character, the continuous and progressive renewal of our highest faculty, and the decisive acceptance of the new man.
ajnaneou'sqai dev
...]
and
on the other hand
that ye be
.... The word
ajnaneou'sqai
occurs here only in the N.T.;
ajnakainou'sqai
occurs Col. 3:10; 2 Cor. 4:16 (
ajnakaivnwsi"
Rom. 12:2; Tit. 3:5). The general distinction of
nevo"
and
kainov"
passes into the two words. The variations in Col. 3:9 f. are instructive:
ajpekdusavmenoi to;n palaio;n a[nqrwpon su;n tai'" pravxesin aujtou', kai; ejndusavmenoi to;n nevon to;n ajnakainouvmenon eij" ejpivgnwsin katj eijkovna tou' ktivsanto" aujtovn
.
tw'/ pn. tou' n.
] The spirit, by which man holds communion with GOD, has a place in his higher reason. The spirit when quickened furnishes new principles to the
nou'"
(comp. Arist.
Eth. N.
vi.) by which it is delivered from
mataiovth"
(Eph. 4:17). This St Paul speaks of as
hJ ajnakaivnwsi" tou' noov"
(Rom. 12:2). When the spirit is dormant, man is led astray
eijkh'/ fusiouvmeno" uJpo; tou' noo;" th'" sarko;" aujtou'
(Col. 2:18), a vivid description of vanity of the mind. But the
nou'"
itself must fulfil its true function: 1 Cor. 14:14.
24.
ejnduv". t. k. a[.
] Comp. Gal. 3:27
Cristo;n ejneduvsasqe
. Rom. 13:14
ejnduvsasqe to;n kuvrion jI.
Col. 3:10. Christ is the new man (1 Cor. 15:45 ff.) Who through His Divine personality makes His human nature effective in due measure for every believer.
to;n k. q. kt
.] This ideal humanity already exists, answering perfectly to the will of GOD; but it has to be personally appropriated.
For
kata; qeovn
see 2 Cor. 7:9 ff.; Eph. 2:2 note.
ejn dik. kai; oJ". t. ajl
.] finding its expression
in righteousness and holiness
in the fulfilment of duties to others and to selfinspired and supported by the influence
of the truth.
oJsiovth"
is found only here and Lk. 1:75 in the N.T. [In the Song of Zacharias,
l.c.
, as here, it is conjoined with
dikaiosuvnh
. So too Wisd. 9:3.] For
o{sio"
see Heb. 7:26. [In 1 Thess. 2:10
oJsivw" kai; dikaivw" k. ajmevmptw"
and Tit. 1:8
divkaion, o{sion
we see how, as here and in the Benedictus, the two qualities are co-ordi-nated and complementary.]
Additional Note on the reading of Eph. 4:21.
(
The following discussion of the text of
Eph. 4:21
is taken by permission from the private correspondence between Dr Westcott and Dr Hort preparatory to the formation of the text of the Epistle in their edition of the Greek Testament.
)
kaqw;" e[stin ajlhvqeia ejn tw'/ jIhsou'
Dr Hort writes: I have never from a boy been able to attach any meaning to the nominative here.
He accordingly proposes to read
kaqwv" ejstin ajlhqeiva/ ejn tw'/ jIhsou'
with or without a comma after ajlhqeiva/ , though the comma seems to give a fuller and truer sense.
Dr Westcott replies: I cannot construe ajlhqeiva/ . And ejdidavcqhte requires ajlhvqeia as does Eph. 4:24. Surely such a use of the dative with such a pregnant