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Col_3:12. οὖν ] for these virtues are in keeping with the νέος ἄνθρωπος , according to what has been said in Col_3:11; it would be a contradiction to have put on the new man, and not to have put on these virtues. The new moral condition, into which ye have entered by your conversion, passing thereby into the fellowship of equality and unity in Christ described in Col_3:11, binds you to this by the necessity of moral consistency. The οὖν therefore serves for the introduction of the direct summons by way of inference from its foregoing premisses, just like the οὖν in Col_3:5, but not for the introduction of the apodosis (Hofmann; see on Col_3:9), as if it were resumptive.
ἐνδύσασθε ] for, although the putting on of the νέος ἄνθρ . has taken place as a fact historically through the conversion to Christ, nevertheless it has also, in accordance with the ethical nature of the νέος ἄνθρ . (comp. τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον κ . τ . λ . in Col_3:10), its continued acts, which are to take place, namely, by appropriation of the virtues which the new man as such must have.
ὡς ἐκλεκτοὶ κ . τ . λ .] as it becomes such; ἐκλ . τ . Θεοῦ is the subject, and ἅγ . κ . ἀγαπ . its predicates. The consciousness of this distinguished bliss, of being the elect of God—chosen by God from profane humanity for eternal Messianic salvation (Eph_1:4; Rom_8:33; Tit_1:2, al.), who as such[153] are holy (through the ἁγιασμὸς πνεύματος , 2Th_2:13), and beloved of God (Rom_5:5; Eph_1:6),—how could it fail to touch the consciences of the readers, and incite them to the very virtues, corresponding to so high a position,—virtues of that fellowship described in Col_3:11, which are required from them as renewed men! Observe, moreover, that the ἐκλογὴ τ . Θεοῦ is the presupposition of what is said by ἀπεκδυσάμενοι κ . τ . λ . in Col_3:10-11, and that therefore ὡς ἐκλεκτοὶ κ . τ . λ . is not inserted without significant connection with what goes before. It is likewise admissible to take the words ἅγιοι κ . ἠγαπ . substantively, either as co-ordinate with the ἐκλεκτοὶ τ . Θ . and explanatory of this idea (“as the elect of God, holy and beloved,” Luther, Calvin, Grotius, and the majority, including Bähr, Böhmer, Huther, de Wette, Hofmann), or so that ἐκλεκτ . τ . Θεοῦ stands in adjectival relation to them (Bleek: “elect holy and beloved ones of God”); but it is more in keeping with the purposely chosen order of the words to concentrate the whole stress on ἐκλεκτοὶ Θεοῦ . Bengel, connecting as we do, aptly observes: “Ordo verborum exquisite respondet ordini rerum: electio aeterna praecedit sanctificationem in tempore; sanctificati sentiunt amorem et deinceps imitantur.” Theophylact (comp. also Steiger) took ἅγιοι as the chief word, which is more precisely defined by ἐκλ . τ . Θεοῦ and ἠγαπ . ( ἐγένοντο μὲν γὰρ ἅγιοι , ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐκλεκτοὶ οὐδὲ ἠγαπημένοι · ὑμεῖς δὲ ταῦτα πάντα ). Neither supported by the position of the words nor by the context, which does not suggest any contrast.
σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ ] οἰκτ . is the genitive of quality, and the expression is quite similar to that in Luk_1:78, σπλάγχνα ἐλέους ; see in loc. Hence σπλάγχνα is not to be taken here in the abstract sense (love, so usually), but in its proper sense: viscera, as the seat of sympathy; consequently: a heart, the moving feeling of which is sympathy. Comp. Ewald and Hofmann. The two are separated in Php_2:1. As to the conception of οἰκτιρμ ., comp. on Rom_9:15
χρηστότητα ] kindliness, the opposite is ἀποτομία , Rom_11:22. Comp. Eph_4:32. See generally, Tittmann, Synon. p. 140 ff.
ταπεινοφρ ., humbleness, which is meant here, however, according to the entire context, not towards God (Böhmer), but (see Col_3:11) in relation to others, as the opposite of haughtiness ( ὑψηλοφρονεῖν ); Eph_4:2; Php_2:3.
On πρᾳοτ ., gentleness (opposite: Eph_4:31, and ἀγριότης , Plat. Conv. p. 197 D), and μακροθ ., long-suffering, bearing with immoral opposition (comp. Eph_4:2, and on Gal_5:22), Col_3:13 throws fuller light.
[153] For the act of the divine ἐκλογή , which in itself is before time, has come into temporal realization and manifestation through the calling (comp. ver. 15). Comp. generally, Weiss in the Jahrb. f. Deutsche Theol. 1857, p. 78 ff., and Bibl. Theol. § 88, ed. 2.