The Jewish Annotated New Testament (281 page)

3.12
–17: Living the new life. 12
:
Chosen ones
(Gk “eklektoi”), that Israel is God’s chosen people (Heb “ba
ḥ
ir”), a common expression in Deutero-Isaiah and related texts (e.g., Isa 45.4), becomes even more common as a label for believers in the NT (see Rom 8.33; Mk 13.20,22; Lk 18.7; 2 Tim 2.10; Titus 1.1; Rev 17.14). The Qumran sectarians saw themselves as the chosen of the chosen (cf. CD 4.3). The author of this letter reminds readers that chosenness confers obligations, an idea that the later rabbis would agree with.
Compassion … patience
, a catalogue of virtues to balance the vice catalogue of 3.8. As the Colossians were to strip off the vices, they are to dress themselves in virtues. The virtues are also generic.

13
:
Forgive
, perhaps an echo of Mt 6.12,14–15, or of 1 Cor 6.1–8. Cf. Eph 4.32.

14
–15
:
Love
(Gk “agapē”), the highest virtue in which the congregants should dress. See 2.2n.; 1 Cor 13.
Body
, see 1.18n.

16
:
Word of Christ
, unique to Col, where it seems to be equivalent to “good news of the Christ.”

17
:
God the Father
, the Tanakh rarely addresses God as father, preferring “God of our ancestors [“Fathers”],” although see Isa 63.16; Ps 89.26. The usage is known, but not common, at Qumran (see 4Q460, “‘avi va’doni,” “my father and my lord” [91.6]).

3.18
–4.1: Household codes
. The “Haustafeln” (see Introduction) governing the patriarchal family appear also in Eph 5.22–6.9 and 1 Pet 2.18–3.7.
Husbands … fathers … masters
are exhorted to behavior that undercuts the social leveling implied by the new hegemony of the Christ (cf. 3.11n.).

18
–19
:
Be subject
(Gk “hypotasso”), accept the husband’s authority; see 1 Cor 14.34 (“women … should be subordinate”), for which strong manuscript indications now show most probably to be an interpolation. Colossians names at least one woman, Nympha (see 4.15n.), with substantial authority, whether or not she was submissive to her husband.

20
–21
: See Eph 6.14 and annotations.

3.22
–4.1
: See Eph 6.5–9. For Paul, as for the author of Colossians, slave owners and slaves are both subject to the Christ, but neither author condemns the institution of slavery (cf. 3.11; see also Philem).

4.2
–6: Final admonitions. 3
:
Door for the word
, Paul uses this expression (1 Cor 16.9; 2 Cor 2.12) for an opportunity to travel to proclaim the gospel.
Mystery
, see 1.26–27n.; here a synonym for “word of the Christ,” 3.16.
Prison
, see 4.10.

5
:
Making the most
(Gk “exagorazomenoi”), a word from the realm of commerce (“agora,” “forum, marketplace”) meaning “redeem” or “buy back.” The phrase occurs only in the Deutero-Paulines (here and Eph 5.16), whose audiences have been given an opportunity (see translators’ note
e
); they can improve their lot in the final judgment by behaving appropriately now.

6
:
Seasoned with salt
, to make speech more interesting or witty (as in Plutarch,
On Talkativeness
514ff., who is not entirely enamored of the quality).

4.7
–18: Closing greetings.
The author mentions names from Paul’s authentic letters, especially Philem, and Acts.

7
:
Tychicus
, see Eph 6.21; 2 Tim 4.12; Titus 3.12; Acts 20.4, which might have suggested him to the authors of Eph and Col.
Fellow servant
, lit., “fellow-slave”; see 1.7n.

9
:
Onesimus
, main character in Philem.

10
:
Aristarchus
, mentioned in Acts 19.29; 20.4; 27.2, and Philem 24.
Fellow prisoner
, Paul uses the term twice, in Philem 23 to describe Epaphras and Rom 16.7 to describe Andronicus and Junia, who may have been imprisoned with him.
Mark
, Philem 24; see also Acts 12.12,25; perhaps 13.13; 15.37–39; possibly 1 Pet 5.13.
Cousin
, Acts closely associates Mark with Barnabas; the author of Colossians concludes that they were cousins. Christian tradition, via Papias of Hierapolis (second century), makes him Peter’s disciple and author of the second Gospel.
Barnabas
, Paul’s mentor (see Acts 9.27; 11.22,30; 14.12); both Acts 15.36ff. and Gal 2.13 suggest he and Paul parted ways on poor terms; Colossians, with its theme of reconciliation, presents them in fellowship.

11
:
Jesus … Justus
, double names (one Heb, one Gk or Lat) elsewhere in the NT: Saul (“Sha’ul”) and Paul (Acts 13.9); John (“Ioannēn/Yo
ḥ
anan”) and Mark (“Marcus”) (Acts 12.12).
The circumcision
, Jewish members of the Jesus movement. Colossians distinguishes Jew from Greek, and circumcision from foreskin (cf. 2.11n.).

12
:
Epaphras
, see 1.7n. In Philem 23, Epaphras is Paul’s “fellow prisoner”; here that distinction goes to Aristarchus.
Servant
(Gk “doulos”), slave.
Mature
, see 1.28n.

13
:
Laodicea
…
Hierapolis
, cities near Colossae.

14
:
Luke
, 2 Tim 4.11; Philem 24. This verse is the source for identifying him as a doctor.
Demas
, Philem 24; 2 Tim 4.10.

15
:
Nympha
, the owner of the house church, the dwelling where worship services were conducted for the local congregants (see Rom 16.5; 1 Cor 16.9).
Nympha
, “bride,” sounds generic, but see
CIJ
651–52, noting two Jewish women in Sicily in the fourth–fifth century CE with the name.

16
:
Letter from Laodicea
, not known; identifying it with the Epistle to the Ephesians, whose source and destination are even more unclear than Colossians, is as good a supposition as any.

17
:
Archippus
, in Philem 2, Paul called Archippus “fellow soldier.” Colossians makes him the recipient of a private message, “See that you complete the task….”

18
: As ancient letters were normally dictated to a scribe (see Rom 16.22), the author adds his handwritten signature (cf. 1 Cor 16.21; Gal 6.11; 2 Thess 3.17–18).
Chains
, or “imprisonment,” cf. Phil 1.7,13ff. and 4.3n.,10n.

1.1
: Address and salutation.
Unlike most of his letters, Paul does not identify himself as an apostle. In antiquity
church
(“ekklēsia”), like synagogue (“synagōgē”), denoted primarily a community or assembly of people, not a building.

1.2
–2.16: Paul gives thanks for the Thessalonians’ faith.

1.2
–10: Opening thanksgiving.
Paul uses several strategies for encouraging the Thessalonians, all of which undergird the instruction in chs 4–5. He recalls their time together and his dedication to them. He praises them for their faith and acknowledges their present difficulties.

3
:
Faith … love … hope
, a standard Pauline linkage of these three terms; see, e.g., 1 Cor 13.

4
:
Chosen
, or “picked out”; perhaps the same concept that indicates the choice of Israel (Deut 7.6).

5
:
Holy Spirit
, see also 4.8. The later development of ideas about the spirit of God (see Rom 15.19; cf. Jn 14–16) may go beyond Paul’s statement here.

6
:
Persecution
(Gk “thlipsis”), used in LXX to describe the suffering of God’s people, and elsewhere in the NT (Mt 24.9,21,29; Rev 1.9) in an eschatological context. In antiquity, as today, new religions provoked suspicion if not violence from the larger community; family and friends often rejected converts.

7
:
Macedonia
, the northern province of the Greek peninsula, where Thessalonica was located.
Achaia
, the southern province of Greece, location of Corinth and Athens.

9
:
From idols
, the converts were Gentiles.

10
:
Wrath that is coming
, Paul believed he was living during that period of upheaval preceding the end of days, an idea found in the prophets and developed in Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity (e.g., Ezek 38.18–23; 1QM; Rev 16.12–16). The same word as used above for “persecution” (Gk “thlipsis”) is used in Rev 7.14 (translated “ordeal” in NRSV) for the final “tribulation” of the Christian community.

2.1
–12: Paul recalls his time with the Thessalonians. 2
: Cf. Phil 1.29–30; Acts 16.19ff.

7
:
Apostles
, those “sent out,” ambassadors with a message.
Nurse
, i.e., a wet nurse, one who feeds infants from her breast, an unusual image of pastoral care (but see Num 11.12).

8
:
Our own selves
, Paul intends to visit the Thessalonians, not merely to send messages.

9
: Paul reminds the Thessalonians that he supported himself by manual
labor
, a lowly occupation (he was a tent-maker; see Acts 18.3), to demonstrate his humility and serve as an example of filial love. See 4.9–12.

2.13
–16: The churches in Judea. 15
:
Killed … prophets
, see Lk 11.47; 13.34; Acts 7.52. The Hebrew Bible does narrate the killing of a prophet (Uriah son of Shemaiah, Jer 26.20–23), but it is more usual for prophets to be persecuted short of death (e.g., Jer 20.1–2). Postbiblical literature understands that many prophets were persecuted to death (see Heb 11.36-38n.).

2.17
–3.10: Paul’s concern for the Thessalonians.

2.17
–20: Paul’s anguish over being separated from the Thessalonians. 18
: Paul does not indicate precisely how
Satan
hindered him; however, he mentions Satan often in connection with his time in Corinth (e.g., 1 Cor 5.5; 7.5; 10.10; 2 Cor 2.11; 4.4; 6.15; 12.7). In 3.5 he again refers to Satan, calling him the “tempter,” a role he plays in rabbinic literature as well; however, neither Paul nor the rabbis portray Satan as the embodiment of evil. Paul interpreted his difficulties during his mission in terms of the eschatological struggle between good and evil (cf. 5.5). Paul does not refer to a physical encounter with Satan, but means rather a struggle characteristic of a world during the period immediately before the new age begins.