Colossians Chapter 1 verse 5 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 5. - (We give thanks) because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens (Colossians 3:4; Ephesians 1:12-14; Philippians 3:20, 21; Romans 8:18-25; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58; 2 Corinthians 5:1-5; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Matthew 6:20; Matthew 19:21; Luke 12:33; John 14:2, 3). "Hope" is objective - matter of hope, as in Galatians 5:5; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 6:18. St. Paul speaks most of heaven and heavenly things in the letters of this period. Ver. 4 gives the nearest grammatical connection for this clause; and many recent commentators, following Greek interpreters, accordingly find here that which "evokes and conditions" the Colossians' "love" (Meyer, Ellicott) or "faith and love" (De Wette, Lightfoot). But this construction we reject. For it makes the heavenly reward the reason of the Colossians' present (faith and) love, reversing the true and Pauline order of thought (Romans 5:1-5; Romans 8:28-39; Romans 15:13; Ephesians 1:13; comp. 1 John 4:17, 18); while, on the other hand, the heavenly hope is the last and highest ground of the apostle's thanksgivings and encouragements, and the forfeiture or impairing of it the chief matter of his fears and warnings throughout the Epistles of this group (Colossians 1:12, 22, 23, 27, 28; Colossians 2:18; Colossians 3:4, 24; Ephesians 1:13, 14; Ephesians 2:12; Galatians 1:6-9; Galatians 4:4; Philippians 1:6; Philippians 2:16; Philippians 3:11-21: comp. 1 Peter 1:3, 4). It is better, therefore, with Bengel, Hofmann, Klopper, Conybeare, Eadie, and others, from Athanasius downwards, to refer ver. 5 as well as ver. 4 to the principal verb, "we give thanks" (ver. 3). What the apostle hears of "the faith and love" of the Colossian brethren moves him to give thanks for "the hope which is in store for them in heaven." Of that hope this faith and love are to him a pledge and an earnest, even as the "seal of the Spirit" (Ephesians 1:14) and the "peace of Christ in their hearts" (Colossians 3:15; see note) are to themselves. Similarly, in Philippians 1:27, 28 and 2 Thessalonians 1:4, 5, from the present faith and patience of the saints the certainty of their future blessedness is argued. By singling out this hope as chief matter of thanksgiving here, the apostle enhances its certainty and its value in his readers' eyes. (On this verse, see the Expositor, first series, vol. 10. pp. 74-80.) From the general occasion and ground of his thanksgiving in the Christian state and prospects of his readers, St. Paul proceeds to dwell on certain special circumstances which enhanced his gratitude to God (vers. 56-8). Which (hope) ye heard of before, in the word of the truth of the gospel; or, good tidings (vers. 7, 23; Colossians 2:7; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:15, 21; Galatians 1:6-9; Galatians 3:1-4; Galatians 4:9; Galatians 5:7; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15; 1 Peter 5:12). There is a veiled polemic reference in "the word of the truth of the gospel" (comp. ver. 7 and parallels from Galatians). The word "before" (aforetime) "contrasts their earlier with their later lessons, the true gospel of Epaphras with the false gospel of recent teachers" (Lightfoot). Others interpret, less suitably: heard already (before my writing), or heard beforehand (before the fulfilment of the hope). It is in St. Paul's manner to refer his readers at the outset to their conversion and first Christian experiences (see parallel passages). Their hope was directly at stake in the controversy with Colossian error. Here we meet the first of those cumulative combinations of nouns, so marked a feature of the style of Colossians and Ephesians, which are made a reproach against these Epistles by some critics; but each is appropriate in its place.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(5) For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.--The union of hope with faith and love is natural enough. Compare the fuller expression of 1Thessalonians 1:3, "your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope." But the place assigned to hope in this passage is notable. "For the hope" is really "on account of the hope." Hence faith and love are spoken of, not merely as leading up to hope, but as being actually kindled by it. Similarly in Ephesians 1:18 we find that, while faith and love are taken for granted, there is a special prayer that they may be enlightened "to know the hope of His calling" as the one thing yet needful. The prominence given to the thought of "the heavenly places" in the Epistles of the captivity, and therefore to Christ in heaven, even more than to Christ risen, is evident to any careful student. Accordingly, the hope, which is the instinct of perfection in man, and which becomes realisation of heaven in the Christian, naturally comes out with corresponding emphasis.Ye heard before.--That is, at their first conversion. There is an implied warning against the new doctrines, which are more fully noticed in the next chapter.The truth of the gospel.--This expression (as in Galatians 2:14) is emphatic. It refers to the gospel, not chiefly as a message of graciousness and mercy, but rather as a revelation of eternal truths, itself changeless as the truth it reveals. There is a corresponding emphasis, but stronger still, in St. John. (See, for example, 1John 2:27; 1John 5:20; 2John 1:1-4; 3John 1:2-3.) The gospel was now winning its way to supremacy over civilised thought. Hence the need of warning against the sudden growth of wild speculations, contrasted with the unchanging simplicity of its main truths. . . .