χάριτι, ᾄδοντες ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν τῷ Θεῷ· ^{17}καὶ πᾶν ὅ τι ἐὰν
ποιῆτε ἐν λόγῳ ἢ ἐν ἔργῳ, πάντα ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ, εὐχαριστοῦντες
τῷ Θεῷ πατρὶ δι’ αὐτοῦ.
^{18}Αἱ γυναῖκες, ὑποτάσσεσθε τοῖς ἀνδράσιν, ὡς ἀνῆκεν
ἄδοντες κ.τ.λ.] This external manifestation must be accompanied by the
inward emotion. There must be the thanksgiving of the heart, as well as
of the lips; comp. Ephes. v. 19 ἄδοντες καὶ ψάλλοντες τῇ καρδίᾳ
(probably the correct reading), where τῇ καρδίᾳ ‘_with_ the heart’
brings out the sense more distinctly.
17. πᾶν ὅ τι κ.τ.λ.] This is probably a nominative absolute, as Matt. x.
32 πᾶς οὖν ὅστις ὁμολογήσει ... ὁμολογήσω κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ (comp. Luke xii.
8), Luke xii. 10 πᾶς ὃς ἐρεῖ λόγον ... ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ, John xvii. 2 πᾶν
ὃ δέδωκας αὐτῷ, δώσῃ _αὐτοῖς_ κ.τ.λ.; comp. Matt. vii. 24 (v.l.).
πάντα] sc. ποιεῖτε, as the following εὐχαριστοῦντες suggests; comp. ver.
23.
ἐν ὀνόματι κ.τ.λ.] This is the great practical lesson which flows from
the theological teaching of the epistle. Hence the reiteration of Κυρίῳ,
ἐν Κυρίῳ, etc., vv. 18, 20, 22, 23, 24. See above p. 104.
εὐχαριστοῦντες] On this refrain see the notes on i. 12, ii. 7.
τῷ Θεῷ πατρὶ] This, which is quite the best authenticated reading, gives
a very unusual, if not unique, collocation of words, the usual form
being either ὁ Θεὸς καὶ πατήρ or Θεὸς πατήρ. The καί before πατρί in the
received text is an obvious emendation. See the note on i. 3, and the
appendix on various readings.
18–21. ‘Ye wives, be subject to your husbands, for so it becomes you in
Christ. Ye husbands, love and cherish your wives, and use no harshness
towards them. Ye children, be obedient to your parents in all things;
for this is commendable and lovely in Christ. Ye parents, vex not your
children, lest they lose heart and grow sullen’.
18 sq. These precepts, providing for the conduct of Christians in
private households, should be compared with Ephes. v. 22–vi. 9, 1 Pet.
ii. 18–iii. 7, Tit. ii. 1 sq.; see also Clem. Rom. 1, Polyc. _Phil._ 4
sq.
Αἱ γυναῖκες] ‘_Ye wives_’, the nominative with the definite article
being used for a vocative, as frequently in the New Testament, e.g.
Matt. xi. 26, Mark v. 41, Luke viii. 54; see Winer § xxix. p. 227 sq.
The frequency of this use is doubtless due to the fact that it is a
reproduction of the Hebrew idiom. In the instances quoted from classical
writers (see Bernhardy _Syntax_ p. 67) the address is not so directly
vocative, the nominative being used rather to _define_ or _select_ than
to _summon_ the person in question.
τοῖς ἀνδράσιν] The ἰδίοις of the received text may have been inserted
(as it is inserted also in Ephes. v. 24) from Ephes. v. 22, Tit. ii. 5,
1 Pet. iii. 1, 5, in all which passages this same injunction occurs. The
scribes however show a general fondness for this adjective; e.g. Mark
xv. 20, Luke ii. 3, Acts i. 19, Ephes. iv. 28, 1 Thess. ii. 15, iv. 11.
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