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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Colossians 2:19 - 2:19
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19. καὶ οὐ κρατῶν τὴν κεφαλήν. Apparently σάρξ suggested the true body to which Christians belong, with its Head. For a fuller elaboration of the figure cf. Eph 4:15-16.
“οὐ not μή, the negation here becoming direct and objective, and designed to be specially distinct” (Ell.). Cf. 2Co 4:8-9, ἐν παντὶ θλιβόμενοι ἀλλʼ οὐ στενοχωρούμενοι κ.τ.λ. Compare also Moulton, Gram. Proleg. 1906, pp. 231 sq.
κρατῶν, “holding fast.” So the bride in Son 3:4, ἐκράτησα αὐτὸν καὶ οὐκ ἀφῆκα αὐτόν. In Mar 7:3-4; Mar 7:8; 2Th 2:15 it is used of the tenacious grasp of human teaching, evil or good. The false teachers here combated by St Paul have slackened their hold on the one and only source of growth, whatever they may themselves think.
τὴν κεφαλήν, see Col 1:18 and Col 2:10, notes.
ἐξ οὗ. Almost certainly masculine, thus interpreting τὴν κεφαλήν of Christ, as is expressly the case in the parallel, Eph 4:15-16. Cod. Clarom. and one or two other authorities add χριστόν after κεφαλήν. He is the one and only source of supply and so of growth.
πᾶν with τὸ σῶμα only here and Eph 4:16.
St Paul is probably attacking the superior claims of the false teachers. They profess to be in “the body” indeed, but to have found a method of growth superior to that available for the οἱ πολλοί of Christians. Not so, says St Paul, they are not exempt from the general law that only from Christ directly all the members of Christ are nourished.
διὰ τῶν ἁφῶν κ. συνδέσμων, “by the bands and sinews.”
ἁφή, Eph 4:16†, where see J. A. R. He considers that ἁφή here is not derived from ἅπτομαι, “touch,” but from ἅπτω, “fasten” or “tie.” Thus it is used of a wrestler’s grip, e.g. Dion. H., de Dem. 18, τοῖς ἀθληταῖς τῆς ἀληθινῆς λέξεως ἰσχυρὰς τὰς ἁφὰς προσεῖναι δεῖ καὶ ἀφυκτοὺς τὰς λαβάς: and metaphorically of the union of Democritean atoms, Plut. Moral. 769 F, ταῖς κατʼ Ἐπίκουρον ἁφαῖς καὶ περιπλοκαῖς. Further, in the sense of a band or ligament it may have been a term of ancient physiology, cf. Galen’s lexicon of words used by Hippocrates (Gal. XIX. p. 87), ἁφάς· τὰ ἅμματα παρὰ τὸ ἅψαι, i.e. bands, from the verb “to bind.” In our passage its close connexion with the recognised physiological term σύνδεσμος would appear to leave no doubt as to the legitimacy of this interpretation.
καὶ συνδέσμων. Elsewhere in the N.T. (Col 3:14; Eph 4:3; Act 8:23†) it = “bond” in a purely metaphorical meaning. But in Dan. (Theod.) Col 2:6 as a semi-medical term, καὶ οἱ σύνδεσμοι τῆς ὀσφύος αὐτοῦ διελύοντο. So in Son 7:2, Aq. (or Sym.) has σύνδεσμοι, apparently understanding ḥammuqê yrçkayik (lit. the curved lines of thy thighs) as meaning the joints or the sinews. So in Eur. Hipp. 199, μελέων σύνδεσμα = sinews or joints, and in Galen (quoted by Lightfoot) σύνδεσμοι are the ligaments properly so called. But it is hardly probable that St Paul had this more technical and limited meaning in his mind, if indeed he had heard of it.
ἐπιχορηγούμενον, “being supplied.”
An interesting word. For χορηγεῖν instead of meaning “to lead a chorus” came to mean “defray the cost of bringing out a chorus,” and hence sometimes “supply freely and bountifully,” or even “supply” and “equip.” In Hellenistic Greek the thought of the Chorus is wholly forgotten, but hardly that of freeness and bountifulness; cf. 2Co 9:10; also Gal 3:5; 2Pe 1:11; Sir 25:22; and 3Ma 6:40, εὐωχοῦντο δὲ πάνθʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως χορηγούμενοι. Aristotle speaks of σῶμα κάλλιστα πεφυκὸς καὶ κεχορηγημένον (Pol. IV. i. 1).
“The force of ἐπί is not intensive, but directive, pointing to the accession of the supply” (Ell.).
What is supposed to be supplied by means of the joints and sinews is not stated. The apostle did not intend his words to be so pressed as to make him say that nutriment is conveyed to the physical body directly by such means. Rather he takes these as being the more evident means of the union of the body—without which it would fall to pieces—and for this reason the means of its receiving strength. The latest discussion of the word is in J. A. R. Eph 4:16.
καὶ συνβιβαζόμενον “and being compacted,” “knit together,” see Col 2:2, note.
Of the two participles ἐπιχορ. would appear to refer chiefly to ἁφῶν and συμβιβ. to συνδέσμων (Beng.). Thus συμβιβ. regards especially the external unity of believers. St Paul could not foresee the anomaly of Christian communities separated by external organisation, and in any case would have considered such a state of things a cause of weakness.
αὔξει. For αὐξάνω cf. Col 1:6; Col 1:10.
Both αὔξω and αὐξάνω are usually intrans. in the N.T. (as here), e.g. Eph 2:21; Eph 4:15, but not in 2Co 9:10; 1Co 3:6-7.
τὴν αὔξησιν. Accus. of the “inner object” or “content” which generally has, as here, a further definition by means of an adjective or genitive (see Blass, Gram. § 34. 3); cf. Mat 2:10.
τοῦ θεοῦ. Primarily increase which comes from God (so probably even 2Co 1:12) but probably also designating the character of the true growth. Growth from God, and in conformity with Him, is only to be obtained by holding fast to Christ.