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10. καὶ ἐνδυσάμενοι, “and putting on.” See note on Col 3:9.
τὸν νέον. As the unconverted state was described not as a congeries of separate sinful acts but as a living organism directed by a will, “the old man,” in which “self” determined all the doings, so the state of the Christian is “the new man.”
τ. νέον τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον, cf. Eph 4:24, τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον, “of the two words νέος and καινός, the former relates solely to time, the other denotes quality also; the one is new as being young, the other new as being fresh: the one is opposed to long duration, the other to effeteness” (Lightfoot); cf. Trench, Synon. § lx.
For the thought of “the new man” cf. Dalman, “Just as Paul, Gal 6:15; 2Co 5:17 speaks of a καινὴ κτίσις, so, too, Jewish literature is able to say that God fashions any one into a new creature (בְּרִיָּה חֲדָשָׁה—בָּרָא), Vay. R. 29, 30; Pes. Rabb. ed. Friedm. 146 b; Midr. Psa 2:9” (Words of Jesus, p. 178).
τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον, “which is being renewed.” In contrast to “putting off” which is done, ideally, once for all, stress is laid on the continuance of the process of renewal. The new man is perpetually maintained in vigour and growth. He is thus the very antithesis to the worn out garment, “the old man.” For the similar antithesis in 2Co 4:16, the only other passage in the Greek Bible where the word occurs, see Col 3:9 note.
For ἀνακαίνωσις see Rom 12:2, Tit 3:5. Compare Trench, Synon, § xviii.
The force of ἀνά in the compound may be (1) restoration, as Trench implies, but not strictly to man’s primal state (Calovius), for “this falls far short of the glorious truth” (Alf.). (2) merely strengthening the idea of καινοῦσθαι, emphasizing the contrast to the state that lately existed. This is perhaps the more probable. Cf. Moulton, op. cit. p. 112. (3) Possibly ἀνά suggests that the renewal takes effect through the series of all the acts that make up the new man.
Plummer (on 2Co 4:16) suggests that the expressions ὁ ἔσω ἄνθρωπος, etc. are of Platonic origin, and points out that “they should be noted as linking Epistles which are sometimes disputed, as Ephesians and Colossians, to Epistles whose genuineness is not open to doubt, as Romans and Corinthians.”
εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν. On ἐπίγνωσις see notes on Col 1:6; Col 1:9.
εἰς marks the final aim of τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον; cf. Col 2:2, and perhaps 2Pe 1:8. Contrast in Col 3:9 the comparatively bald definition “with his doings,” for “the old man” has no future.
Observe that ἐπίγνωσις is here absolute as in Php 1:9 (hardly Rom 1:28; Rom 10:2), but its exact reference is disputed.
(1) The immediate contrast speaks of solely ethical duties, and thus ἐπίγν. may here = practical knowledge in the moral sphere, the thought being that whereas “the old man” led to a wholly false perception of duties the result of “the new man” is a wholly right judgment concerning them.
(2) Yet in view of (a) the fact that St Paul employs ἐπίγνωσις especially of the knowledge of God; (b) the claim of the false teachers to supply knowledge; and (c) the wide suggestion made in κατʼ εἰκόνα κ.τ.λ., it is surely preferable to see this latter meaning here. The aim is knowledge, viz. of God, and this knowledge includes all other, e.g. the knowledge of His will in all the relations of life.
κατʼ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτόν. On εἰκών see Col 1:15, note, and on κτίζω, Col 1:16.
(1) This difficult phrase is apparently based on Gen 1:27, κατʼ εἰκόνα θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν, or, as Aq. and Theod. translate, ἐν εἰκόνι θεοῦ ἔκτισεν αὐτούς.
(2) It probably uses the partial likeness of created man to God as the basis from which to rise to a nobler thought, the final perfect likeness of the new man to Him.
Thus this final image stands for St Paul as the norm (κατά) according to which the development unto knowledge takes place.
(3) Although it is grammatically possible to join κατά κ.τ.λ. solely to ἐπίγνωσιν (see Winer, § XX. 4) (i.e. a knowledge like God’s knowledge; cf. P. Ewald), yet such a limitation of the εἰκών to knowledge is in itself improbable, and Eph 4:24, τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν κατὰ θεὸν κτισθέντα, points to the connexion being chiefly with τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον.
(4) τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτόν = God as such, not Christ, least of all as Chrysostom quaintly interprets it when, contrasting τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον, he says κατʼ εἰκόνα Χριστοῦ. τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι, “κατʼ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτόν,” ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς οὐ πρὸς γῆρας ἐτελεύτησεν, ἀλλʼ οὕτως ἦν καλὸς, ὡς μηδὲ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν. This, of course, is quite consistent with the fact that St Paul can elsewhere speak of believers becoming συμμόρφους τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ υἱοῦ (Rom 8:29). The aorist refers to the time of the ἀναγέννησις in Christ; cf. κτισθέντα, Eph 4:24.
On the improbability of εἰκών here directly referring to Christ (Col 1:15), see Lightfoot. Eph 4:24 has κατὰ θέον.
(5) αὐτόν naturally refers to τὸν νέον (ἄνθρωπον), not to man as such (Gen 1:27).