οἰκονομίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν δοθεῖσάν μοι εἰς ὑμᾶς, πληρῶσαι τὸν λόγον τοῦ
Θεοῦ, ^{26} τὸ μυστήριον τὸ ἀποκεκρυμμένον
εἰς ὑμᾶς] ‘_to youward_,’ i.e. ‘for the benefit of you, the Gentiles’;
εἰς ὑμᾶς being connected with τὴν δοθεῖσάν μοι, as in Ephes. iii. 2 τὴν
οἰκονομίαν τῆς χάριτος τοῦ Θεοῦ τῆς δοθείσης μοι εἰς ὑμᾶς; comp. Rom.
xv. 16 διὰ τὴν χάριν τὴν δοθεῖσάν μοι ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς τὸ εἶναί με
λειτουργὸν Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ _εἰς τὰ ἔθνη_.
πληρῶσαι] ‘_to fulfil_,’ i.e. ‘to preach fully,’ ‘to give its complete
development to’; as Rom. xv. 19 ὥστε με ἀπὸ Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ κύκλῳ μέχρι
τοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ πεπληρωκέναι τὸ εὐαγγελίον τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Thus ‘the word of
God’ here is ‘the Gospel,’ as in most places (1 Cor. xiv. 36, 2 Cor. ii.
17, iv. 2, etc.), though not always (e.g. Rom. ix. 6), in St Paul, as
also in the Acts. The other interpretation, ‘to accomplish the promise
of God,’ though suggested by such passages as 1 Kings ii. 27 πληρωθῆναι
τὸ ῥῆμα Κυρίου, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21 πληρωθῆναι λόγον Κυρίου, etc., is
alien to the context here.
26. τὸ μυστήριον] This is not the only term borrowed from the ancient
mysteries, which St Paul employs to describe the teaching of the Gospel.
The word τέλειον just below, ver. 28, seems to be an extension of the
same metaphor. In Phil. iv. 12 again we have the verb μεμύημαι: and in
Ephes. i. 14 σφραγίζεσθαι is perhaps an image derived from the same
source. So too the Ephesians are addressed as Παύλου συμμύσται in Ign.
_Ephes._ 12. The Christian teacher is thus regarded as a ἱεροφάντης (see
Epict. iii. 21. 13 sq.) who initiates his disciples into the rites.
There is this difference however; that, whereas the heathen mysteries
were strictly confined to a narrow circle, the Christian mysteries are
freely communicated to all. There is therefore an intentional paradox in
the employment of the image by St Paul. See the notes on πάντα ἄνθρωπον
τέλειον below.
Thus the idea of _secresy_ or _reserve_ disappears when μυστήριον is
adopted into the Christian vocabulary by St Paul: and the word signifies
simply ‘a truth which was once hidden but now is revealed,’ ‘a truth
which without special revelation would have been unknown.’ Of the nature
of the truth itself the word says nothing. It may be transcendental,
incomprehensible, mystical, mysterious, in the modern sense of the term
(1 Cor. xv. 51, Eph. v. 32): but this idea is quite accidental, and must
be gathered from the special circumstances of the case, for it cannot be
inferred from the word itself. Hence μυστήριον is almost universally
found in connexion with words denoting revelation or publication; e.g.
ἀποκαλύπτειν, ἀποκάλυψις, Rom. xvi. 25, Ephes. iii. 3, 5, 2 Thess. ii.
7; γνωρίζειν Rom. xvi. 26, Ephes. i. 9, iii. 3, 10, vi. 19; φανεροῦν
Col. iv. 3, Rom. xvi. 26, 1 Tim. iii. 16; λαλεῖν iv. 3, 1 Cor. ii. 7,
xiv. 2; λέγειν, 1 Cor. xv. 51.
But the one special ‘mystery’ which absorbs St Paul’s thoughts in the
Epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians is the free admission of the
Gentiles on equal terms to the privileges of the covenant. For this he
is a prisoner; this he is bound to proclaim fearlessly (iv. 3, Ephes.
vi. 19); this, though hidden from all time, was communicated to him by a
special revelation (Ephes. iii. 3 sq.); in this had God most signally
displayed the lavish wealth of His goodness (ver. 27, ii. 2 sq., Ephes.
i. 6 sq., iii. 8 sq.). In one passage only throughout these two epistles
is μυστήριον applied to anything else, Ephes. v. 32. The same idea of
the μυστήριον appears very prominently also in the thanksgiving (added
apparently later than the rest of the letter) at the end of the Epistle
to the Romans, xvi. 25 sq. μυστηρίου ... εἰς ὑπακοὴν πίστεως εἰς πάντα
τὰ ἔθνη γνωρισθέντος.
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