was purposed and prepared at the Creation, Gen. 1:26 after our likeness. This expressed purpose is the true
Protevangelium.
mimhtai; tou' q.
] Elsewhere of human examples: 1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1; 1 Thess. 2:14; Heb. 6:12; 1 Pet. 3:13; 2 Thess. 3:7, 9; Heb. 13:7 (
mimei'sqai
). Compare Matt. 5:45, 48; Luke 6:36
givnesqe oijktivrmone" kaqw;" oJ path;r uJmw'n oijktivrmwn ejstivn
.
wJ" tevkna ajg
.] as sharing His nature and conscious of His love. The child grows up by effort to the Father's likeness. For
tevknon
see Eph. 5:8 note. Note the sequence
ajgaphtav, ejn ajgavph/, hjgavphsen
.
2.
perip. ejn aj.
] in love, which is the essence of GOD: 1 John 4:8, 16. For
peripatei'n
see Rom. 6:4
ejn kainovthti zwh'" p.
; 2 Cor. 10:3; Col. 4:5
ejn sofiva/ p. pro;" tou;" e[xw
; 1 John 1:6
ejn tw'/ skovtei p.
; 2 John 4
p. ejn ajlhqeiva/
.
kaqw;" kaiv
...] Eph. 4:17 note. The love of Christians answers to the love of Christ: John 13:34; 15:12 f.; 1 John 3:16.
hjgavp....kai; parevd
....] Gal. 2:20
tou' ajgaphvsantov" me kai; paradovnto" eJauto;n
uJpe;r ejmou'. Parevdwken
is absolute (not to be taken with
tw'/ qew'/
).
prosf. kai; qus
.] The one word expresses the devotion and the other the sacrifice of life. Comp. Heb. 10:5.
eij" ojs. eujwd
.] Latt.
in odorem suavitatis, for an odour of fragrance.
The phrase (cf. Ezek. 20:41
ejn ojsmh'/ eujwdiva" prosdevxomai uJma'"
) is used in the O.T. only of free- will offerings. In Christ the free-will offering and the sin-offering are combined.
So Christian teachers are a fragrance of Christ ( Cristou' eujwdiva ) to GOD, 2 Cor. 2:15.
In Phil. 4:18 St Paul describes the gifts received by him, Christ's apostle and bondservant, from the Philippians ( ta; parj uJmw'n ) as ojsmh;n eujwdiva", qusivan dekthvn, eujavreston tw'/ qew'/ [language which recals not only Ezek. 20:41, but also Mal. 3:3, 4 kai; e[sontai tw'/ kurivw/ prosavgonte" qusivan ejn dikaiosuvnh/, kai; ajrevsei tw'/ kurivw/ qusiva jIouvda kai; jIerousalhvm kaqw;" aiJ hJmevrai tou' aijw'no" kai; kaqw;" ta; e[th ta; e[mprosqen ].
3. Love answers to holiness, and honours and cherishes the highest in all. All sins of self-indulgence therefore, in which a man sacrifices another to himself, or his own higher nature to the lower, are diametrically opposed to love.
porneiva
] This is a general term for all unlawful intercourse, (1) adultery: Hos. 2:2, 4 (LXX.); Matt. 5:32; 19:9; (2) unlawful marriage, 1 Cor. 5:1; (3) fornication, the common sense as here.
ajkaq. p. h] pleon
.] One sin under two aspects as affecting the man himself and others. For
pleonexiva
, which here evidently means sensual indulgence at the cost of others, see Eph. 4:19; and cf. 1 Thess. 4:6.
mhde; ojnom
.] Such sins are not to be spoken of. This simple sense is better than that no occasion should be given for even a rumour of their existence among Christians.
prevpei
] Comp. 1 Tim. 2:10; Tit. 2:1; Heb. 2:10 (with note), 7:26.
4.
kai; aijscr
.] that is, let it not be named among you.
Aijscrovth"
(Latt.
turpitudo
) occurs here only in N.T. It is probably not to be limited to language (
aijscrologiva
Col. 3:8).
mwr. h] eujtrap
.] Latt.
stultiloquium aut scurrilitas, foolish talking
, or if it is called by its fashionable name
ready wit.
For
mwrologiva
see Plut.
Moral.
p. 504 B. For
eujtrapeliva
see Arist.
Eth. Nic.
2.7, 13,
Rhet.
2.12, 16.
a} oujk ajnh'k
.] Latt.
quae ad rem non pertinet
(
-ent
). See Lightfoot's note on Col. 3:18.