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*John Anthony Dunne will receive an M.A. in Old Testament and Semitics from
Talbot School of Theology in May 2011 and will begin doctoral studies at the
University of St. Andrews in Scotland in the Fall of 2011.
lr
The designation "hymn" will be used throughout the present study without
necessarily implying that the material is pre-Pauline. Further, it is placed in quotations
because even if it is pre-Pauline it is not necessarily an actual hymn, as its genre could
have been merely poetic. See S. E. Fowl, The Story of Christ in the Ethics of Paul: An
Analysis of the Hymnic Material in the Pauline Corpus (JSNTSup 36; Sheffield: Sheffield,
1990), 31-45. As Fowl opines, the position of pre-Pauline authorship tends to assume
that the writing process was spontaneous, yet we have no reason to assume that it
could not have been more reflective or occurring in more than one session. See ibid.,
38. . T. Wright, for one, suggests that Paul could have been the author of the epistle
as well as the "hyrnnic" material ("Poetry and Theology in Colossians 1:15-20," NTS
36/3 [1990]: 464). For the argument that the author of the "hymn" and the document
is the same person, but not Paul, see Vincent A. Pizzuto, A Cosmic Leap of Faith: An
Authorial, Structural, and Theological Investigation of the Cosmic Christology in Col 1:15-20
(Biblical Exegesis & Theology 41; Leuven: Peeters, 2006), Uff.; George H. Van Kooten,
Cosmic Christology in Paul and the Pauline School (WUNT 171; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck,
2003), 115-21. The present study is not dependent upon any theory of authorship,
although I do assume the letter to be authentically Pauline.
2
James D. G. Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1998), 269.
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II. WISDOM
TRADITIONS
Ben Withenngton, Jesus the Sage (Minneapolis Fortress, 1994), 289, James D G
Dunn, Christology in the Making A New Testament Inquiry into the Origins of the Doctrine
of the Incarnation (2d ed, Grand Rapids Eerdmans, 1996), 167, Wright, Colossians
and Philemon
(TNTC, Grand Rapids Eerdmans, 2007), 69
4
Roy Yates, The Epistle to the Colossians (Epworth Commentaries, London
Epworth, 1993), 18, James D G Dunn, The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon
(NIGTC, Grand Rapids Eerdmans, 1996), 88
5
Chnstopher Beetham, Echoes of Scripture in the Letter of Paul to the Colossians
(Leiden Brill, 2008), 122, Douglas J Moo, The letters to the Colossians and to Philemon
(PNTC, Grand Rapids Eerdmans, 2008), 113 Cf Philo De Conf 97, 147, De Fug 101,
De Som 1 239, 2 45, Spec Leg 1 81, where the Word is also called the "image of God "
See Dunn,
Colossians and Philemon, 98
6
Thomas J Sappington, Revelation and Redemption at Colossae (JSNTSup 53,
Sheffield
Sheffield Academic, 1991), 173
7
For example Prov 8 22, Wis 9 1-2, Tg Neofiti Gen 11, Philo Virtues 62
8
Beetham calls the connection with Wisdom tradition "virtually certain" (Echoes
of Scripture, 130)
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17
^Fee, "Wisdom Christology in Paul/' 261-66. Michael F. Bird also notes that
there are no texts which teach that the world was created for Wisdom (Colossians and
Philemon: A Nezv Covenant Commentary [NCCS; Eugene, re.: Cascade, 2009], 48^9).
Even Sappington admits that the claim that all things were created for Christ (
) and that he "holds all things together" () goes beyond anything found
in the Wisdom traditions (Revelation and Redemption, 174). Likewise, Fowl suggests
that a major difference between Paul's assertions about Christ and much of the
literature on Wisdom is that Wisdom is not viewed as a redeemer (Story of Christ, 11821).
23
For instance, Prov 3:19 LXX states that the earth was founded "in wisdom" (T9
), which amounts to the simple assertion that his deeds were wisely performed.
Further, Ps 104:24 states that all of God's works were done "in wisdom" (v ).
24
Withermgton, Jesus the Sage, 269.
25
Wright, "Poetry and Theology," 445.
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provided. Recognizing this point can also help us discern how the
key terms of the "hymn" are being used.26
The referent for the pronouns comes in v. 13: "the Son of [God's]
love." As Fee notes, the grammar utilized by Paul suggests that vv.
15-20 are part of a longer sentence that begins in v. 12.27 This
observation has huge implications since these verses have often been
treated in isolation, yet the immediate context provides multiple
clues for how the author understood the "hymn." Indeed, in the
verses immediately preceding the "hymnic" material, it is stated that
believers have been transferred by God into the kingdom of the Son of
his love (Col 1:13). By "Son," the author does not mean to refer to the
Second Person of the Trinity. Rather, as Beetham notes, the
designation uiou conveys strong covenantal
language associated with the kingly lineage of David (cf. 2 Sam 7:14;
Pss 2:7; 89:26-27).28 Thus, we have regal imagery as well as Davidic
imagery applied to the referent for whom the relative pronouns of
the "hymn" refer. This should be kept in mind as we look at the
specific terms used in the "hymn."
. and Genesis 1
30
Contrary to some early church fathers (though not all), such as Origen,
Chrysostom, Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzus, and others, who thought that the
"image" must be of the same invisible nature as God (Peter Gorday, ed., Colossians, 1-2
Thessalonians, 1-2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon [ACCS New Testament DC; Downers Grove:
InterVarsity, 2000], 10-12).
Some suggest that the background of Merkabah mysticism is in view here and
that the author's point is that one does not need to ascend into the heavens to see God
in visible form (Andreas Kstenberger, L. Scott Kellum, Charles L. Quarles, The Cradle,
The Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the Nexo Testament [Nashville: B&H, 2009],
616; cf. the use of this background for generally in Seyoon Kim, Paul and the Nexo
Perspective [Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2002], 175). However, such a point seems
rather elusive here in Colossians, especially as the theme is not addressed elsewhere
in the letter.
31
Fee, 'Old Testament Textuality in Colossians/' 215.
32
See Jacob Jervell, Imago Dei: Gen l,26f im Sptjudentum, in der Gnosis und in den
paulinischen Briefen (Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1960), 200; Fee, 'Old
Testament Textuality in Colossians/' 212-15.
33
Note the work of Kim who argues that Paul derived his concept of Christ as the
Last Adam based on his prior acknowledgment of Christ as the "Image of God/'
which he derived from the epiphany of Christ on the road to Damascus (Paul and the
Nezo Perspective, 166-67).
M
See Ridderbos, Paul, 71.
^So Matthew E. Gordley, The Colossian Hymn in Context (WUNT 228; Tbingen:
Mohr Siebeck, 2007), 215; Beetham, Echoes of Scripture, 132; Dunn, Christology in the
Making, 188.
3
As Ridderbos, Paul, 81-82, rightly stated. Note also JervelTs comment, "Was
Christus in der Urzeit war, ist er auch in der Endzeit" (Imago Dei, 203).
10
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37
I n the past, scholars tended to use the terms / / allusion , / and "echo"
interchangeably. However, recently there has been an emphasis on using the terms
with a specialized nuance. See esp. Beetham, Echoes of Scripture, 11-40. In terms of
distmguishing echo from allusion, Hays opts for a simple approach, defining allusions
as more obvious and echoes as more subtle. However, he lists seven criteria for
detennining the existence of an allusion/echo, which are (1) Availability, (2) Volume,
(3) Recurrence, (4) Thematic Coherence, (5) Historical Plausibility, (6) History of
Interpretation, and (7) Satisfaction (Richard Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of
Paul [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989], 29-32). Commenting on these criteria,
Porter notes that criteria 4-7 are more concerned with the interpretation of the text
and are not as helpful for determining an allusion. Further, for criteria 1-3 these do
not help determine singular echoes/allusions but merely make suggestions more
plausible (Stanley Porter, "The Use of the Old Testament in the N e w Testament: A
Brief Comment on Method and Terminology," in Early Christian Interpretation of the
Scriptures of Israel: Investigations and Proposals fJSNTSup 148; ed. Craig A. Evans and
James A. Sanders; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997], 79-96). For our
purposes, the presence of multiple themes from Genesis in Colossians satisfies the
first three criteria since the echoes are multiple and Genesis itself was a beloved book
within the Torah. It should be noted, however, that methodologically,
allusions/echoes should be assessed on the basis of whether or not it is plausible for
the author to make the allusion/echo, and not based on the audience's ability to
recognize it. The inability of the audience does not diminish the intentionality of the
author.
38
So R. McL. Wilson, Colossians and Philemon (ICC; London: & Clark, 2005),
131; Yates, Colossians, 22.
39
Beetham, Echoes of Scripture, 231.
40
So G. B. Caird, Paul's Letters From Prison (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1976), 177; Fee, Pauline Christology, 324; Beale, "Colossians," 865-68.
41
N o t e the connection between Col 1:6: and Gen 1:28 LXX:
. See Beale, "Colossians," 842.
^Wright, Colossians and Philemon, 59; Moo, Letters, 88, 96-97. Beetham notes that
although there is correspondence between Paul's echo and the LXX through ,
the use of corresponds more to the MT (ma) than the LXX () (Echoes
of Scripture, 41-55).
45
G a r y S. Shogren, "Presently Entering the Kingdom of Christ: The Background
and Purpose of Colossians 1:12-14/' JETS 31/2 (1988): 176; Caird, Paul's Letters, 172;
11
Wright, Colossians and Philemon, 60-63; Fee, Pauline Christology, 297; Beetham, Echoes of
Scripture, 81-95; Beale, "Colossians," 846-51.
U
C. F. Burney, "Christ as the ARXH of Creation," JTS 27 (1926): 176.
45
Caird, Pauls Letters, 180; Wright, "Poetry," 448.
46
Burney, "Christ as the ARXH of Creation," 174.
47
My translation; "impliziter christologischer Midrasch von Gen 1,1 verbunden
mit Spr 8,22" (Stettler, Der Kolosserhymnus, 344).
48
See Michaelis, TDNT 6:879.
49
Eduard Lohse, A Commentary on the Epistles to Colossians and Philemon
(Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1971), 46; Richard R. Melick, Philippians,
Colossians, Philemon (NAC; Nashville: Broadman, 1991), 214-15; Robert W. Wall,
Colossians & Philemon (IVP New Testament Commentary Series; Downers Grove:
InterVarsity, 1993), 66; David Garland, Colossians-Philemon (NW Application
Commentary; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998), 87.
12
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13
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14
63
By using this imagery Paul is not suggesting that Christ is the head of the
cosmos as Ernst Ksemann suggests ("A Primitive Christian Baptismal Liturgy," in
Essays on-Nezo Testament Themes [Philadelphia: Fortress, 1982], 151-52). Deterrriining
whether or not is original is a mute point since the final form dictates
what the author of the letter intends, which is clearly a genitive of apposition. Rightly
Clinton Arnold, "Jesus Christ: 'Head' of the Church (Colossians and Ephesians)," in
Jesus of Nazareth: Lord and Christ: Essays on the Historical Jesus and New Testament
Christology, (ed. Joel B. Green and Max Turner; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), 363; F.
F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), 420.
Gordley notes that is integral to the hymn on the basis of rhythmic
patterning and meter (Colossian Hymn, 219-21). Furthermore, the use of this phrase is
consistent with Paul's use of elsewhere to refer to the church (Rom 12:4-5; 1 Cor
12:12; Eph 4:4).
^ N o t e the overlap of terminology: (a) , (b) , (c) ,
(d) , (e) , and (f) .
^ Arnold, "Jesus Christ: " H e a d " of the Church," 366; cf. Moo, Letters, 128.
66
Bruce suggests that the body imagery stems from the Hebrew concept of
corporate personality (Paul, 420). The idea of union with Christ is prominent in
Colossians (cf. esp. Col 2:10-13, 20; 3:1-4) and may ultimately convey the idea of
"membership within the royal family, the Messiah-people," especially as the notion of
solidarity with the king was common in the Psalms. See . T. Wright, "Paul's Gospel
and Caesar's Empire" in Paul and Politics: Ekklesia, Israel, Imperium, Interpretation (ed.
Richard A. Horsley; Philadelphia: Trinity, 2000), 166. If this suggestion is correct, then
we would not only find more regal imagery through the use of , but we would
also find the subtle expressions of union with Christ as possessing regal connotations.
15
D.'Apxn
The second strophe of the "hymn" begins by asserting that
Christ is , which denotes primacy, whether temporally or in
rank.67 Most scholars prefer to translate here as "beginning,"
usually with the idea that Christ constitutes the beginning of the new
68
creation. Yet there is good reason to translate as "ruler" in
keeping with our arguments regarding the regal imagery of
Colossians.69
In the LXX, whenever is used in relation to a person it
conveys a position of authority or leadership. There are no instances
in which the temporal use of modifies a human figure in an
adjectival or predicate position.70 A regal interpretation of in
the "hymn" would provide a nice parallel designation with a regal
interpretation of since both terms introduce the two strophes
through the relative pronoun . Furthermore, both and
are qualified by . In light of the regal/Davidic overtones
of as we have already addressed, it is likely that is
primarily emphasizing Christ's regal authority which he received
67
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16
17
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18
have long recognized that it was particularly common in Asia Minor." Furthermore,
Paul Zanker notes that the Imperial cult spread earliest in the Eastern part of the
Empire ("The Power of Images," in Paul and Empire: Religion and Power in Roman
Imperial Society [ed. Richard Horsley; Harrisburg: Trinity, 1997], 77). Cf also Mover
Hubbard, Christianity in the Greco-Roman World (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2009), 129;
Wright, "Paul's Gospel and Caesar's Empire," 161.
81
Note this critique in Warren Carter's survey of the SBL group "Paul and
Politics" ("Paul and the Roman Empire: Recent Perspectives," in Paul Unbound: Other
Perspectives on the Apostle [ed. Mark Given; Peabody: Hendrickson, 2010], 25).
82
See Seyoon Kim, Christ and Caesar: The Gospel and the Roman Empire in the
Writings of Paul and Luke (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), 30,36.
83
However, the opposite should also be rejected. Contra Bruno Blumenfeld, who
suggests that Paul "admired and endorsed" the Roman political system, stating,
"Paul's political objective was to make the empire endure, to ward off its decay by
steeling it with a Christian ribband" (The Political Paul: Justice, Democracy and Kingship
in a Hellenistic Framework [JSNTSup 210; London: Sheffield, 2001], 210).
^1 would like to thank Dr. Clint Arnold for his helpful comments on an earlier
version of this study.
^ s
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