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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJames Hastings Dictionary of the NT: Bond
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(Col_2:14)
The point here lies in the word ÷åéñüãñáöïí . For ‘bond’ in the sense of äïῦëïò , see 1Co_12:13 etc., and in that of óýíäåóìïò (ligament in surgery [very often]), see Col_2:19, etc. Col_2:14 is the only instance in the NT of the word ÷åéñüãñáöïí , though there are other compounds with ÷åéñ ( ÷åéñáãùãÝù Act_9:8; ÷åéñáãùãïýò , Act_13:11; ÷åéñïðïßçôïò , Eph_2:11, and ἀ÷åéñïðïßçôïò Col_2:11; ÷åéñïôïíÝù , Act_14:23). This synthetic compound means originally ‘handwriting’ or ‘autograph,’ and occurs in this sense in Polybius (xxx. 8. 4), Dion. Hal. (v. 8), etc. Its technical use is for ‘a note of hand, a bond or obligation, as having the “sign manual” of the debtor or contractor’ (Lightfoot, Col.3, 1879, in loc.); so To 5:3 ἔäùêåí áὐôῷ ôὸ ÷åéñüãñáöïí . See also Plut. (Mor. p. 829 A) and Artem. (Oneir. iii. 40). Its position as a êïéíÞ word is greatly strengthened by the papyri, where it is very common (Deissmann, Bible Studies, Eng. translation , 1901, p. 247). Some of these bonds in papyri texts are crossed out with the Greek cross-letter X, thus cancelling the note (cf. Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East2, 1911, p. 336f.). A number of these ‘crossed-out’ bonds are in the papyri lists at Berlin, Heidelberg, and elsewhere. This was the method of official as well as private cancellation (see the Florentine Papyrus [a.d. 85], where the Governor of Egypt ordered the bond to be ‘crossed out’ [ ÷éáóèῆíáé ]). There is no evidence for the notion that these bonds were cancelled by hanging on nails (perforation). There are examples of inscribed leaden rolls being perforated and hung on nails, but not for cancellation by the nails (Deissmann, Bible Studies, p. 273f.). St. Paul piles up his metaphors, as he often does, by the use of ἐîáëåßøáò (‘blotting Out’; cf. ÷éÜæù ‘cross out’), ἧñêåí ἐê ôïῦ ìÝóïõ (‘take out of the midst’; note change to indicative and perfect for notion of permanent removal). Dibelius (Handbuch zum NT, ‘Kolosser,’ 1912, p. 81) cites Epictetus’ use of áἶñå ἔîù , áἶñå ἐê ôïῦ ìÝóïõ as synonymous. As to ðñïóçëþóáò ôῷ óôáõñῷ (‘nailing to the cross’), E. Haupt (Meyer-Haupt, Kom. Kol., 1902, in loc.) points out that with St. Paul it is not the cancelling by nailing, but the nailing to the cross that is dominant. These three metaphors all accentuate the main idea of the cancellation of the debt.
What the bond is in Col_2:14 scholars are not agreed. Probably the general notion of law is correct, since Gentiles as well as Jews seem to be included, rather than the Mosaic Law or the narrower notion of the purely ceremonial law. The addition of ôïῖò äüãìáóéí , difficult as to syntax, points to formulated commandment (Peake, Expositor’s Greek Testament , ‘Colossians,’ 1903, in loc.) of some kind (cf. Eph_2:15), though ‘the moral assent of the conscience’ (Lightfoot, in loc.) is surely involved also. No stress is to be laid on the fact of the law being written or not written (the autograph idea in ÷åéñüãñáöïí ) by the sinner, though, if the primary reference be to the Jews, they might be said to have signed the contract in giving assent to the law as represented in Deu_27:14-26. The central idea is that the bond of moral obligation which was against us ( êáè ʼ ἡìῶí and ὃ ἦí ὑðåíáíôßïí ἡìῖí ) has been removed by the death of Christ on the Cross. It has been cancelled (crossed out) and hung up for all to see (nailed to the cross) as an obligation from which we are now free. It is a bold picture of grace versus works as the method of salvation. Christ has paid the debt and destroyed the note against us. Cf. St. Paul’s offer to pay Philemon for the debt of Onesimus (Phm_1:18 f.),
A. T. Robertson.