τῷ βαπτισμῷ, ἐν ᾧ καὶ συνηγέρθητε διὰ τῆς πίστεως τῆς ἐνεργείας τοῦ Θεοῦ
τοῦ ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν ἐκ [τῶν]
12. τῷ βαπτίσματι.
ἐν ᾧ] i.e. βαπτισμῷ. Others would understand Χριστῷ for the sake of
the parallelism with ver. 11 ἐν hῷ καὶ ... εν ᾧ καί. But this
parallelism is not suggested by the sense: while on the other hand
there is obviously a very close connexion between συνταφέντες and
συνηγέρθητε as the two complementary aspects of baptism; comp. Rom.
vi. 4 sq. _συνετάφημεν_ αὐτῷ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἵνα ὥσπερ
_ἐγέρθη_ Χριστὸς ... ὅυτως καὶ ἡμεῖς ... εἰ γὰρ σύμφυτοι
γεγόναμεν τῷ ὁμοίωματι _τοῦ θανάτου_ αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ _τῆς
ἀναστάσεως_ ἐσόμεθα, 2 Tim. ii. 11 εἰ γὰρ _συναπεθάνομεν_, καὶ
_συνζήσομεν_. In fact the idea of Χριστῷ must be reserved for
συνηγέρθητε where it is wanted, ‘_ye were raised together with Him_’.
διὰ τῆς πίστεως κ.τ.λ.] ‘_through your faith in the operation_,’
ἐνεργείας being the objective genitive. So St Chrysostom, πίστεως ὅλον
ἐστίν· ἐπιστεύσατε ὅτι δύναται ὁ Θεὸς ἐγεῖραι, καὶ οὕτως ἠγέρθητε. Only
by a belief in the resurrection are the benefits of the resurrection
obtained, because only so are its moral effects produced. Hence St Paul
prays that he may ‘know the _power_ of Christ’s resurrection’ (Phil.
iii. 10). Hence too he makes this the cardinal article in the
Christian’s creed, ‘If thou ... believest in thy heart that God raised
Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved’ (Rom. x. 9). For the influence
of Christ’s resurrection on the moral and spiritual being, see the note
on Phil. _l.c._ Others take τῆς ἐνεργείας as the subjective genitive,
‘faith which comes from the operation etc.’, arguing from a mistaken
interpretation of the parallel passage Ephes. i. 19 (where κατὰ τῆν
ἐνέργειαν should be connected, not with τοὺς πιστεύοντας, but with τί τὸ
ὑπερβάλλον μέγεθος κ.τ.λ.). The former explanation however yields a
better sense, and the genitive after πίστις far more commonly describes
the object than the source of the faith, e.g. Rom. iii. 22, 26, Gal.
iii. 22, Ephes. iii. 12, Phil. i. 27, iii. 9, 2 Thess. ii. 13.
13. In the sentence which follows it seems necessary to assume a change
of subject. There can be little doubt that ὁ Θεὸς is the nominative to
συνεζωοποίησεν: for (1) The parallel passage Ephes. ii. 4, 5 directly
suggests this. (2) This is uniformly St Paul’s mode of speaking
elsewhere. It is always God who ἐγέιρει, συνεγέιρει, ζωοποιεῖ,
συνζωοποιεῖ, etc., with or in or through Christ. (3) Though it might be
possible to assign σὺν αὐτῷ to the subject of συνεζωοποίησεν (see the
note on i. 20), yet a reference to some other person is more natural.
These reasons seem to decide the subject of συνεζωοποίησεν. But at the
same time it appears quite impossible to continue the same subject, ὁ
Θεός, to the end of the sentence. No grammatical meaning can be assigned
to ἀπεκδυσάμενος, by which it could be understood of God the Father. We
must suppose therefore that a new subject, ὁ Χριστός, is introduced
meanwhile, either with ἦρκεν or with ἀπεκδυσάμενος itself; and of the
two the former seems the easier point of transition. For a similar
instance of abrupt transition, which is the more natural owing to the
intimate connexion of the work of the Son with the work of the Father,
see e.g. i. 17 sq.
καὶ ὑμᾶς] i.e. ‘you Gentiles’. This will appear from a study of the
parallel passages iii. 7, 8, Ephes. i. 13, ii. 1 sq., 11, 13, 17, 22,
iii. 2, iv. 17; see the notes on Ephes. i. 13, and on τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ just
below.
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