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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentaries
The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon
This is a theological commentary on the Greek text; on the foundation of linguistic detail is based a doctrinal exposition. The first section of the Introduction is on the religious ideas of the epistles, and frequent allusion is made throughout the commentary to works on New Testament theology. There are special notes on many of the important theological terms such as 'knowledge', 'mystery', pleroma, as well as on linguistic points, such as the use of the reflexive pronoun. But attention is devoted also to critical and introductory matters, and this is, it is believed, the first commentary on Colossians and Philemon to discuss in some detail the theories of Professors E. J. Goodspeed and J. Knox. The commentary is documented with references to works in English, French and German, for those who wish to follow up the study in greater detail. But the aim has been to make the exposition as far as possible self-contained and intelligible to a reader with no other books before him than the New Testament in Greek and the Old Testament in English.
183 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1957
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February 22, 2011
The late conservative Anglican scholar CFD Moule contributed greatly to the study of the New Testament throughout his ninety-eight years of life and ministry. Although some of his other works hold greater popularity, this tiny (170-page) work has no small impact in the field of Colossian studies. Ripples of this work can be seen in more recent studies of the book such as the 103 citations in Peter O'Brien's commentary (Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 44, Colossians-Philemon), 54 citations in JDG Dunn's (The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon: A Commentary on the Greek Text (New International Greek Testament Commentary)), and numerous citations in Douglas Moo's Pillar Commentary (The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon (Pillar New Testament Commentary)). These examples are but a small sampling of the works which demonstrate the keen impact of Moule's research. In these examples alone, the work has much to commend itself; however, the reviewer will attempt to demonstrate why the modern commentators turn so quickly to this little volume.
What makes this work so immensely helpful is that, in its brevity, every page is packed with powerful exegesis and analysis of the Greek text at hand. The book is laid out as follows. Introductory material (44 p), Col chapter 1 (40 p), 2 (26 p), 3 (21 p), 4 (8 p), Philemon (11 p), and Appendices (20 p).
Moule's clarity of thought and word is a powerful resource throughout the work. From the very introduction to the epistles, the writer turns to the ethical issue of slavery and points out how Christianity opened the world to the principles which would serve as "an explosive charge to the whole institution" (11) of slavery. He wisely points out that the charge did not sink the ship immediately and that, at times, Christians were not very perceptive of the impact of the Gospel in relationship to slavery. At this point, the thoughtful author turns to his reader and notes that they ought to be wary of "acquiescence" to "present day...blind spots" (12). His comments in regard to the, in the time of the writing, revolutionary Knox/Goodspeed views regarding the Book of Philemon are clearly presented and logically dismember their arguments. He demonstrates carefully the use of chiasmus in 1:10 (54). His statement of the "IOU" of 2:14 has become a classic (97), which is quoted by numerous later commentators. The treatment and explanation of 2:23 is both remarkable and beautiful (e.g. 111) as is that of 3:5 (114-115). He adduces that "eyeservice" in 3:22 is "outward movements of the work without a corresponding keenness of the will behind them." The five appendices which cover a variety of helpful topics (epistolary greetings, definition of an Apostle, the knowledge of God, definition of the fullness, and use of reflexive pronouns) for the interpreter are of the highest quality.
The writer's understanding of the Greek is a solid asset to this volume. His ability, not only to define, but to explain the workings of the Greek language demonstrate an unusual prowess with the original language. As the commentary is a "Greek Testament Commentary," the reader will not be surprised to find arguments constructed primarily from the Greek language; therefore, without a cursory understanding of Koine Greek, the reader will quickly find themselves lost in the middle of a very helpful paragraph.
Finally, the author's handling of interpretational difficulties sets the work apart from many others. In the first chapter of Colossians he argues for authorship by the Apostle Paul (13-14), explains the concept of hope being "laid up in heaven" in v. 5 (49-50), holds that "heard before" refers to the time before the false teaching arrived at Colossae (50), sees "truth" as a dative of manner (51), views Epaphroditus of Philippians as a different man than Epaphras of Colossians (27), holds that "spirit" in v. 8 is a reference to the human spirit and not the Holy Spirit (52), connects "joy" with v. 11 rather than v. 12 (55), views the "Christ-hymn" as solely Pauline (62), argues that "head" (v. 18) refers not to control or direction, but to supremacy or origin (68), views the "fullness" as the subject of "well-pleased" in verse 19 (70-71), discusses a number of varying understandings and uses of the term "now" in verse 24 (75), and argues that the "quota" view of verse 24 is "more uniformly probable" than the other orthodox views (76). In chapter 2 Moule holds to the military definition of "firmness" in verse 5 (89), presents an excellent overview of the views of the term "bodily" in verse 9 (92-94), holds the general IOU view of the "handwriting" in verse 14 (97), views the stripping of verse 15 as a true middle voice - Christ stripped something from Himself (102), presents the phrase "in it/Him" (G. en auto) as referring to the cross (102), and sees the difficult participle (G. thelon) in verse 18 as improper grammar (104). In chapter 3, the writer imports the baptismal understanding of the passage into the majority of his exegesis (113-114, 120), views love as the final covering garment in verse 14 (123), interprets "peace of Christ" (v. 15) as a subjective genitive (124), sees an athletic analogy in the term "rule" in verse 15 (124), translates the meaning of a subjective genitive view of "word of Christ" in verse 16 (125), wades carefully through some of the challenges of the household code (126-128), holds the phrase "in the Lord" (v. 20) is best seen as conditional (130), and interprets "serve" (v. 24) as imperative (131). In chapter 4, Moule views "grace" (v. 6) as human graciousness (135), sees "salt" (v. 6) as both a purifier and a condiment (135), argues that the "fellow prisoner" (v. 10) is purely figurative (136-137), states that it would be impossible to know the origin of the instructions in verse 10 (137), explains the structure of verse 11 (137), interprets a key term in verse 12 (G. plerophero) as "fully-assured" (138), views the Laodicean epistle as an uninspired and unpreserved letter from Paul to the church in that city (17-18, 138-139).
The only negative comments come primarily from the book's age and secondarily from the quality of the work. The book's age creates an emphasis on the Knox/Goodspeed views and use of the older baptismal view of chapter 3, but out of the glut of commentaries produced in the early post-war era, Moule's avoids many of the plaguing issues that continue to crop up in commentaries today. One of the areas in which this can be seen is in Moule's careful understanding of the Colossian heresy. He, unlike many writers of his day, does not press his own views into the understanding of the text at hand. Only in more modern times is this approach to the text being recognized as more beneficial. The second issue that the reviewer has with the book is its brevity. A number of phrases and verses are passed without comment; however, the most challenging phrases are dealt with in an in-depth and thorough manner. These issues, as the reader of this review can tell, are not issues of any depth whatsoever, so this fine commentary will be rightly given 5 stars.
If the reader is seeking a lay-level commentary which relies heavily on the insight of CFD Moule, they will likely find the (unfortunately) out of print volume by the late HM Carson very helpful (The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and Philemon: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries)). Perhaps even the commentary written by Charles Moule's great-uncle, HCG Moule (The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon) may also interest the reader. If, however, the reader seeks a more modern technical work along these lines, the reviewer would recommend Harris' fine exegetical guide (Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament: Colossians and Philemon).
What makes this work so immensely helpful is that, in its brevity, every page is packed with powerful exegesis and analysis of the Greek text at hand. The book is laid out as follows. Introductory material (44 p), Col chapter 1 (40 p), 2 (26 p), 3 (21 p), 4 (8 p), Philemon (11 p), and Appendices (20 p).
Moule's clarity of thought and word is a powerful resource throughout the work. From the very introduction to the epistles, the writer turns to the ethical issue of slavery and points out how Christianity opened the world to the principles which would serve as "an explosive charge to the whole institution" (11) of slavery. He wisely points out that the charge did not sink the ship immediately and that, at times, Christians were not very perceptive of the impact of the Gospel in relationship to slavery. At this point, the thoughtful author turns to his reader and notes that they ought to be wary of "acquiescence" to "present day...blind spots" (12). His comments in regard to the, in the time of the writing, revolutionary Knox/Goodspeed views regarding the Book of Philemon are clearly presented and logically dismember their arguments. He demonstrates carefully the use of chiasmus in 1:10 (54). His statement of the "IOU" of 2:14 has become a classic (97), which is quoted by numerous later commentators. The treatment and explanation of 2:23 is both remarkable and beautiful (e.g. 111) as is that of 3:5 (114-115). He adduces that "eyeservice" in 3:22 is "outward movements of the work without a corresponding keenness of the will behind them." The five appendices which cover a variety of helpful topics (epistolary greetings, definition of an Apostle, the knowledge of God, definition of the fullness, and use of reflexive pronouns) for the interpreter are of the highest quality.
The writer's understanding of the Greek is a solid asset to this volume. His ability, not only to define, but to explain the workings of the Greek language demonstrate an unusual prowess with the original language. As the commentary is a "Greek Testament Commentary," the reader will not be surprised to find arguments constructed primarily from the Greek language; therefore, without a cursory understanding of Koine Greek, the reader will quickly find themselves lost in the middle of a very helpful paragraph.
Finally, the author's handling of interpretational difficulties sets the work apart from many others. In the first chapter of Colossians he argues for authorship by the Apostle Paul (13-14), explains the concept of hope being "laid up in heaven" in v. 5 (49-50), holds that "heard before" refers to the time before the false teaching arrived at Colossae (50), sees "truth" as a dative of manner (51), views Epaphroditus of Philippians as a different man than Epaphras of Colossians (27), holds that "spirit" in v. 8 is a reference to the human spirit and not the Holy Spirit (52), connects "joy" with v. 11 rather than v. 12 (55), views the "Christ-hymn" as solely Pauline (62), argues that "head" (v. 18) refers not to control or direction, but to supremacy or origin (68), views the "fullness" as the subject of "well-pleased" in verse 19 (70-71), discusses a number of varying understandings and uses of the term "now" in verse 24 (75), and argues that the "quota" view of verse 24 is "more uniformly probable" than the other orthodox views (76). In chapter 2 Moule holds to the military definition of "firmness" in verse 5 (89), presents an excellent overview of the views of the term "bodily" in verse 9 (92-94), holds the general IOU view of the "handwriting" in verse 14 (97), views the stripping of verse 15 as a true middle voice - Christ stripped something from Himself (102), presents the phrase "in it/Him" (G. en auto) as referring to the cross (102), and sees the difficult participle (G. thelon) in verse 18 as improper grammar (104). In chapter 3, the writer imports the baptismal understanding of the passage into the majority of his exegesis (113-114, 120), views love as the final covering garment in verse 14 (123), interprets "peace of Christ" (v. 15) as a subjective genitive (124), sees an athletic analogy in the term "rule" in verse 15 (124), translates the meaning of a subjective genitive view of "word of Christ" in verse 16 (125), wades carefully through some of the challenges of the household code (126-128), holds the phrase "in the Lord" (v. 20) is best seen as conditional (130), and interprets "serve" (v. 24) as imperative (131). In chapter 4, Moule views "grace" (v. 6) as human graciousness (135), sees "salt" (v. 6) as both a purifier and a condiment (135), argues that the "fellow prisoner" (v. 10) is purely figurative (136-137), states that it would be impossible to know the origin of the instructions in verse 10 (137), explains the structure of verse 11 (137), interprets a key term in verse 12 (G. plerophero) as "fully-assured" (138), views the Laodicean epistle as an uninspired and unpreserved letter from Paul to the church in that city (17-18, 138-139).
The only negative comments come primarily from the book's age and secondarily from the quality of the work. The book's age creates an emphasis on the Knox/Goodspeed views and use of the older baptismal view of chapter 3, but out of the glut of commentaries produced in the early post-war era, Moule's avoids many of the plaguing issues that continue to crop up in commentaries today. One of the areas in which this can be seen is in Moule's careful understanding of the Colossian heresy. He, unlike many writers of his day, does not press his own views into the understanding of the text at hand. Only in more modern times is this approach to the text being recognized as more beneficial. The second issue that the reviewer has with the book is its brevity. A number of phrases and verses are passed without comment; however, the most challenging phrases are dealt with in an in-depth and thorough manner. These issues, as the reader of this review can tell, are not issues of any depth whatsoever, so this fine commentary will be rightly given 5 stars.
If the reader is seeking a lay-level commentary which relies heavily on the insight of CFD Moule, they will likely find the (unfortunately) out of print volume by the late HM Carson very helpful (The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and Philemon: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries)). Perhaps even the commentary written by Charles Moule's great-uncle, HCG Moule (The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon) may also interest the reader. If, however, the reader seeks a more modern technical work along these lines, the reviewer would recommend Harris' fine exegetical guide (Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament: Colossians and Philemon).
November 19, 2011
This is somewhat of an older commentary which I got out of a free box somewhere. But it is by a respected Anglican scholar (mid 20th century), judicially handles the text and provides lots of helpful textual notes. As my Greek is pretty horrible, working my way through this commentary was a difficult slog and I was reduced to skimming in places (commentary is English, but it comments on the Greek text), but happy to have gleaned what I can from this. One of the best resources I have rescued from free-box-obscurity.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews