νεκρῶν· ^{13}καὶ ὑμᾶς νεκροὺς ὄντας τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ
τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν, συνεζωοποίησεν
τοῖς παραπτώμασιν κ.τ.λ.] ‘_by reason of your transgressions etc._’ The
παραπτώματα are the actual definite transgressions, while the ἀκροβυστία
τῆς σαρκός is the impure carnal disposition which prompts to them. For
the dative comp. Ephes. ii. 1, 5, where the same expression occurs; see
Winer _Gramm._ § xxxi. p. 270. On the other hand in Rom. vi. 11 νεκροὺς
μὲν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ζῶντας δὲ τῷ Θεῷ, the dative has a wholly different
meaning, as the context shows. The ἐν of the received text, though
highly supported, is doubtless an interpolation for the sake of
grammatical clearness.
τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ κ.τ.λ.] The external fact is here mentioned, not for its
own sake but for its symbolical meaning. The outward uncircumcision of
the Gentiles is a type of their unchastened carnal mind. In other words,
though the literal meaning is not excluded, the spiritual reference is
most prominent, as appears from ver. 11 ἐν τῆι ἀπεκδύσει τοῦ σώματος.
Hence Theodore’s comment, ἀκροβυστίαν (ἐκάλεσεν) τὸ περικεῖσθαι ἔτι τὴν
θνητότητα. At the same time the choice of the expression shows that the
Colossian converts addressed by St Paul were mainly Gentiles.
συνεζωοποίησεν] It has been questioned whether the life here spoken of
should be understood in a spiritual sense of the regeneration of the
moral being, or in a literal sense of the future life of immortality
regarded as conferred on the Christian potentially now, though only to
be realised hereafter. But is not such an issue altogether superfluous?
Is there any reason to think that St Paul would have separated these two
ideas of life? To him the future glorified life is only the continuation
of the present moral and spiritual life. The two are the same in
essence, however the accidents may differ. Moral and spiritual
regeneration is salvation, is life.
ὑμᾶς] The pronoun is repeated for the sake of emphasis. The omission in
some good copies is doubly explained; (1) By the desire to simplify the
grammar; (2) By the wish to relieve the awkwardness of the close
proximity between ὑμᾶς and ἡμῖν. This latter consideration has led a few
good authorities to substitute ἡμᾶς for ὑμᾶς, and others to substitute
ὑμῖν for ἡμῖν. For instances of those emphatic repetitions in St Paul
see the note on i. 20 δι’ αὐτοῦ.
σὺν αὐτῳ] ‘with Christ’, as in Ephes. ii. 5 συνεζωοποίησεν τῷ Χριστῷ. On
the inadmissibility of the reading ἁυτῷ see the note on εἰς αὐτὸν i. 20.
χαρισάμενος] ‘_having forgiven_’, as in Luke vii. 42 sq., 2 Cor. ii. 7,
10, xii. 13, Ephes. iv. 32; see also the note on iii. 13 below. The idea
of sin as a debt incurred to God (Matt. vi. 12 τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, comp.
Luke xi. 4) underlies this expression, as it does also the commoner term
for pardon, ἄφεσις ‘remission’. The image is carried out in the
cancelled bond, ver. 14.
ἡμῖν] The person is changed; ‘not to you Gentiles only, but to us all
alike’. St Paul is eager to claim his share in the transgression, that
he may claim it also in the forgiveness. For other examples of the
change from the second to the first person, see i. 10–13, iii. 3, 4,
Ephes. ii. 2, 3, 13, 14, iv. 31, 32, v. 2 (the correct reading), 1
Thess. v. 5, where the motive of the change is similar. See also Gal.
iii. 25, 26, iv. 5, 6, where there is the converse transition.
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