ἐγενήθησάν μοι παρηγορία. ^{12}ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς Ἐπαφρᾶς ὁ ἐξ ὑμῶν, δοῦλος
Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ, πάντοτε ἀγωνιζόμενος ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς, ἵνα
σταθῆτε τέλειοι
τὴν βασιλείαν κ.τ.λ.] See the note on i. 13.
οἵτινες κ.τ.λ.] ‘_men whom I found_ etc.’; comp. Acts xxviii. 15 οὓς
ἰδὼν ὁ Παῦλος εὐχαριστήσας τῷ Θεῷ ἔλαβεν θάρσος, and see _Philippians_
p. 17. For οἵτινες, not specifying the individuals, but referring them
to their class characteristics, see the notes on Gal. iv. 24, v. 19,
Phil. iii. 7, iv. 3.
παρηγορία] ‘_encouragement_’, ‘_comfort_’. The range of meaning in this
word is even wider than in παραμυθία or παράκλησις (see the note Phil.
ii. 1). The verb παρηγορεῖν denotes either (1) ‘to exhort, encourage’
(Herod. v. 104, Apoll. Rhod. ii. 64); (2) ‘to dissuade’ (Herod. ix. 54,
55); (3) ‘to appease’, ‘quiet’ (Plut. _Vit. Pomp._ 13, _Mor._ p. 737 C);
or (4) ‘to console, comfort’ (Æsch. _Eum._ 507). The word however, and
its derivates παρηγορία, παρηγόρημα, παρηγορικός, παρηγορητικός, were
used especially as medical terms, in the sense of ‘assuaging’,
‘alleviating’; e.g. Hippocr. pp. 392, 393, 394, Galen XIV. p. 335, 446,
Plut. _Mor._ pp. 43 D, 142 D; and perhaps owing to this usage, the idea
of consolation, comfort, is on the whole predominant in the word; e.g.
Plut. _Mor._ p. 56 A τὰς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀτυχήμασι παρηγοπίας, p. 118 A τοῖς
ἀφαιρουμένοις τὰς λύπας διὰ τῆς γενναίας καὶ σεμνῆς παρηγορίας, _Vit.
Cim._ 4 ἐπὶ παρηγορίᾳ τοῦ πένθους. In Plut. _Mor._ p. 599 B παρηγορία
and συνηγορία are contrasted, as the right and wrong method of dealing
with the sorrows of the exile; and the former is said to be the part of
men παρῥησιαζομένων καὶ διδασκόντων ὅτι τὸ λυπεῖσθαι καὶ ταπεινοῦν
ἑαυτὸν ἐπὶ παντὶ μὲν ἄχρηστόν ἐστι κ.τ.λ.
12. Ἐπαφρᾶς] His full name would be Epaphroditus, but he is always
called by the shortened form Epaphras, and must not be confused with the
Philippian Epaphroditus (see _Philippians_ p. 60), who also was with St
Paul at one period of his Roman captivity. Of Epaphras, as the
evangelist of Colossæ, and perhaps of the neighbouring towns, see above,
pp. 29 sq., 34 sq.
ὁ ἐξ ὑμῶν] ‘_who belongs to you_’, ‘_who is one of you_’, i.e. a native,
or at least an inhabitant, of Colossæ, as in the case of Onesimus ver.
9; comp. Acts iv. 6, xxi. 8, Rom. xvi. 10, 11, 1 Cor. xii. 16, Phil. iv.
22, etc.
δοῦλος Χ. Ἰ.] This title, which the Apostle uses several times of
himself, is not elsewhere conferred on any other individual, except once
on Timothy (Phil. i. 1), and probably points to exceptional services in
the cause of the Gospel on the part of Epaphras.
ἀγωνιζόμενος] ‘_wrestling_’; comp. Rom. xv. 30 συναγωνίσασθαί μοι ἐν
ταῖς προσευχαῖς. See also the great ἀγωνία of prayer in Luke xxii. 44.
Comp. Justin _Apol._ ii. 13 (p. 51 B) καὶ εὐχόμενος καὶ παμμάχως
ἀγωνιζόμενος. See also i. 29, ii. 1, with the notes.
σταθῆτε] ‘_stand fast_’, doubtless the correct reading rather than στῆτε
which the received text has; comp. Matt. ii. 9, xxvii. 11, where also
the received text substitutes the weaker word.
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