καρποφορούμενον καὶ αὐξανόμενον, καθὼς καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν, ἀφ’ ἧς ἡμέρας
ἠκούσατε καὶ ἐπέγνωτε τὴν χάριν τοῦ
ἐστὶν καρποφορούμενον] ‘_is constantly bearing fruit_.’ The fruit, which
the Gospel bears without fail in all soils and under every climate, is
its credential, its verification, as against the pretensions of spurious
counterfeits. The substantive verb should here be taken with the
participle, so as to express _continuity_ of present action; as in 2
Cor. ix. 12 οὐ μόνον ἐστὶν προσαναπληροῦσα κ.τ.λ., Phil. ii. 26 ἐπιποθῶν
ἦν. It is less common in St Paul than in some of the Canonical writers,
e.g. St Mark and St Luke; but probably only because he deals less in
narrative.
Of the middle καρποφορεῖσθαι no other instance has been found. The voice
is partially illustrated by κωδωνοφορεῖσθαι, σιδηροφορεῖσθαι,
τυμπανοφορεῖσθαι, though, as involving a different sense of -φορεῖσθαι
‘to wear,’ these words are not exact parallels. Here the use of the
middle is the more marked, inasmuch as the active occurs just below
(ver. 10) in the same connexion, καρποφοροῦντες καὶ αὐξανόμενοι. This
fact however points to the force of the word here. The middle is
_intensive_, the active _extensive_. The middle denotes the inherent
energy, the active the external diffusion. The Gospel is essentially a
reproductive organism, a plant whose ‘seed is in itself.’ For this
‘dynamic’ middle see Moulton’s note on Winer § xxxviii. p. 319.
καὶ αὐξανόμενον] The Gospel is not like those plants which exhaust
themselves in bearing fruit and wither away. The external growth keeps
pace with the reproductive energy. While καρποφορούμενον describes the
inner working, αὐξανόμενον gives the outward extension of the Gospel.
The words καὶ αὐξανόμενον are not found in the received text, but the
authority in their favour is overwhelming.
καθὼς καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν The comparison is thus doubled back, as it were, on
itself. This irregularity disappears in the received text, καὶ ἐστὶν
καρποφορούμενον καθὼς καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν, where the insertion of καὶ before
καρποφορούμενον straightens the construction. For a similar irregularity
see 1 Thess. iv. 1 παρακαλοῦμεν ἐν Κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ ἵνα, καθὼς παρελάβετε
παρ’ ἡμῶν τὸ πῶς δεῖ ὑμᾶς περιπατεῖν καὶ ἀπέσκειν θεῷ, καθὼς καὶ
περιπατεῖτε, ἵνα περισσεῦητε μᾶλλον, where again the received text
simplifies the construction, though in a different way, by omitting the
first ἵνα and the words καθὼς καὶ περιπατεῖτε. In both cases the
explanation of the irregularity is much the same; the clause
reciprocating the comparison (here καθὼς καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν, there καθὼς καὶ
περιπατεῖτε) is an afterthought springing out of the Apostle’s anxiety
not to withhold praise where praise can be given.
For the appearance of καὶ in both members of the comparison, καὶ ἐν
παντὶ τῷ κόσμῳ ... καθὼς καὶ, comp. Rom. i. 13 καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν καθὼς καὶ ἐν
τοῖς λοιποῖς ἕθνεσιν; and in the reversed order below, iii. 13 καθὼς καὶ
ὁ Κύριος ἐχαρίσατο ὑμῖν, ὅυτως καὶ ὑμεῖς (with the note): see also Winer
liii. p. 549 (ed. Moulton). The correlation of the clauses is thus
rendered closer, and the comparison emphasized.
ἠκούσατε καὶ ἐπέγνωτε] The accusative is governed by both verbs equally,
‘Ye were instructed in and fully apprehended the grace of God.’ For this
sense of ἀκούειν see below, ver. 23. For ἐπιγινώσκειν as denoting
‘advanced knowledge, thorough appreciation,’ see the note on ἐπίγνωσις,
ver. 9.
τὴν χάριν τοῦ Θεοῦ] St Paul’s synonyme for the Gospel. In Acts xx. 24 he
describes it as his mission to preach τὸ εὐαγγελίοντης χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ.
The true Gospel as taught by Epaphras was an offer of free grace, a
message from God; the false gospel, as superposed by the heretical
teachers, was a code of rigorous prohibitions, a system of human
devising. It was not χάρις but δόγματα (ii. 14); not τοῦ θεοῦ but τοῦ
κόσμου, τῶυ ἀνθρώπων (ii. 8, 20, 22). For God’s power and goodness it
substituted self-mortification and self-exaltation. The Gospel is called
ἡ χάρις τοῦ θεοῦ again in 2 Cor. vi. 1, viii. 9, with reference to the
same leading characteristic which the Apostle delights to dwell upon
(e.g. Rom. iii. 24, v. 15, Eph. ii. 5, 8), and which he here tacitly
contrasts with the doctrine of the later intruders. The false teachers
of Colossæ, like those of Galatia, would lead their hearers ἀθετεῖν τὴν
χάριν τοῦ Θεοῦ (Gal. ii. 21); to accept their doctrine was ἐκπίπτειν τῆς
χάριτος (Gal. v. 4).
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