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Col_4:7-9. Sending of Tychicus, and also of Onesimus. Comp. on Eph_6:21 f.
By ἀδελφ . Paul expresses the relation of Tychicus as a Christian brother generally; by διάκονος , his special relation as the apostle’s official servant, in which very capacity he employs him for such missions; and by σύνδουλος (Col_1:7) he delicately, as a mark of honour, places him as to official category on a footing of equality with himself; while ἐν κυρίῳ , belonging to the two latter predicates,[171] marks the specific definite character, according to which nothing else than simply Christ
His person, word, and work—is the sphere in which these relations of service are active. Comp. Eph_6:21.
εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο ] for this very object, having a retrospective reference as in Rom_13:6, 2Co_5:5 (in opposition to Hofmann), in order, namely, that ye may learn from him all that concerns me. The following ἵνα γνῶτε τὰ π . ὑμῶν (see the critical remarks) is explicative; πάντα ὑμ . γνωρ . τὰ ὧδε in Col_4:9 then corresponds to both. Comp. on Eph_6:22.
παρακαλ .] may comfort, in your anxiety concerning me, respecting my position. With the reading γνῷ τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν , the reference would be to the sufferings of the readers; δείκνυσι καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐν πειρασμοῖς ὄντας καὶ παρακλήσεως χρήζοντας , Theophylact, comp. Chrysostom.
σὺν Ὀνησίμῳ ] belonging to ἔπεμψα . As to this slave of Philemon, see Introd. to the Epistle to Philemon. Paul commends him[172] as his faithful ( πιστός , as in Col_4:7, not: having become a believer, as Bähr would render it) and beloved brother, and designates him then as Colossian, not in order to do honour to their city (Chrysostom, Theophylact), but in order to bespeak their special sympathy for Onesimus, the particulars as to whom, especially as regards his conversion, he leaves to be communicated orally.
ἐξ ὑμῶν ] As a Colossian he was from among them, that is, one belonging to their church. Comp. Col_4:12.
τὰ ὧδε ] the state of matters here, to which τὰ κατʼ ἐμέ , Col_4:7, especially belonged.
[171] διάκονος and σύνδουλος are also connected by the common attribute πιστός , and separated from ἀδελφός , which has its special adjective. Chrysostom, moreover, aptly remarks on the different predicates: τὸ ἀξιόπιστον συνήγαγεν .
[172] And how wisely and kindly, after what had happened with Onesimus! Yet Holtzmann holds that of the whole verse only the name Onesimus is characteristic, and reckons the verse to owe its existence to that name.