ὑμῖν εἰμί, χαίρων καὶ βλέπων ὑμῶν τὴν τάξιν καὶ τὸ στερέωμα τῆς εἰς
Χριστὸν πίστεως ὑμῶν. ^6ὡς οὖν παρελάβετε τὸν Χριστόν, Ἰησοῦν τὸν
Κύριον, ἐν αὐτῷ περιπατεῖτε,
τὴν τάξιν] ‘_your orderly array_’, a military metaphor: comp. e.g. Xen.
_Anab._ i. 2. 18 ἰδοῦσα τὴν λαμπρότητα καὶ τὴν τάξιν τοῦ στρατεύματος
ἐθαύμασε, Plut. _Vit. Pyrrh._ 16 κατιδὼν τάξιν τε καὶ φυλακὰς καὶ κόσμον
αὐτῶν καὶ τὸ σχῆμα τῆς στρατοπεδείας ἐθαύμασε. The enforced
companionship of St Paul with the soldiers of the prætorian guard at
this time (Phil. i. 13) might have suggested this image. At all events
in the contemporary epistle (Ephes. vi. 14 sq.) we have an elaborate
metaphor from the armour of a soldier.
τὸ στερέωμα] ‘_solid front_, _close phalanx_’, a continuation of the
metaphor: comp. 1 Macc. ix. 14 εἶδεν Ἰούδας ὅτι Βακχίδης καὶ τὸ στερέωμα
τῆς παρεμβολῆς ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς. Somewhat similar are the expressions
στερεοῦν τὸν πόλεμον 1 Macc. x. 50, κατὰ τὴν στερέωσιν τῆς μάχης Ecclus.
xxviii. 10. For the connexion here compare 1 Pet. v. 9 ἀντίστητε στερεοὶ
τῇ πίστει, Acts xvi. 5 ἐστερεοῦντο τῇ πίστει.
6. ὡς οὖν παρελάβετε κ.τ.λ.] i.e. ‘Let your conviction and conduct be in
perfect accordance with the doctrines and precepts of the Gospel as it
was taught to you’. For this use of παρελάβετε ‘ye received from your
teachers, were instructed in’, comp. 1 Cor. xv. 1, 3, Gal. i. 9, Phil.
iv. 9, 1 Thess. ii. 13, iv. 1, 2 Thess. iii. 6. The word παραλαμβάνειν
implies either ‘to receive as transmitted’, or ‘to receive for
transmission’: see the note on Gal. i. 12. The ὡς of the protasis
suggests a οὕτως in the apodosis, which in this case is unexpressed but
must be understood. The meaning of ὡς παρελάβετε here is explained by
the καθὼς ἐμάθετε ἀπὸ Ἐπαφρᾶ in i. 7; see the note there, and comp.
below ver. 7 καθὼς ἐδιδάχθητε.
τὸν Χριστόν] ‘_the Christ_’, rather than ‘the Gospel’, because the
central point in the Colossian heresy was the subversion of the true
idea of the Christ.
Ἰησοῦν τὸν Κύριον] ‘even _Jesus the Lord_’, in whom the true conception
of the Christ is realised: comp. Ephes. iv. 20, 21, ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐχ οὕτως
ἐμάθετε _τὸν Χριστόν_, εἴγε αὐτὸν ἠκούσατε καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ἐδιδάχθητε,
_καθώς ἐστιν ἀλήθεια ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ_, where the same idea is more
directly expressed. The genuine doctrine of the Christ consists in (1)
the recognition of the historical person _Jesus_, and (2) the acceptance
of Him as _the Lord_. This doctrine was seriously endangered by the
mystic theosophy of the false teachers. The same order which we have
here occurs also in Ephes. iii. 11 ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν (the
correct reading).
7. ἐρριζωμένοι] Two points may be noticed here; (1) The expressive
change of tenses; ἐρριζωμένοι ‘firmly rooted’ _once for all_,
ἐποικοδομούμενοι, βεβαιούμενοι, ‘built up and strengthened’ _from hour
to hour_. (2) The rapid transition of metaphor, περιπατεῖτε,
ἐρῥιζωμένοι, ἐποικοδομούμενοι, the path, the tree, the building: comp.
Ephes. iii. 17 ἐρριζωμένοι καὶ τεθεμελιωμένοι. The metaphors of the
plant and the building occur together in 1 Cor. iii. 9 Θεοῦ γεώργιον,
Θεοῦ οἰκοδομή. The transition in this passage is made easier by the fact
that ῥιζοῦν (Plut. _Mor._ 321 D), ἐκριζοῦν (Jer. i. 10, 1 Macc. v. 51),
πρόρριζος (Jos. _B.J._ vii. 8. 7), etc., are not uncommonly used of
cities and buildings.
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