ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι· ^4 ἀκούσαντες τὴν
πίστιν ὑμῶν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην [ἣν ἔχετε] εἰς πάντας τοὺς
ἁγίους, ^5 διὰ τὴν
πάντοτε κ.τ.λ.] We here meet the same difficulty about the connexion of
the clauses, which confronts us in several of St Paul’s opening
thanksgivings. The words πάντοτε and περὶ ὑμῶν must clearly be taken
together, because the emphasis of περὶ ὑμῶν would be inexplicable, if it
stood at the beginning of a clause. But are they to be attached to the
preceding or to the following sentence? The connexion with the previous
words is favoured by St Paul’s usual conjunction of εὐχαριστεῖν πάντοτε
(see the note on Phil. i. 3), and by the parallel passage οὐ παύομαι
εὐχαριστῶν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν in Ephes. i. 16. Thus the words will mean ‘_We give
thanks for you always in our prayers_.’ For this absolute use of
προσευχόμενοι see Matt. vi. 7, Acts xvi. 25.
4. ἀκούσαντες] ‘_having heard_’ from Epaphras (ver. 8); for the Apostle
had no direct personal knowledge of the Colossian Church: see the
introduction, p. 27 sq.
ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ] to be connected with τὴν πίστιν ὑμῶν. The strict
classical language would require τὴν ἐν Χ. Ἰ., but the omission of the
article is common to the New Testament (e.g. ver. 8); see the note on 1
Thess. i. 1, and Winer § xx. p. 169 (ed. Moulton). The preposition ἐν
here and in the parallel passage, Ephes. i. 15, denotes the sphere in
which their faith moves, rather than the object to which it is directed
(comp. 1 Cor. iii. 5); for, if the object had been meant, the natural
preposition would have been ἐπὶ or εἰς (e.g. ii. 5). This is probably
the case also in the passages where at first sight it might seem
otherwise, e.g. 1 Tim. iii. 13, 2 Tim. iii. 15; for compare 2 Tim. i. 13
ἐν πίστει καὶ ἀγάπῃ τῇ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, where the meaning is
unambiguous. There is however authority in the LXX for the use of ἐν
with πίστις, πιστεύειν, to denote the object, in Jer. xii. 6, Ps.
lxxviii. 22, and perhaps in Mark i. 15, Rom. iii. 25, and (more
doubtfully still) in Joh. iii. 15.
ἣν ἔχετε] See the detached note on the various readings.
5. διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα] ‘_for the hope_,’ i.e. looking to the hope. The
following reasons seem decisive in favour of connecting διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα,
not with εὐχαριστοῦμεν, but with τὴν πίστιν κ.τ.λ., whether ἣν ἔχετε be
retained or not. (1) The great distance of εὐχαριστοῦμεν is against the
former connexion; (2) The following clause, ἣν προηκοῦσατε κ.τ.λ.,
suggests that the words διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα describe the motives of the
Colossians for well-doing, rather than the reasons of the Apostle for
thanksgiving: (3) The triad of Christian graces, which St Paul delights
to associate together, would otherwise be broken up. This last argument
seems conclusive; see especially the corresponding thanksgiving in 1
Thess. i. 3, μνημονεῦοντες ὑμῶν τοῦ ἔργου τῆς _πίστεως_ καὶ τοῦ
κόπου τῆς _ἀγάπης_ καὶ τῆς ὑπομονῆς τῆς _ἐλπίδος_ κ.τ.λ., with
the note there. The order is the same here, as there; and it is the
natural sequence. Faith rests on the past; love works in the present;
hope looks to the future. They may be regarded as the efficient,
material, and final causes respectively of the spiritual life. Compare
Polycarp _Phil._ 3 πίστιν ἥτις ἐστὶ μήτηρ πάντων ἡμῶν, ἐπακολουθούσης
τῆς ἐλπίδος, προαγούσης τῆς ἀγάπης.
The hope here is identified with the object of the hope: see the
passages quoted on Gal. v. 5. The sense of ἐλπίς, as of the
corresponding words in any language, oscillates between the subjective
feeling and the objective realisation; comp. Rom. viii. 24 τῇ γὰρ ἐλπίδι
ἐσώθημεν· ἐλπὶς δὲ βλεπομένη οὐκ ἔστιν ἐλπίς· ὃ γὰρ βλέπει τις κ.τ.λ.,
where it passes abruptly from the one to the other.
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