DiscipleDeck
Get started
Bible Commentary

Colossians 3:8

The Pulpit Commentary on Colossians 3:8

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

But now do ye put away indeed all these (things) (; ; , ; ; ). The thought of the death of the old life gives place to that of the divesting of the old habit; the new life wears a new dress, Mark the triumphant emphasis in "but now!"

(opposed to the "once" of verse 8), characteristic of the writer (comp. , 21, 26; ; , etc.). τὰ πάντα ("all these things," "the whole" of them) summarizes the vices specified in verse 5, and forms the starting point of another series, in which malice predominates, as impurity in the previous list; anger, wrath, malice, evil speaking, foul speech from your mouth (; ; ; ; , ; ).

There is a similar order and division between these two chief classes of sin in the parallel passages. In , and the order is reversed. "Anger" ( ὀργή) is ascribed to God in (comp.

; ). (On "anger" and "wrath" (or "rage"), see .) The latter is once ascribed to God by St. Paul (), more frequently in the Apocalypse. In man it is universally condemned.

(For κακία, malignity, badness of disposition, comp. ; ; ; see Trench's 'Synonyms.') βλασφημία, in its original sense, includes injurious speech of any kind, either against man or God (see ; ; ; ).

αἰσχρὸς in αἰσχρολογία (only here in the New Testament) denotes, like the English "foul," either "scurrilous" or "filthy." The former kind of speech is suggested by the foregoing blasphemia; but especially in such an atmosphere as that of Greek city life, scurrility commonly runs into filthiness.

In , where a slightly different word occurs, the latter idea is prominent. The two last vices, being sins of speech, must be put away "out of your mouth." "Your" bears the emphasis in the Greek; such utterance is quite unfit for a Christian mouth (comp.

; , ; ; and the prohibition of lying in the next verse).

Recommended reading

More for Colossians 3:8

Continue with other commentaries and DiscipleDeck content connected to this verse, chapter, or topic.

Other commentaries

The Pulpit Commentary on Colossians 3:1-17Colossians 3:1-17 · The Pulpit CommentarySECTION VII. THE TRUE CHRISTIAN LIFE. The apostle, having delivered his attack on the system of error inculcated at Colossae, now passes from the controversial to the more practical purport of his letter. There is no br…The Pulpit Commentary on Colossians 3:1-25Colossians 3:1-25 · The Pulpit CommentaryEXPOSITIONMatthew Henry on Colossians 3:5-11Colossians 3:5-11 · Matthew Henry Concise CommentaryIt is our duty to mortify our members which incline to the things of the world. Mortify them, kill them, suppress them, as weeds or vermin which spread and destroy all about them. Continual opposition must be made to al…The Pulpit Commentary on Colossians 3:5-11Colossians 3:5-11 · The Pulpit CommentaryDeath to evil. The central thought around which the strange and striking ideas of these sentences gather is "Death to evil." St. Paul exhorts us to put evil to death, to make a corpse of it. Here we have truly "Mors jan…The Pulpit Commentary on Colossians 3:5-11Colossians 3:5-11 · The Pulpit CommentaryMortification after death. Paul, having spoken of our death to earthly things and of our heavenly life, speaks next of mortification as succeeding death. It seems at first sight strange, yet, when analyzed, it is seen t…The Pulpit Commentary on Colossians 3:5-11Colossians 3:5-11 · The Pulpit CommentaryDying before rising. There is an alternating between dying and rising. Having carried out the idea of rising, the apostle goes back to the idea of dying; and, before this paragraph is concluded, he goes back to the idea…
commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Colossians 3:1-25EXPOSITIONJoseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Colossians 3:1-17SECTION VII. THE TRUE CHRISTIAN LIFE. The apostle, having delivered his attack on the system of error inculcated at Colossae, now passes from the controversial to the more practical purport of his letter. There is no br…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryMatthew Henry on Colossians 3:5-11It is our duty to mortify our members which incline to the things of the world. Mortify them, kill them, suppress them, as weeds or vermin which spread and destroy all about them. Continual opposition must be made to al…Matthew HenrycommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Colossians 3:5-11Dying before rising. There is an alternating between dying and rising. Having carried out the idea of rising, the apostle goes back to the idea of dying; and, before this paragraph is concluded, he goes back to the idea…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Colossians 3:5-11Death to evil. The central thought around which the strange and striking ideas of these sentences gather is "Death to evil." St. Paul exhorts us to put evil to death, to make a corpse of it. Here we have truly "Mors jan…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Colossians 3:5-11Mortification after death. Paul, having spoken of our death to earthly things and of our heavenly life, speaks next of mortification as succeeding death. It seems at first sight strange, yet, when analyzed, it is seen t…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryNecessity of Mortifying Sin. (a. d. 62.)NECESSITY OF MORTIFYING SIN. (A. D. 62.) As we are to mortify inordinate appetites, so we are to mortify inordinate passions (Colossians 3:8): But now you also put off all these, anger wrath, malice; for these are contr…Matthew HenrycommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Colossians 3:8-11The new life in Christ the death warrant to old sins. The apostle still employs the most powerful motives possible in his exhortations to personal holiness. His figures and illustrations vary ("Ye died; ye were raised w…Joseph S. Exell and contributors