τὸν Χριστόν] ‘the Christ’, rather than ‘the Gospel’, because the central point in the Colossian heresy was the subversion of the true idea of the Christ.
Ἰησοῦν τὸν Κύριον] ‘even Jesus the Lord’, in whom the true conception of the Christ is realised: comp. Ephes. iv. 20, 21, ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐχ οὕτως ἐμάθετε τὸν Χριστόν , εἴγε αὐτὸν ἠκούσατε καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ἐδιδάχθητε, καθώς ἐστιν ἀλήθεια ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ , where the same idea is more directly expressed. The genuine doctrine of the Christ consists in (1) the recognition of the historical person Jesus, and (2) the acceptance of Him as the Lord. This doctrine was seriously endangered by the mystic theosophy of the false teachers. The same order which we have here occurs also in Ephes. iii. 11 ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν (the correct reading).
7. ἐρριζωμένοι] Two points may be noticed here; (1) The expressive change of tenses; ἐρριζωμένοι ‘firmly rooted’ once for all, ἐποικοδομούμενοι, βεβαιούμενοι, ‘built up and strengthened’ from hour to hour. (2) The rapid transition of metaphor, περιπατεῖτε, ἐρῥιζωμένοι, ἐποικοδομούμενοι, the path, the tree, the building: comp. Ephes. iii. 17 ἐρριζωμένοι καὶ τεθεμελιωμένοι. The metaphors of the plant and the building occur together in 1 Cor. iii. 9 Θεοῦ γεώργιον, Θεοῦ οἰκοδομή. The transition in this passage is made easier by the fact that ῥιζοῦν (Plut. Mor. 321 D), ἐκριζοῦν (Jer. i. 10, 1 Macc. v. 51), πρόρριζος (Jos. B.J. vii. 8. 7), etc., are not uncommonly used of cities and buildings.
II. 7]
[← ] 7ἐρριζωμένοι καὶ ἐποικοδομούμενοι ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ βεβαιούμενοι τῇ πίστει, καθὼς ἐδιδάχθητε, περισσεύοντες ἐν αὐτῇ ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ. [ →]
ἐποικοδομούμενοι] ‘being built up,’ as in 1 Cor. iii. 10–14. After this verb we might have expected ἐπ’ αὐτῷ or ἐπ’ αὐτόν (1 Cor. iii. 12) rather than ἐν αὐτῷ; but in this and the companion epistle Christ is represented rather as the binding element than as the foundation of the building: e.g. Ephes. ii. 20 ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν, ὄντος ἀκρογωνιαίου αὐτοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἐν ᾧ πᾶσα [ἡ] οἰκοδομὴ αὔξει εἰς ναὸν ἅγιον ἐν Κυρίῳ, ἐν ᾧ καὶ ὑμεῖς συνοικοδομεῖσθε. The ἐπὶ in ἐποικοδομεῖν does not necessarily refer to the original foundation, but may point to the continued progress of the building by successive layers, as e.g. [Aristot.] Rhet. ad Alex. 4 (p. 1426) ἐποικοδομοῦντα τὸ ἕτερον ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ ἕτερον αὔξειν. Hence ἐποικοδομεῖν is frequently used absolutely, ‘to build up’ (e.g. Jude 20, Polyb. iii. 27, 4), as here. The repetition of ἐν αὐτῷ emphasizes the main idea of the passage, and indeed of the whole epistle.
τῇ πίστει] ‘by your faith’, the dative of the instrument; comp. Heb. xiii. 9 καλὸν γὰρ χάριτι βεβαιοῦσθαι τὴν καρδίαν. Faith is, as it were, the cement of the building: comp. Clem. Rom. 22 ταῦτα πάντα βεβαιοῖ ἡ ἐν Χριστῷ πίστις.
καθὼς ἐδιδάχθητε] i.e. ‘remaining true to the lessons which you received from Epaphras, and not led astray by any later pretenders’: comp. i. 6, 7 ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, καθὼς ἐμάθετε ἀπὸ Ἐπαφρᾶ.
ἐν αὐτῇ κ.τ.λ.] The same ending occurs in iv. 2. Thanksgiving is the end of all human conduct, whether exhibited in words or in works. For the stress laid on thanksgiving in St Paul’s epistles generally, see the note on Phil. iv. 6. The words εὐχάριστος, εὐχαριστεῖν, εὐχαριστία, occur in St Paul’s writings alone of the Apostolic epistles. In this epistle especially the duty of thanksgiving assumes a peculiar prominence by being made a refrain, as here and in iii. 15, 17, iv. 2: see also i. 12.