Saint Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon

by Joseph Barber Lightfoot

Publisher:

Macmillan and Co.

, 1876

Overview

J.B. Lightfoot's classic commentary on the Greek versions of letters of Colossians and Philemon. Contains extensive verse-by-verse exegetical commentary, as well as dissertations on the history and setting of the epistles, the Colossian Heresy, various versions and major variant readings, the Epistle from Laodicea, and several articles on the Essenes.

About Joseph Lightfoot

Dr. Joseph Barber Lightfoot was educated at Cambridge and Oxford, became the Lord Bishop of Durham in the church of England, served as a minister in St. Paul's Cathedral in London, and was Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University. He was also one of the original members of the New Testament Company of Bible Revisers. His other commentaries include volumes on Galatians and Philippians.

Product Details

• Title: Saint Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon
• Author: Dr. Joseph Barber Lightfoot
• Publisher: MacMillan
• Publication Date: 1876

Contents

Top Highlights

“Colossæ disappears wholly from the pages of history. Its comparative insignificance is still attested by its ruins, which are few and meagre², while the vast remains of temples, baths, theatres, aqueducts, gymnasia, and sepulchres, strewing the extensive sites of its more fortunate neighbours, still bear witness to their ancient prosperity and magnificence. It is not even mentioned by Ptolemy, though his enumeration of towns includes several inconsiderable places³. Without doubt Colossæ was the least important church to which any epistle of St Paul is addressed.” (Page 16)

“From the latter point of view it is a simple matter of fact that the afflictions of every saint and martyr do supplement the afflictions of Christ. The Church is built up by repeated acts of self-denial in successive individuals and successive generations. They continue the work which Christ began. They bear their part in the sufferings of Christ (2 Cor. 1:7 κοινωνοὶ τῶν παθημάτων, Phil. 3:10 κοινωνίαν τῶν παθημάτων); but St Paul would have been the last to say that they bear their part in the atoning sacrifice of Christ.” (Page 164)

“The Point of the Apostle’s boast is that Christ the sinless Master should have left something for Paul the unworthy servant to suffer.” (Page 163)

“Unlike δύναμις or ἰσχύς, the word κράτος in the New Testament is applied solely to God.” (Page 138)

“but εἰκών implies an archetype of which it is a copy,” (Page 143)

Product Details

• Title: Saint Paul’s Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon
• Author: Joseph Barber Lightfoot
• Edition: 8th ed.
• Series: Classic Commentaries on the Greek New Testament
• Publisher: Macmillan and Co.
• Print Publication Date: 1876
• Logos Release Date: 2004
• Era: era:modern
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. N.T. Colossians › Commentaries; Bible. N.T. Philemon › Commentaries
• Resource ID: LLS:29.56.8
• Resource Type: Bible Commentary
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-02-11T16:28:59Z

About Joseph Barber Lightfoot

Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1828–1889), also known as J. B. Lightfoot, was an English theologian, preacher, canon of St Paul's Cathedral and bishop of Durham. His writings include essays on biblical and historical subject matter, commentaries on Pauline epistles and studies on the Apostolic Fathers as well as four posthumously published volumes of sermons. Lightfoot attended King Edward's School in Birmingham before attending Trinity College in Cambridge where he was elected a Fellow of his college. He became a tutor of Trinity College in 1857 and later a professor of divinity, editing the Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology from 1854 to 1859. In 1871, Lightfoot became canon of St. Paul?s Cathedral, preaching regularly and participating in various ecclesiastical activities. He gained enormous popularity for his work Essays on the Work Entitled Supernatural Religion, a defense of the New Testament in response to Walter Richard Cassel's Supernatural Religion. In 1870, Lightfoot became Bishop of Durham, where he continued his theological study, writing, and preaching. Lightfoot wrote commentaries on Galatians, Philippians and Colossians and Philemon, and his newly discovered commentary notes on Acts, John, 2 Corinthians and 1 Peter are being published in the three-volume Lightfoot Legacy set.