τὸν παλαὶον ἄνθρωπον σὺν ταῖς πράξεσιν αὐτοῦ, ^{10}καὶ ἐνδυσάμενοι τὸν
νέον, τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν κατ’ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτόν·
^{11}ὅπου
παλαὶον ἄνθρωπον] as Rom. vi. 6, Ephes. iv. 22. With this expression
compare ὁ ἔξω, ὁ ἔσω ἄνθρωπος, Rom. vii. 22, 2 Cor. iv. 16, Ephes. iii.
16; ὁ κρυπτὸς τῆς καρδίας ἄνθρωπος, 1 Pet. iii. 4; ὁ μικρός μου
ἄνθρωπος, ‘my insignificance’, Polycr. in Euseb. _H.E._ v. 24.
10. τὸν νέον κ.τ.λ.] In Ephes. iv. 24 it is ἐνδύσασθαι _τὸν καινὸν_
ἄνθρωπον. Of the two words νέος and καινός, the former refers solely to
time, the other denotes quality also; the one is new as being _young_,
the other new as being _fresh_: the one is opposed to long duration, the
other to effeteness; see Trench _N. T. Syn._ § lx. p. 206. Here the idea
which is wanting to νέος, and which καινὸς gives in the parallel
passage, is more than supplied by the addition τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον κ.τ.λ.
The νέος or καινὸς ἄνθρωπος in these passages is not Christ Himself, as
the parallel expression Χριστὸν ἐνδύσασθαι might suggest, and as it is
actually used in Ign. _Ephes._ 20 εἰς τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον Ἰησοῦν
Χριστόν, but the regenerate man formed after Christ. The idea here is
the same as in καινὴ κτίσις, 2 Cor. v. 17, Gal. vi. 15: comp. Rom. vi. 4
καινότης ζωῆς, Barnab. 16 ἐγενόμεθα καινοί, πάλιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς κτιζόμενοι.
τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον] ‘_which is_ ever _being renewed_’. The force of
the present tense is explained by 2 Cor. iv. 16 ὁ ἔσω ἡμῶν [ἄνθρωπος]
ἀνακαινοῦται _ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ_. Compare also the use of the
tenses in the parallel passage, Ephes. iv. 22 sq. ἀποθέσθαι,
_ἀνανεοῦσθαι_, ἐνδύσασθαι. For the opposite see Ephes. iv. 22 τὸν
παλαὶον ἄνθρωπον τὸν _φθειρόμενον_ κ.τ.λ.
εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν] ‘_unto perfect knowledge_’, the true knowledge in Christ,
as opposed to the false knowledge of the heretical teachers. For the
implied contrast see above pp. 44, 99 sq. (see the notes on i. 9, ii.
3), and for the word ἐπίγνωσις the note on i. 9. The words here are to
be connected closely with ἀνακαινούμενον: comp. Heb. vi. 6 πάλιν
_ἀνακαινίζειν_ εἰς μετάνοιαν.
κατ’ εἰκόνα κ.τ.λ.] The reference is to Gen. i. 26 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός
Ποίησωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ’ εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν κ.τ.λ.; comp. ver. 28 κατ’
εἰκόνα Θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν. See also Ephes. iv. 24 τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον
τὸν κατὰ Θὲον κτισθέντα. This reference however does not imply an
identity of the creation here mentioned with the creation of Genesis,
but only an analogy between
the two. The spiritual man in each believer’s heart, like the primal man
in the beginning of the world, was created after God’s image. The καινὴ
κτίσις in this respect resembles the ἀρχαία κτίσις. The pronoun αὐτὸν
cannot be referred to anything else but the νέος ἄνθρωπος, the
regenerate man; and the aorist κτίσαντος (compare κτισθέντα in the
parallel passage Ephes. iv. 24) refers to the time of this ἀναγέννησις
in Christ. See Barnab. 6 _ἀνακαινίσας_ ἡμᾶς ἐν τῇ ἀφέσει τῶν
ἁμαρτιῶν ἐποίησεν ἡμᾶς ἄλλον τύπον ... ὡσὰν δὴ _ἀναπλάσσοντος_
αὐτοῦ ἡμᾶς, after which Gen. i. 26 is quoted. The new birth was a
recreation in God’s image; the subsequent life must be a deepening of
this image thus stamped upon the man.
The allusion to Genesis therefore requires us to understand τοῦ
κτίσαντος of God, and not of Christ, as it is taken by St Chrysostom and
others; and this seems to be demanded also by the common use of ὁ
κτίσας. But if Christ is not ὁ κτίσας, may He not be intended by the
εἰκῶν τοῦ κτίσαντος? In favour of this interpretation it may be urged
(1) That Christ elsewhere is called the εἰκὼν of God, i. 15, 2 Cor. iv.
4; (2) That the Alexandrian school interpreted the term in Gen. i. 26 as
denoting the Logos; thus Philo _de Mund._ Op. 6 (I. p. 5 M) τὸ ἀρχέτυπον
παράδειγμα, ἰδέα τῶν ἰδεῶν ὁ Θεοῦ λόγος (comp. ib. §§ 7, 23, 24, 48),
_Fragm._ II. p. 625 M θνητὸν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἀπεικονισθῆναι πρὸς τὸν ἀνωτάτω
καὶ πατέρα τῶν ὅλων ἐδύνατο, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸν δεύτερον Θὲον ὅς ἐστιν
ἐκέινου λόγος κ.τ.λ. _Leg. Alleg._ i. 31, 32 (I. p. 106 sq.). Hence
Philo speaks of the first man as εἰκὼν εἰκόνος (_de Mund. Op._ 6), and
as παγκάλου παραδέιγματος πάγκαλον μίμημα (ib. § 48). A pregnant meaning
is thus given to κατὰ, and κατ’ εἰκόνα is rendered ‘after the fashion
(or pattern) of the Image’. But this interpretation seems very
improbable in St Paul; for (1) In the parallel passage Ephes. iv. 24 the
expression is simply κατὰ Θεόν, which may be regarded as equivalent to
κατ’ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος here; (2) The Alexandrian explanation of Gen.
i. 26 just quoted is very closely allied to the Platonic doctrine of
ideas (for the εἰκών, so interpreted, is the archetype or ideal pattern
of the sensible world), and thus it lies outside the range of those
conceptions which specially recommended the Alexandrian terminology of
the Logos to the Apostles, as a fit vehicle for communicating the truths
of Christianity.
11. ὅπου] i.e. ‘in this regenerate life, in this spiritual region into
which the believer is transferred in Christ.’
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