Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

Colossians 1:3

Colossians 1:3. We give thanks, etc. The Apostle usually begins with thanksgiving; comp. his earliest Epistle (1 Thessalonians 1:2) which exactly corresponds. The plural (‘we') is probably occasioned by the mention of Timothy (Colossians 1:1); but in 1 Corinthians 1:4; Philippians 1:3, the singular occurs after others have been named in the address. The plural does not stand for the singular, but is used when the Apostle, in thought, associates others with himself. Some extend the reference here to the church in the house or place where the Apostle was; which seems uncalled for.

To God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ‘ And' is to be omitted, although found in Aleph and A (retained by Tischendorf), because the copyists would be far more likely to insert it than to omit it. With this reading the sense is precisely the same as in the E. V., and as that of the alternate rendering given in Ephesians 1:3, though some nice grammatical questions are involved in the discussion of the Greek.

Always. This is connected by some with ‘praying,' but since the thanksgiving is the more prominent point, it seems better to join it with ‘give thanks,' there being no serious grammatical objections to this view. Comp. 1 Corinthians 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:3; Philemon 1:4.

When praying. The force of the participle is better expressed by supplying ‘when.

For you ' The better supported reading here gives a different preposition from that usually occurring in this connection. But the difference ‘is extremely slight, if indeed appreciable' (Ellicott). Although the Greek order would allow us to connect the phrase with ‘give thanks,' it receives greater emphasis when taken with the word ‘praying,' according to the usual view.

Continues after advertising

BibliaPlus

Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

Colossians 1:3

Old Testament

New Testament