reading avτns for auтou, which B. defends, Lachmann has received into the text; A.C. read aurav. This latter reading is explained only by the hypothesis that αὐτῶν was joined to ἐκκλησίαν, and re ferred to the brethren in Laodicea. Avτns, however, doubtless arose from the circumstance that Nymphas was erroneously looked on as a woman's name. Ver. 16.-In what follows Paul further orders, that, when this epistle has been read among the Colossians, it may be imparted to the Christians in Laodicea also, and vice versa. We see from this that the epistles to churches were not merely read by the presbyters, but also publicly read out in the congregations. This is probable even of private epistles from apostles (see Tit. iii. 15), if they happened to offer a more general interest. In 1 Thess. v. 27 Paul expressly declares that his epistle is to be read out before all of the brethren. As to the rest, the reciprocal communication of the apostolical epistles, recommended in this passage, explains the rapid spread of the writings of the New Testament into all the churches of the then existing world, and their great multiplication by means of copies. The regular public reading of the New Testament writings in the congregations of the faithful first came into use much later, of course; in the beginning they used only the books of the Old Testament for that purpose. The closing words of this verse alone occasion difficulty. The reading év for ek is supported by too few vouchers to be taken into the text. But the words ἡ ἐπιστολὴ ἐκ Λαοδικείας admit of being variously explained. However, the context clearly shews that the discourse here is of an Epistle of Paul's; we must not, therefore, refer these words to an epistle of the Laodiceans to Paul; but as Paul himself never was in Laodicea, the words cannot express, either, "read also that epistle which I have written from Laodicea." The Ek is rather chosen by Paul only because he put himself in the position of the Colossians receiving the epistle. It came from Laodicea for them; it therefore was for them ἡ ἐπιστολὴ ἡ ἐκ Λαοδικείας, though it was addressed by Paul to the Christians in Laodicea. But is the Epistle here meant that to the Ephesians, which might be intended for Laodicea also as an encyclical epistle, or is it to be considered as distinct from the Epistle to the Ephesians, and therefore as lost? This question has already been decided in the Introduction to the Epistle to the Ephesians. The Epistle to the Laodiceans mentioned here by Paul must be regarded as a lost composition, and by no means identical with the Epistle to the Ephesians. For, even granting that the Epistle to the Ephesians was, as an encyclical epistle, addressed to the church in Laodicea conjointly with that in Ephesus, still the charge of Paul here in ver. 16 scarcely admits of being interpreted of that epistle: for, considering the near affinity of the Epistles to the Ephesians and to the Colossians, Paul could have no special occasion further to refer the Christians in Colossæ expressly to the Epistle to the Ephesians. Surely, too, the same Tychicus brought both epistles; according to this it is hardly probable that the circular epistle could have come so quickly from Ephesus to Laodicea that Paul could, in his Epistle to the Colossians, designate it as already to be found in Laodicea. Ver. 17.-Nothing justifies us in placing Archippus, to whom Paul gives a special charge, in Laodicea. Philem. ver. 2 shews that he was in Colossæ; from his being associated with Philemon and his wife it is possible that Archippus was Philemon's son. The exhortation given him here is most simply explained on the assumption that the ecclesiastical office, the worthy fulfilment of which Paul here recommends, had but a short time previously been committed to Archippus. For, after the way in which Archippus is named at Philem. ver. 2, we cannot well imagine any blame of him here. Inasmuch, however, as the exhortation is bestowed on Archippus through the medium of the church, it reminds him more forcibly of his obligation towards the church which he serves. Conclusions as to the relation of ministers to the churches, and as to the dependence of the former on the latter, in the time of the apostles, can in no wise be made from this passage. (In itself diakovía might mean every form of ministry in the church, but from Philem. vers. 1, 2 it is probable that Archippus was deacon in Colossæ, while Philemon, his father, was bishop there. The iv kupio is to be joined with Tарéλaßes, with which word it is especially connected by its position. -As to the construction of the clause, it is far-fetched, with Böhmer to combine βλέπε τὴν διακονίαν, and to take the words in the sense, "fix your eyes on the ministry !" Bλérev occurs so nowhere in the New Testament except Phil. iii. 2. It is better with Bähr and others, to suppose that Bhéav is here used in the sense, "to be on one's guard, to look before one," which is usual in the New Testament. With this construction avrýv at the end of the verse is then, according to the Hebraizing style, redundant, since diakovíav depends on πληροῖς.) Vers. 18, 19.-The salutation by his own hand shews that Paul, as usual, dictated the epistle; from Col. i. 1, Timothy was, we may suppose, the writer of the Epistle to the Colossians. The addition, however, is not merely an expression of Paul's love, but is also a mark of the authenticity of the epistle. (See the remarks on 2 Thess. ii. 2, iii. 17.) In the request, μvnuovεvεté μоv тwv dεoμwv, we μνημονεύετέ μου δεσμῶν, are not to suppose assistance in money, but aid by supplication; and that, too, partly by prayer for patience and other Christian virtues, partly for a speedy deliverance from bonds. That Paul hoped for a speedy deliverance when he wrote this epistle is clearly shewn by Philem. ver. 22. True, there has already been above, Col. iv. 3, a mention of supplication for Paul, but merely in respect to his labours in the ministry, not in respect to his personal condition. The usual blessing, † xáρıç μɛơ vμwv, finally closes the epistle. VOL. V.-16 |