Colossians 2:18

ἃ ἑόρακεν. μὴ is omitted by א*ABD* Boh. Marc. Ambrst. μὴ is inserted by Text. Rec. with אcCDcHKLP, etc. οὐκ by G. The negative is also found in vulg. Syrr. Chrys., and is so much easier upon a superficial examination that it is hardly likely to be genuine.

18. μηδεἰς. Contrast μή τις, Colossians 2:16, note.

ὑμᾶς καταβραβευέτω. An extremely rare word occurring here only in the Greek Bible, and only twice in profane literature (vide infra).

(1) The compound παραβραβεύω is said to = to adjudge a prize unfairly, and so Chrysostom says of καταβραβεύειν here, καταβραβευθῆναί ἐστιν, ὅτον παρʼ ἑτέρῳ μὲν ἡ νίκη ᾗ παρʼ ἑτέρῳ δὲ τὸ βραβεῖον, ὅταν ἐπηρεάζῃ νικήσας (quando cum viceris, fraude laederis). But καταβ. would then probably = to adjudge a prize wrongly, and with hostile intent to the person injured. Lightfoot enlarges the reference and understands it as regarding the false teachers simply as persons frustrating those who otherwise would have won the prize, translating it with the R.V., “rob you of your prize,” the prize being eternal life.

(2) There is indeed “no doubt that the judge who assigned the prizes at the games was technically called βραβεύς or βραβευτής, and the prize itself βραβεῖον (1 Corinthians 9:24; Philippians 3:14†). Hence βραβεύειν would properly signify to act as βραβεύς or umpire, and award the prize to the most meritorious candidate. But it so happens that in the examples that we have of this verb and its compounds, the prize itself never comes into view, but only the award or decision, and that not so much in its proper agonistical, as in an applied and general sense” (Field, Otium Norvicense, ed. 1899). Cf. βραβεύειν, Colossians 3:15†, καὶ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ χρ. βραβευέτω ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν, and Wis 10:12†, of Wisdom protecting Jacob, καὶ�, “and over his sore conflict she watched as judge,” R.V.

(3) Hence, if it had not been for the analogy of παραβραβεύω, καταβραβεύω would naturally mean merely “decide against” without any necessary connotation of unfairness or of special reference to the prize. And this in fact is the meaning of it in the only two places in which it occurs, viz. Eustath. on Il. A. 402 sqq. (T. I. p. 124, 2 ed. Rom.), and Demosth. c. Mid. p. 544; see Field, loc. cit.

This meaning, “condemn,” is that of the Syriac both Pesh. and Harcl., and suits the parallelism of Colossians 2:16, μὴ οὖν τις ὑμᾶς κρινέτω. It is only somewhat stronger. “Let no man judge you … let no one condemn you.”

θέλων. The construction is very uncertain.

(1) We may take it absolutely, “Let no one condemn you, willingly and gladly, in,” etc. Cf. 2 Peter 3:5, λανθάνει γὰρ αὐτοὺς τοῦτο θέλοντας, “For this they wilfully fail to see.”

(2) We may understand with it some such phrase as τοῦτο ποιεῖν, or καταβραβεύειν ὑμᾶς. So Ellicott.

But against both (1) and (2) it may reasonably be urged that the attitude of the false teachers towards the Colossians seems to come nowhere into consideration.
(3) We may take it closely with ἐν, by a Hebraism which is found fairly often in the O.T., generally indeed with a personal object (e.g. 1 Chronicles 28:4, ἐν ἐμοὶ ἠθέλησεν); but twice of things, Psalms 111 (112):1, ἑν ταῖς ἐντολαῖς αὐτοῦ θέλει σφόδρα; 146 (147):10, οὐκ ἐν τῇ δυναστείᾳ τοῦ ἵππου θελήσει; cf. Test. XII. Patr., Asher 1, ἐὰν οὖν ἡ ψυχὴ θέλῃ ἐν καλῷ. It thus = “taking pleasure in” ταπεινοφρ. So Lightfoot.

This gives an admirable sense, and serves to introduce the following participles, which indeed appear to need some such link. But it is an objection of some weight that this Hebraism occurs here only in the N.T. (see W.H. Append, in loc.). It also destroys the parallelism of form between μὴ οὖν τις ὑμᾶς κρινέτω ἐν and μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς καταβραβευέτω … ἐν. Yet on the whole this is perhaps the best construction to adopt.

ἐν ταπεινοφροσύνῃ, “in humility.”

The substantive ταπεινοφροσύνη occurs only in the N.T. (Acts 20:19; Ephesians 4:2; Philippians 2:3; 1 Peter 5:5; Colossians 2:23 and Colossians 3:12†), clearly in a good sense always except here and Colossians 2:23.

So in itself even here, and Colossians 2:23. Perhaps it was a word often on the lips of the false teachers.

But the context indicates that the humility which they desired was misplaced. Man is not intended to humble himself in such a way that he proceeds to worship the angels. “I can speak more safely,” says an early author, “and more cheerfully to my Jesus, than to any of the holy spirits of God,” tutius et jucundius loquor ad meum Jesum, quam ad aliquem sanctorum spirituum, De Vis. infirm. II. § 2 in Augustine’s works, Appendix, Migne VII. p. 1153 (quoted by Davenant).

The adjective ταπεινόφρων occurs in 1 Peter 3:8† and Proverbs 29:23†, also in a good sense. So also the verb ταπεινοφρονεῖν in the only place in which it is found in the Greek Bible, Psalms 130 (131):2, and in Sym. Job 22:29.

Precisely the same thought of ταπεινοφροσύνη being necessary for understanding visions is found in Hermas, Vis. III. x. 6. Hermas on asking to know the meaning of the revelation of the Church in threefold form is told by her πᾶσα ἐρώτησις ταπεινοφροσύνῃς χρῄζει· νήστευσον οὖν, καὶ λήμψῃ, ὃ αἰτεῖς παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου.

Also notice that after one day of fasting a young man appears to him in the night, and warns him against injuring his flesh by too much desire after revelations.

καὶ θρησκείᾳ, “and cult.” θρησκεία occurs in the N.T. elsewhere only in Acts 26:5 and James 1:26-27. It is not found in the LXX. of the Canonical books, but only in Wis 14:18; Wis 14:27; Sir 22:5 (A); 4Ma 5:6; 4Ma 5:13, and three times in the Symmachus fragments.

Cf. ἐθελοθρησκία, Colossians 2:23†; θρῆσκος, James 1:26-27 (supra)†; and θρησκεύειν, Wis 11:15; Wis 14:16†.

It = the external, sensuous side of religion, worship quâ form. Trench, Synon. § xlviii. quotes from Philo (Quod Det. Pot. Ins. 7. §§ 20, 21, Wendland, I. 195), saying that “Having repelled such as would fain be counted among the εὐσεβεῖς on the score of divers washings, or costly offerings to the temple, he proceeds: πεπλάνηται γὰρ καὶ οὗτος τῆς πρὸς εὐσέβειαν ὁδοῦ, θρησκείαν�” i.e. as Hatch translates it “with heart set on external observances instead of on holiness” (Biblical Greek, p. 56). Hatch sets out the various passages where θρησκεία occurs (e.g. in Josephus) in a very convenient form. Cf. too Mayor on James. From Lightfoot’s quotation from Plutarch, Vit. Alex. 2, δοκεῖ καὶ τὸ θρησκεύειν ὄνομα ταῖς κατακόροις γενέσθαι καὶ περιέργοις ἱερουργίαις we may suppose that the substantive as well as the verb would have the connotation of scrupulosity in “wearisome and elaborate” external rites.

τῶν�. The genitive is surely objective though Zahn and P. Ewald try to show that it is subjective, and that the clause = mortification and devotion suitable to angels, but not for men who have bodies.

The article is strange. It shows that the emphasis is not on angels as such. It may either mean “the angels” generally, or “the angels” that the false teacher personally worshipped.
On the nature of the angel worship at Colossae, see Introd. ch. IV.

ἃ ἑόρακεν ἐμβατεύων, “exploring the things that he hath seen.” On the reading ἃ μὴ ἑόρακεν, see notes on Textual Criticism. ἐμβατεύειν occurs here only in the N.T.

It may mean (a) frequent, haunt; νῆσος … ἣν ὁ φιλόχορος Πὰν ἐμβατεύει, Aesch. Pers. 449; (b) take possession (also classical). To this the usage of the LXX. is closely akin.

In canonical books of the LXX. only in Joshua 19:49; Joshua 19:51, καὶ ἐπορεύθησαν ἑμβατεῦσαι τὴν γῆν in Joshua 19:49, representing naḥal, divide (the land) for a possession, and in Joshua 19:51, ḥalleq, divide, or apportion.

In 1 Mac. ἐμβατεύειν εἰς is used of an enemy invading a country (1Ma 12:25; 1Ma 13:20; 1Ma 14:31; 1Ma 15:40), and in 2Ma 2:30 the writer says τὸ μὲν ἐμβατεύειν καὶ περίπατον ποιεῖσθαι λόγῳ κ. πολυπραγμονεῖν ἐν τοῖς κατὰ μέρος, τῷ τῆς ἱστορίας�, “to occupy the ground, and to indulge in long discussions,” R.V., where perhaps “to go into matters” (Rawlinson) is better.

(c) But Chrysostom uses it of God exploring the heart, ὁ τὰς ἁπάντων ἐμβατεύων καρδίας (I. p. 371 E), τὸν ἐμβατεύοντα ταῖς καρδίαις (IX. p. 437 D), and of persons who presume to investigate God’s nature, οἱ τὴν μακαρίαν ἐκείνην φύσιν ἐμβατεύειν ἐπιχειροῦντες (I. p. 472 C). Similarly Athanasius, τολμηρὸν ἐμβατεύειν τὴν�, (I. p. 152) in Suicer I. p. 1098, who gives other examples from the Fathers.

So too Hesychius, ἐμβατεῦσαι—ζητῆσαι; and Varinus, ἐμβατεῦσαι, ἐπιβῆναι, τὰ ἔνδον ἐξερευνῆσαι, ἢ σκοπῆσαι, and there seems to be no sufficient reason for forsaking this interpretation here. Cf. Field, Otium Norvicense, 1899. The thought is that the false teacher spends his time in searching into the meaning of his visions—an error common to many of the more sensuous forms of religion. Compare the elaborate explanations given in Hermas, and in Enoch, of the visions described.

Thus it is not necessary to emend the text, though two conjectures are historically interesting, (a) ἐώρᾳ or αἰώρᾳ κενεμβατεύειν, “treading the void in the air,” for “though the precise form κενεμβατεύειν does not occur, yet it is unobjectionable in itself” (Lightfoot). (b) ἀέρα κενεμβατεύων (C. Taylor) or κενεμβατῶν, “treading the void of air.” (c) P. Ewald in order to account for the μή suggests ἀμετροκενεμβατεύων or, preferably, ἄμετρα κενεμβατεύων, “ins Ungemessene Lufttritte machend oder auch: masslos ins Leere stechend.”

εἰκῇ, “vainly,” i.e. “without just cause,” Romans 13:4; Proverbs 28:25; to be taken with φυσιούμενος. It would only weaken ἐμβατεύων.

φυσιούμενος, “being puffed up,” “inflated.” Elsewhere only in 1 Cor. (sex.). Cf. 1 Corinthians 8:1, ἡ γνῶσις φυσιοῖ.

ὑπὸ, probably in personification; cf. Mayor on James 3:4.

τοῦ νοὸς, i.e. the thinking faculty, the intellect, in operation; cf. Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 14:14-15.

τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ. It ought to have been dominated by the spirit; ὑπὸ σαρκικῆς διανοίας, οὐ πνευματικῆς· ἀνθρώπινος ὁ λογισμός (Chrys.).

Compare Moule on Ephesians 2:3, “This important word [the flesh], wherever it occurs in the N.T. in connexion with the doctrine of sin, means human nature as conditioned by the Fall, or, to word it otherwise, either the state of the unregenerate being, in which state the sinful principle dominates, or the state of that element of the regenerate being in which the principle, dislodged, as it were, from the centre, still lingers and is felt; not dominant in the being, but present.”

Probably St Paul also bears in mind the claim of the false teachers to purify themselves by their asceticism from the power of the flesh. Nay, he says, in reality they are governed by it. If this double interpretation be right the ethical and the physical references of σάρξ are both present.