Colossians 3

Syntactic observation

Εἰ οὖν συνηγέρθητε τῷ Χριστῷ, τὰ ἄνω ζητεῖτε, οὗ ὁ Χριστός ἐστιν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ θεοῦ καθήμενος· τὰ ἄνω φρονεῖτε, μὴ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἀπεθάνετε γάρ, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν κέκρυπται σὺν τῷ Χριστῷ ἐν τῷ θεῷ· ὅταν ὁ Χριστὸς φανερωθῇ, ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν, τότε καὶ ὑμεῖς σὺν αὐτῷ φανερωθήσεσθε ἐν δόξῃ — If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Think the things above, not the things on the earth; for you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ is manifested, your life, then you also will be manifested with him in glory. συνηγέρθητε takes up 2:12 ‘raised together’ · paired with 2:20 ‘if you died with Christ’ (εἰ … death / εἰ … raising). The two τὰ ἄνω (seek · think) are the ἄνω of Phil 3:14 ‘the calling above’. κέκρυπται is Matt 13:44 ‘hidden’ (κρύπτω) — a different word from 1:26 · 2:3 ‘hidden/concealed’ (ἀποκρύπτω), kept apart in Korean. φανερωθῇ … φανερωθήσεσθε — the same verb twice in one verse, ‘manifested … manifested’. ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν (⸀ — Received Text ἡμῶν) stands in apposition to ‘Christ’.

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Syntactic observation

Νεκρώσατε οὖν τὰ μέλη τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, πορνείαν, ἀκαθαρσίαν, πάθος, ἐπιθυμίαν κακήν, καὶ τὴν πλεονεξίαν ἥτις ἐστὶν εἰδωλολατρία … νυνὶ δὲ ἀπόθεσθε καὶ ὑμεῖς τὰ πάντα, ὀργήν, θυμόν, κακίαν, βλασφημίαν, αἰσχρολογίαν … ἀπεκδυσάμενοι τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον σὺν ταῖς πράξεσιν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐνδυσάμενοι τὸν νέον τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν κατ’ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτόν, ὅπου οὐκ ἔνι Ἕλλην καὶ Ἰουδαῖος … ἀλλὰ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν Χριστός — Put to death, then, the members that are on the earth — sexual immorality, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry … But now throw off, you also, all of them — wrath, rage, wickedness, blasphemy, shameful speech … having stripped off the old man with his deeds and having put on the new one, which is being renewed unto knowledge according to the image of the one who created him, where there is no Greek and Jew … but Christ is all things and in all. νεκρόω is the verb of Rom 4:19 ‘dead’ — as an imperative, ‘put to death’. Two lists of five (v.5 · v.8) — the first five are the words of Gal 5:19 · Eph 5:3, the second five overlap Eph 4:31; αἰσχρολογία occurs once in the New Testament. Verse 6 ⸂ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῆς ἀπειθείας⸃ is the phrase of Eph 5:6 (marked ⸂⸃ by the base text). Three clothing verbs — ἀποτίθημι (throw off · Eph 4:22) · ἀπεκδύομαι (strip off · 2:15) · ἐνδύω (put on · Eph 4:24). Eph 4:22-24 has παλαιός / καινός, here παλαιός / νέος — ‘old / new’ do not show the difference (recorded). ἀνακαινόω is 2 Cor 4:16 ‘be renewed’. The eight of v.11 overlap the three of Gal 3:28 (Jew/Greek · slave/free · male/female) but lack the male/female pair and add ‘barbarian · Scythian’; Σκύθης occurs once.

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Syntactic observation

Ἐνδύσασθε οὖν ὡς ἐκλεκτοὶ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἅγιοι καὶ ἠγαπημένοι, σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ, χρηστότητα, ταπεινοφροσύνην, πραΰτητα, μακροθυμίαν, ἀνεχόμενοι ἀλλήλων καὶ χαριζόμενοι ἑαυτοῖς ἐάν τις πρός τινα ἔχῃ μομφήν· καθὼς καὶ ὁ κύριος ἐχαρίσατο ὑμῖν οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς· ἐπὶ πᾶσιν δὲ τούτοις τὴν ἀγάπην, ὅ ἐστιν σύνδεσμος τῆς τελειότητος. καὶ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ Χριστοῦ βραβευέτω ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν — Put on, then, as chosen ones of God, holy and beloved, bowels of compassion, kindness, lowliness of mind, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another and showing grace to one another, if anyone has a complaint against anyone; just as also the Lord showed grace to you, so also you. And above all these, love, which is the bond of completeness. And let the peace of Christ umpire in your hearts. Five are thrown off (v.8) and five put on (v.12) — kindness · lowliness of mind · gentleness · patience are the words of Gal 5:22 · Eph 4:2. Verse 13 puts Eph 4:2 ‘bearing with one another’ and Eph 4:32 ‘showing grace to one another, just as God … showed grace to you’ into one verse — here with ⸀κύριος as subject (Received Text Χριστός). μομφή occurs once in the New Testament — the noun of Rom 9:19 ‘find fault’ (μέμφομαι), ‘complaint’. σύνδεσμος τῆς τελειότητος uses the word of Eph 4:3 ‘the bond of peace’; τελειότης occurs twice (Heb 6:1). βραβεύω occurs once — the verb of Phil 3:14 βραβεῖον (prize), ‘umpire’ · one root with 2:18 καταβραβεύω ‘rob of the prize’. ⸀ὅ (v.14 neuter — Received Text ἥτις) · ⸀Χριστοῦ (v.15 — Received Text θεοῦ) are the base text’s readings.

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Syntactic observation

ὁ λόγος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐνοικείτω ἐν ὑμῖν πλουσίως ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ· διδάσκοντες καὶ νουθετοῦντες ἑαυτοὺς ψαλμοῖς, ὕμνοις, ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς ἐν χάριτι, ᾄδοντες ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν τῷ θεῷ· καὶ πᾶν ὅ τι ἐὰν ποιῆτε ἐν λόγῳ ἢ ἐν ἔργῳ, πάντα ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου Ἰησοῦ, εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ θεῷ πατρὶ δι’ αὐτοῦ — Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, in grace chanting in your hearts to God; and whatever you do, in word or in work, do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. The same sentence as Eph 5:19 — psalms · hymns · spiritual songs · chanting (ᾄδω) · heart — except that there it is ‘to the Lord’ and here ⸀θεῷ (Received Text κυρίῳ) ‘to God’, and there ψάλλω is added. διδάσκοντες καὶ νουθετοῦντες is the pair of 1:28 ‘admonishing … teaching’ with the order reversed. ἐνοικέω is Rom 8:11 ‘dwell in’ · πλουσίως occurs four times (1 Timothy · Titus · 2 Peter). Thanks three times (v.15 εὐχάριστοι · v.16 ἐν χάριτι · v.17 εὐχαριστοῦντες) — the root of χάρις is in all three; ‘thankful · grace · giving thanks’ split the middle one. ⸂ὅ τι⸃ ⸀ἐάν (v.17) · ⸀θεῷ (v.17 — Received Text ‘God and Father’) are the base text’s readings.

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Syntactic observation

Αἱ γυναῖκες, ὑποτάσσεσθε τοῖς ἀνδράσιν, ὡς ἀνῆκεν ἐν κυρίῳ. οἱ ἄνδρες, ἀγαπᾶτε τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ μὴ πικραίνεσθε πρὸς αὐτάς. Τὰ τέκνα, ὑπακούετε τοῖς γονεῦσιν κατὰ πάντα … οἱ πατέρες, μὴ ἐρεθίζετε τὰ τέκνα ὑμῶν, ἵνα μὴ ἀθυμῶσιν. οἱ δοῦλοι, ὑπακούετε κατὰ πάντα τοῖς κατὰ σάρκα κυρίοις, μὴ ἐν ὀφθαλμοδουλίαις, ὡς ἀνθρωπάρεσκοι, ἀλλ’ ἐν ἁπλότητι καρδίας, φοβούμενοι τὸν κύριον. ὃ ἐὰν ποιῆτε, ἐκ ψυχῆς ἐργάζεσθε … ἀπὸ κυρίου ἀπολήμψεσθε τὴν ἀνταπόδοσιν τῆς κληρονομίας· τῷ κυρίῳ Χριστῷ δουλεύετε· ὁ γὰρ ἀδικῶν κομίσεται ὃ ἠδίκησεν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν προσωπολημψία — Wives, be subject to the husbands, as is proper in the Lord. Husbands, love the wives and do not be bitter toward them. Children, obey the parents in all things … Fathers, do not stir up your children, so that they may not be discouraged. Slaves, obey in all things the lords according to flesh … in simplicity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work from the life … from the Lord you will receive back the repaying of the inheritance. Serve as slaves the Lord Christ; for the one who wrongs will receive what he wronged, and there is no partiality of face. The same three pairs as Eph 5:22-6:9 (wives/husbands · children/fathers · slaves/lords), shorter. Eph 5:22 has no verb and hangs on the previous participle; here ὑποτάσσεσθε is present. To fathers Eph 6:4 says παροργίζω (make angry), here ἐρεθίζω (stir up — 2 Cor 9:2); ἀθυμέω occurs once in the New Testament. To slaves the words overlap Eph 6:5-8 — lords according to flesh · eye-service (plural here, ⸀) · men-pleasers · simplicity of heart · from the life (ἐκ ψυχῆς). Partiality of face (προσωπολημψία) is said to the lords in Eph 6:9, to the slaves here. ἀνταπόδοσις occurs once. δουλεύετε (v.24) can be indicative or imperative — the Received Text adds γάρ and closes it as indicative; left as imperative, following the base text.

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