicated whole to the ideal Church.

Ignatian letters.

The use of the word is not very different in the Ignatian letters. St Ignatius greets this same Ephesian Church, to which St Paul and St John successively here addressed the language already quoted, as ‘blessed in greatness by the pleroma of God the Father,’ i.e. by graces imparted from the pleroma. To the Trallians again he sends a greeting ‘in the pleroma’, where the word denotes the sphere of Divine gifts and operations, so that ἐν τῷ πληρώματι is almost equivalent to ἐν τῷ Κυρίῳ or ἐν τῷ πνεύματι.

Gnostic sects.

When we turn from Catholic Christianity to the Gnostic sects we find this term used, though (with one important exception) not in great frequency. Probably however, if the writings of the earlier Gnostics had been preserved, we should have found that it occupied a more important place than at present appears. One class of early Gnostics separated the spiritual being Christ from the man Jesus; they supposed that the Christ entered Jesus at the time of His baptism and left him at the moment of His crucifixion. Thus the Christ was neither born as a man nor suffered as a man. In this way they obviated the difficulty, insuperable to the Gnostic mind, of conceiving the connexion between the highest spiritual agency and gross corporeal matter which was involved in the Catholic doctrine of the Incarnation and Passion, and which Gnostics of another type more effectually set aside by the theory of docetism, i.e. by assuming that the human body of our Lord was only a phantom body and not real flesh and blood. Irenæus represents the former class as teaching that ‘Jesus was the receptacle of the Christ’, and that the Christ ‘descended upon him from heaven in the form of a dove and after He had declared (to mankind) the nameless Father, entered (again) into the pleroma imperceptibly and invisibly’^[551]. |The Cerinthians.|Here no names are given. But in another passage he ascribes precisely the same doctrine, without however naming the pleroma, to Cerinthus^[552]. And in a third passage, which links together the other two, this same father, after mentioning this heresiarch, again alludes to the doctrine which maintained that the Christ, having descended on Jesus at his baptism, ‘flew back again into His own pleroma’^[553]. In this last passage indeed the opinions of Cerinthus are mentioned 331in connexion with those of other Gnostics, more especially the Valentinians, so that we cannot with any certainty attribute this expression to Cerinthus himself. But in the first passage the unnamed heretics who maintained this return of the Christ ‘into the pleroma’ are expressly distinguished from the Valentinians; and presumably therefore the allusion is to the Cerinthians, to whom the doctrine, though not the expression, is ascribed in the second passage. |Connexion of this use with St Paul and with the Colossian heretics.|Thus there seems to be sufficient reason for attributing the use of the term to Cerinthus^[554]. This indeed is probable on other grounds. The term pleroma, we may presume, was common to St Paul and the Colossian heretics whom he controverts. To both alike it conveyed the same idea, the totality of the divine powers or attributes or agencies or manifestations. But after this the divergence begins. They maintained that a single divine power, a fraction of the pleroma, resided in our Lord: the Apostle urges on the contrary, that the whole pleroma has its abode in Him^[555]. The doctrine of Cerinthus was a development of the Colossian heresy, as I have endeavoured to show above^[556]. He would therefore inherit the term pleroma from it. |The pleroma localized.|At the same time he seems to have given a poetical colouring to his doctrine, and so doing to have treated the pleroma as a locality, a higher spiritual region, from which this divine power, typified by the dove-like form, issued forth as on wings, and to which, taking flight again, it reascended before the Passion. If so, his language would prepare the way for the still more elaborate poetic imagery of the Valentinians, in which the pleroma, conceived as a locality, a region, an abode of the divine powers, is conspicuous.