ὑμῶν πάντοτε ἐν χάριτι, ἅλατι ἠρτυμένος, εἰδέναι, ὑμᾶς πῶς δεῖ ἑνὶ
ἑκάστῳ ἀποκρίνεσθαι.
^7Τὰ κατ ἐμὲ πάντα γνωρίσει ὑμῖν Τύχικος ὁ ἀγαπητὸς
ἅλατι] comp. Mark ix. 50 ἐὰν δὲ τὸ ἅλας ἄναλον γένηται, ἐν τίνι αὐτὸ
_)αρτυσετε_· ἔχετε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἅλα. The salt has a twofold purpose.
(1) It gives a flavour to the discourse and recommends it to the palate:
comp. Job vi. 6 εἰ βρωθήσεται ἄρτος ἄνευ ἁλός· εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔστι γεῦμα ἐν
ῥήμασι κενοῖς; in which passage the first clause was rendered by
Symmachus μήτι βρωθήσεται _ἀνάρτυτον_ τῷ μὴ ἔχειν ἅλα; This is the
primary idea of the metaphor here, as the word ἠρτυμένος seems to show.
(2) It preserves from corruption and renders wholesome; Ign. _Magn._ 10
ἁλίσθητε ἐν αὐτῷ ἵνα μὴ διαφθαρῇ τις ἐν ὑμῖν, ἐπὲι ἀπὸ τῆς ὀσμῆς
ἐλεγχθήσεσθε. Hence the Pythagorean saying, Diog. Laert. viii. I. 35 οἱ
ἅλες πᾶν σώζουσιν ὅ τι καὶ παραλάβωσι. It may be inferred that this
secondary application of the metaphor was present to the Apostle’s mind
here, because in the parallel epistle, Ephes. iv. 29, he says πᾶς λόγος
_σαπρὸς_ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος ὑμῶν μὴ ἐκπορεύεσθω κ.τ.λ. In the first
application the opposite to ἅλατι ἠρτυμένος would be μωρός ‘_insipid_’
(Luke xiv. 34); in the second, σαπρός ‘_corrupt_’.
Heathen writers also insisted that discourse should be ‘seasoned with
salt’; e.g. Cic. _de Orat._ i. 34 ‘facetiarum quidam lepos quo, tanquam
sale, perspergatur omnis oratio’. They likewise dwelt on the connexion
between χάρις and ἅλες; e.g. Plut. _Mor._ p. 514 F χάριν τινὰ
παρασκευάζοντες ἀλλήλοις, ὥσπερ ἁλσὶ τοῖς λόγοις ἐφηδύνουσι τὴν
διατριβήν, p. 697 D (comp. p. 685 A) οἱ πολλοὶ χάριτας καλοῦσιν [τὸν
ἅλα], ὅτι ἐπὶ τὰ πλεῖστα μιγνύμενος εὐάρμοστα τῇ γεύσει καὶ προσφιλῆ
ποιεῖ καὶ κεχαρισμένα, p. 669 A ἡ δὲ τῶν ἁλῶν δύναμις ... χάριν αὐτῷ καὶ
ἡδονὴν προστίθησι, Dion. Chrys. _Or._ xviii. § 13. Their notion of
‘salt’ however was wit, and generally the kind of wit which degenerated
into the εὐτραπελία denounced by St Paul in Ephes. v. 4 (see the note
there).
The form ἅλας is common in the LXX and Greek Testament. Otherwise it is
rare: see Buttmann _Gramm._ I. p. 220, and comp. Plut. _Mor._ 668 F.
εἰδέναι] ‘_so as to know_’; see the note on λαλῆσαι ver. 3.
ἑνὶ ἑκάστῳ] ‘Not only must your conversation be opportune as regards the
time; it must also be appropriate as regards the person’. The Apostle’s
precept was enforced by his own example, for he made it a rule to become
τοῖς πᾶσιν πάντα, ἵνα πάντως τινὰς σώσῃ (1 Cor. ix. 22).
7–9. ‘You will learn everything about me from Tychicus, the beloved
brother who has ministered to me and served with me faithfully in the
Lord. This indeed was my purpose in sending him to you: that you might
be informed how matters stand with me, and that he might cheer your
hearts and strengthen your resolves by the tidings. Onesimus will
accompany him—a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of yourselves,
a Colossian. These two will inform you of all that is going on here.’
7. Τὰ κατ’ ἐμὲ πάντα] ‘_all that relates to me_’; see the note on Phil.
i. 12, and comp. Bion in Diog. Laert. iv. 47. So Acts xxv. 14 τὰ κατὰ
τὸν Παῦλον.
γνωρίσει] On this word see the note Phil. i. 22.
Τύχικος] Tychicus was charged by St Paul at this same time with a more
extended mission. He was entrusted with copies of the circular letter,
which he was enjoined to deliver in the principal churches of
proconsular Asia (see above, p. 37, and the introduction to the Epistle
to the Ephesians). This mission would bring him to Laodicea, which was
one of these great centres of Christianity (see p. 8); and, as Colossæ
was only a few miles distant, the Apostle would naturally engage him to
pay a visit to the Colossians. At the same time the presence of an
authorised delegate of St Paul, as Tychicus was known to be, would serve
to recommend Onesimus, who owing to his former conduct stood in every
need of such a recommendation. The two names Τύχικος and Ὀνήσιμος occur
in proximity in Phrygian inscriptions found at Altentash (Bennisoa?)
Boeckh 3857r sqq. appx.
Tychicus was a native of proconsular Asia (Acts xx. 4) and perhaps of
Ephesus (2 Tim. iv. 12: see _Philippians_ p. 11). He is found with St
Paul at three different epochs in his life. (1) He accompanied him when
on his way eastward at the close of the third missionary journey A.D. 58
(Acts xx. 4), and probably like Trophimus (Acts xxi. 29) went with him
to Jerusalem (for the words ἄχρι τῆς Ἀσίας must be struck out in Acts
xx. 4). It is probable indeed that Tychicus, together with others
mentioned among the Apostle’s numerous retinue on this occasion, was a
delegate appointed by his own church according to the Apostle’s
injunctions (1 Cor. xvi. 3, 4) to bear the contributions of his brethren
to the poor Christians of Judæa; and if so, he may possibly be the
person commended as the brother οὗ ὁ ἔπαινος ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ διὰ πασῶν
τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν (2 Cor. viii. 18): but this will depend on the
interpretation of the best supported reading in Acts xx. 5 οὗτοι δὲ
προσελθόντες ἔμενον ἡμᾶς ἐν Τρωάδι. (2) We find Tychicus again in St
Paul’s company at the time with which we are immediately concerned, when
this epistle was written, probably towards the end of the first Roman
captivity A.D. 62, 63 (see _Philippians_ p. 31 sq.). (3) Once more, at
the close of St Paul’s life (about A.D. 67), he appears again to have
associated himself with the Apostle, when his name is mentioned in
connexion with a mission to Crete (Tit. iii. 12) and another to Ephesus
(2 Tim. iv. 12). For the legends respecting him, which are slight and
insignificant, see _Act. Sanct. Boll._ April. 29 (III. p. 619).
Tychicus is not so common a name as some others which occur in the New
Testament, e.g. Onesimus, Trophimus; but it is found occasionally in
inscriptions belonging to Asia Minor, e.g. Boeckh _C. I._ 2918, 3665,
[3857 c], 3857 r, (comp. 3865 i, etc.); and persons bearing it are
commemorated on the coins of both Magnesia ad Mæandrum (Mionnet III. p.
153 sq., _Suppl._ VI. p. 236) and Magnesia ad Sipylum (_ib._ IV. p. 70).
The name occurs also in Roman inscriptions; e.g. Muratori, pp.
DCCCCXVII, MCCCXCIV, MMLV. Along with several other proper names
similarly formed, this word is commonly accentuated Τυχικός (Chandler
_Greek Accentuation_ § 255), and so it stands in all the critical
Seditions, though according to rule (Winer § vi. p. 58) it should be
Τύχικος.
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