Institute for Colossians Studies

Lanfranc of Canterbury (c. 1005–1089), prior of Bec and later archbishop of Canterbury, glossed the Pauline epistles for the schoolroom, and his notes stand among the earliest of the medieval Pauline glosses. On Colossians he offers terse comments on individual words and phrases — clarifying grammar, supplying a paraphrase, marking a logical connection — rather than a continuous exposition.

SOURCE: Lanfranc of Canterbury. Commentaria in Epistolas S. Pauli. In Patrologiae cursus completus: Series Latina 150, edited by Jacques-Paul Migne, cols. 101–406. Paris: J.-P. Migne, 1854. Internet Archive.

TRANSLATION: Lanfranc of Canterbury. Commentary on the Epistle to the Colossians. Translated by Phil Thompson. Greenville, SC: Institute for Colossians Studies, 2026.

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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THE EPISTLE OF THE BLESSED APOSTLE PAUL TO THE COLOSSIANS WITH THE INTERSPERSED GLOSSES OF BLESSED LANFRANC.

ARGUMENT. The Colossians, like the Laodiceans, are Asians, and they too had been reached first by false apostles. The apostle himself did not visit them either; instead, he corrects them as well by means of a letter. For they had heard the word from Archippus, who also accepted a ministry among them. Therefore, the apostle, now in chains, writes to them from Ephesus by means of Tychicus the deacon and Onesimus the acolyte.

CHAPTER 1

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ”, not of Ananias, “by the will of God”, not by merits, or of man, “and Timothy our brother, to those who are at Colossæ, the saints”, the baptized, “and faithful brothers”, the catechumens, “in Christ Jesus”, in the faith of Christ, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”, “We give thanks to God, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”,

COMMENTARY: AMBROSE. In this letter, he shows the preeminence of those who are in Christ and the superfluous nature of keeping the law, and after this, transitioning into an exhortation, he speaks to them about many necessary matters.

“always praying for you”,

COMMENTARY: “Always for you.” The syntactical order is: praying for you because of the hope that is stored up for you in heaven, that is, so that you may be able to obtain heavenly goods.

“hearing of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope that is stored up for you in heaven; which you heard in the word”, the preaching, “of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you. just as it is in the whole world”,

COMMENTARY: LANFRANC. “Just as it is in the whole world.” This is so they will not think they are the only Christians and therefore deceived. Or, it is so they will not become arrogant if they alone had believed.

“and is bearing fruit and growing, just as it is among you, from the day you heard it”,

COMMENTARY: “From the day you heard it.” Many hear, but do not come to know, that is, they do not approve it.

“and came to know the grace of God in truth”, the remission of sins, “in the faith of Christ, just as you learned from Epaphras our beloved”, “fellow servant”, he had instructed them,

COMMENTARY: “Our fellow servant.” He commends this man, knowing that it is useful for a teacher to be respected by his disciples.

“who is a faithful minister of Christ Jesus on your behalf, who also has made known to us your love in the Spirit. For this reason”, because you have the faith of Christ and love, and we, from the day we heard this from Epaphras, “do not cease praying for you, and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will”, so that you may know and fulfill God’s will, “in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of God, pleasing him in all things; bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened in all power according to the might of his glory”, that is, according to how the might of his glory is able to strengthen you, “in all patience and long-suffering”, behold what he meant by “in all power”, “with joy, giving thanks to God the Father, who by illuminating us has made us worthy to be in the portion”, that is, in the participation,

COMMENTARY: “In the portion of the lot of the saints.” The eternal inheritance is called a lot, because just as that which is acquired by lot is not gained by merits, so too this inheritance is not given by merits, but by God’s grace.

“of the lot of the saints”, of the freely given inheritance, “in the light”, existing in Christ,

COMMENTARY: AMBROSE. “In the light,” that is, through his knowledge.

“who rescued us”,

COMMENTARY: AUGUSTINE (Letter 107 to Vitalis). “Who rescued us.” For what is the power of darkness but the power of the devil and his angels? Although they had been angels of light, they did not stand in the truth through their free will, and falling from there, they became darkness.

“from the power of darkness”, of demons, or of dark ones, “and transferred us”,

COMMENTARY: AUGUSTINE (On the Trinity 15.19). “And transferred.” When it says “the Son of his love,” this should be understood as nothing other than his chosen [or, beloved] Son.

“into the kingdom of the Son of his love”, of his beloved, “in whom”, in whose faith, “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.”, “He is the image”, the Son is commended,

COMMENTARY: AMBROSE. “Who is the image.” In the man Christ, as though in an image, we see that invisible nature. For when he appears in the future, he will maintain the order of the image for us, since in him, as in an image, we possess a certain divine nature.

“of the invisible God”, equal to the Father according to his divinity, “the firstborn”,

COMMENTARY: LANFRANC. “The firstborn.” By this he proves that he was begotten by the Father before all creation.

“of all creation”, before the ages,

COMMENTARY: “The firstborn of creation.” He is prior, he says, to all things; for all things come after him, since all things were created by him.

“because in him”, through him, “all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible”, the categories of invisible things, “whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.”, Therefore, by equivalence, all things were made through him, and were created, existing, in him. Therefore, by relation, he also is before all things, “and all things hold together in him. And he is the head of his body”, that is, of the church, “who is the beginning”, of this church, “the firstborn”, he commends him according to his humanity,

COMMENTARY: “The firstborn from the dead,” that is, the first to rise, because the resurrection itself is a kind of generation, just as it says in the Gospel: “In the regeneration, when he sits,” and so forth (Matt 19:28).

“from the dead”, that is, he rose first, “so that he himself might hold the first place in all things”, whether according to his divinity or his humanity.

COMMENTARY: AMBROSE. “So that he himself might hold the first place in all things.” He is not stating the cause, but rather what follows as a consequence.

“Because”, behold the reason, “in him”,

COMMENTARY: “Because in him.” He calls the church the fullness of God, and says that it pleased God to join all fullness in Christ—that is to say, every creature that is filled by him—and this he pursues in greater detail.

“the Father was pleased”, that is, he resolved,

COMMENTARY: LANFRANC. “Was pleased in him.” The Father was pleased in himself that all the fullness both of divinity and of all virtues should dwell in Christ.

“that all the fullness”, of divinity, or the mass of members, “should dwell”, or really possess it, and through him, Christ, it pleased the Father, “to reconcile all things”, in, or through, him, making peace, “by the blood of his cross”,

COMMENTARY: “By the blood of his cross.” At the hour when the blood of redemption flowed from the side of the Lord hanging on the cross, Adam’s sin was forgiven to the human race, and heavenly and earthly things were made peaceful, because then the entrance to the kingdom of heaven lay open to human beings.

“whether things on earth or things in heaven. And he reconciled you when you were formerly alienated”,

COMMENTARY: “Alienated,” that is, having an alienated and hostile mindset.

“from God, and enemies in mind”, he explains how, “in evil deeds; but now”, God the Father, “has reconciled”, you to himself, “in the body of his flesh”, of his Son through death, “to present”, so that we might present, or so that he himself might present, “you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him”, not only before men. This will happen, “if indeed you continue grounded and steady in the faith, and immovable from the hope of the gospel”, from what the gospel promises, “which you heard, which has been preached”,

COMMENTARY: AMBROSE. “Which has been preached.” It was very difficult for them to depart from that which was commonly proclaimed by everyone.

“in all creation”, principally, that is, to the people, “that is under heaven”, he persuades them so that they might listen willingly, “of which”, gospel, “I, Paul, became a minister.”, “Now I rejoice”,

COMMENTARY: LANFRANC. “Now I rejoice.” He commends himself for a twofold reason: because he suffers, and because he rejoices in the sufferings inflicted on their behalf.

“in my sufferings for you, and I fill up those things that are lacking”,

COMMENTARY: “Those things that are lacking.” Christ’s sufferings were chains, spitting, blows, beatings, and finally death itself; he acknowledges that he has already suffered part of these, and will suffer part of them in the future. Perhaps by “those things that are lacking” he means the agonies of death, which he had not yet suffered. And the syntactical order is: “I will fill up” those sufferings in my flesh.

“in the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his body, which is the church, of which”, church, “I became a minister according to the dispensation”, of the gospel, “of God”, not of man, “which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God”, behold the word, “the mystery of the incarnation, which was hidden from the ages and from”, past, “generations, but has now”, in the time of fullness, “been manifested to his saints, to whom God willed to make known the riches of the glory”, the glorious riches, or the riches of this glorious sacrament to be preached, “among the Gentiles, which is Christ”, behold the sacrament, “in you Gentiles, the hope of glory”, through whom you hope to be glorified, “whom we proclaim”, first rebuking, “everyone”, who is living wickedly, so that they may repent, and afterward teaching the faith of Christ, “in all wisdom”, whether concerning divine or human matters, teaching for this purpose: “so that we may present everyone”,

COMMENTARY: AMBROSE. “So that we may present everyone.” He calls perfection that future state to which nothing good will seem to be lacking.

“perfect in Christ Jesus, for which I also labor”, striving not by my own strength, that is, merits, but according to his working, “which works in me in power”, his power, not mine.

CHAPTER 2

“For I want you to know”,

COMMENTARY: LANFRANC. “For I want you to know,” etc. This is the reason why he said he labors, namely so that it would not be said that he used the word “labor” out of boasting.

“what great concern I have for you, and for those who are at Laodicea, and as many as have not seen my face in the flesh”, in person, “so that their hearts may be consoled, instructed in love, and into all the riches of the fullness of understanding”,

COMMENTARY: “Into all the riches of the fullness of understanding.” This means that they might have a rich and full understanding, knowing the mystery of God the Father, which is Christ Jesus. For whoever knows Christ perfectly knows what must be thought about God, and how and in what things one must live.

“into the knowledge of the mystery of God the Father, and of Christ Jesus, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom”, concerning divine matters, “and of knowledge”, concerning morals. “Now this I say”, so that you may be instructed, “and so that no one may deceive you with sublimity”,

COMMENTARY: “With sublimity,” that is, with loftiness of words, syllogisms, and other methods of disputation. He does not criticize the art of disputation, but rather the perverse use of it by those who dispute.

“of speech”, speaking dialectically or rhetorically in a sublimity of commonplaces and syllogisms. “For even though I am absent in body”,

COMMENTARY: “For even though I am absent in body.” It is as if someone might say: “Does someone want to deceive us?” Yes; but he says that you are strengthened in the faith against them. I know this well enough, even though I am absent.

“yet I am with you in spirit; rejoicing and seeing your good order and the firmness of your faith, which is in Christ. Therefore, just as you received Jesus Christ our Lord, walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and confirmed in the faith, just as you learned, abounding in him in thanksgiving. See to it that no one deceives you through philosophy”, dialectic, “and empty deception”, speaking, “according to human tradition”, like Aristotle,

COMMENTARY: “According to tradition.” The philosophers (whom he calls “human”) handed down the tradition that the Creator of all things could not become a creature; that a human being could not be born from a virgin; and that a dead man could not return to life. They concluded this by considering the elements of the world—these visible creatures—in which the animals that are born are generated from the physical union of both sexes, and in which it is impossible for whatever dies to live any longer.

“according to the elements”,

COMMENTARY: AMBROSE. “According to the elements,” that is, according to the observance of days and times. For he calls the sun and the moon the elements of the world, from which the course of days and times is seen to be produced.

“of the world, and not according to Christ, because in him dwells”,

COMMENTARY: AUGUSTINE (The Literal Meaning of Genesis 12.7). “Because in him dwells.” Because all the fullness of divinity dwells bodily—for divinity is not a body, but because he calls the sacraments of the Old Testament shadows of what is to come. Due to this comparison with shadows, he said that the fullness of divinity dwells bodily in Christ, because in him all things are fulfilled which were prefigured in those shadows, as if he himself were, in a way, the body of those shadows, that is, he himself is the truth of those figures and signs.

“all the fullness of divinity bodily”, really, not foreshadowed as a shadow, “and you are in him”, filled with spiritual gifts through him, “who is the head”, the beginning, “of every principality and power; in whom you were also circumcised”,

COMMENTARY: AUGUSTINE (Against Faustus 16.29). “In whom you were circumcised.” What does the circumcision of the flesh signify, except the stripping off of the mortality that we carry from our carnal generation? This is our faith.

“with a circumcision made without hands—”,

COMMENTARY: “With a circumcision made without hands.” The resurrection of Christ, which indeed occurred on the third day from his passion, but on the eighth day in the days of the week, has itself circumcised us. Hear those circumcised by the true rock, as the apostle admonishes: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God; seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth” (Col 3:1-2). Christ rose, he took away carnal desires from us, he took away evil lusts; he took away the excess with which you were born, and the much worse things that you had added by living wickedly. Having been circumcised by the rock, why do you still set your minds on things on the earth?

“made”, this is the circumcision of Christ, to put vices to death, “in the stripping off of the body of the flesh, but in the circumcision of Christ”, a spiritual circumcision, namely, “having been buried”, he explains how, “with him in baptism, in which you also rose”, from your vices by faith, “in the working of God”, which he worked in Christ, behold the working, “who raised him from the dead. And you”, he determines how he understood “in which you also rose”, “when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh”,

COMMENTARY: AUGUSTINE (Letter 59 to Paulinus on Question 7). “And the uncircumcision of the flesh.” He calls “uncircumcision” that which is signified by uncircumcision, that is, carnal sins, of which we must be stripped.

“and when you were in a Gentile state, he made alive together with him, forgiving”, pardoning, “you all your transgressions, wiping out the handwritten record that was against us”,

COMMENTARY: AMBROSE. “Wiping out the record that was against us.” He calls the law a handwritten record against us because it was contrary to us, that is, not permitting us to attain our goal because of its scrupulosity. He wiped this out by his resurrection and immortality.

“against our benefit, consisting of decrees”,

COMMENTARY: LANFRANC. “Consisting of decrees.” The decree of God was: “Do not eat of the tree that is in the middle of paradise” (Gen 2:17). God wiped out the handwritten record (that is, the memory) of this violated decree when he forgave the human race the sin of the first parent through faith in the blood of Christ and consigned the sin of that transgression to oblivion.

“which was contrary to us”, meaning the same as “against us,” or contrary to our benefit. “And he has taken it”, for there was a wall between us and God, “out of the way”, the way between us and God, “nailing”, abolishing, “it to the cross”, through the cross. “And stripping”,

COMMENTARY: “Stripping.” Christ stripped the infernal powers of the souls they held, or would have held, while hanging on the cross or descending to hell. He made a spectacle of these same powers, that is, he expelled them from his church, just as he said in the Gospel: “Now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31). Or he confidently led his faithful ones with him out of hell, as the God-man without sin.

“the principalities”, of the Jews, or of demons, “and powers, he made a public spectacle of them confidently, openly”,

COMMENTARY: “Openly,” that is, on the cross, or descending to hell with angelic legions, triumphing over them, that is, defeating them in himself, that is, in the passion of his body, in the presence of his majesty.

“triumphing over”, or defeating, or remaking, “them in himself”, not in another army. In this Christ you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands. “Therefore let no one”,

COMMENTARY: “Therefore let no one.” Therefore, because you have been circumcised in Christ with a spiritual circumcision, let no one judge you—who owe nothing to the law—that is, make you damnable, persuading you to abstain from food or drink, or to observe the Jewish customs. AMBROSE. “Therefore let no one,” that is, let no one deceive you, or take away your prize.

“judge you”,

COMMENTARY: JEROME. “Let no one judge you.” Let no one overcome you, let no one take the prize against you, just as someone in a contest loses the prize through the unfairness of an opponent or the snares of the judges. “Let no one judge you.” Let no one judge you, especially among those who boast of being teachers of the law, regarding food and drink (claiming that some are clean and others unclean), or concerning a feast day (thinking that some days are festive and others non-festive), which were a shadow of the coming happiness; but the spiritual understanding is the truth and the body.

“in food, or in drink, or concerning a feast day”, making you participate in the feasts of the Jews, “or”, namely, “a new moon”, a new lunar month, “or of Sabbaths”,

COMMENTARY: AUGUSTINE (Discourse Against the Jews 1). “Or of Sabbaths.” When we find rest in him, we truly observe the Sabbath; and the observance of the new moon is the sanctification of the new life; and Christ our Passover has been sacrificed; and our unleavened bread is the sincerity of truth, the leaven of truth [or, not having the leaven of the old nature]. And whatever other things there are, upon which there is no need to linger now, which were foreshadowed by those ancient signs, they have their fulfillment in him, whose kingdom will have no end. LANFRANC. “Or of Sabbaths.” The feast days, he says, the new moons, and the Sabbaths signified future things, and in that very signification they were the body of Christ, that is, they signified the body of Christ, either assumed from the Virgin, or the church, as it is now, or as it will be in the coming age.

“which are a shadow”,

COMMENTARY: AMBROSE. “Which are a shadow,” that is, in comparison with future things all these are shadows. Hence he added the word “body” to the signification of the shadow, saying this: “Because Christ is the truth.”

“of the things to come; but the body”, the truth, “belongs to Christ. Let no one deceive you”,

COMMENTARY: LANFRANC. “Let no one deceive you.” Let no one deceive you, he says, wishing to persuade you of things he has never understood, displaying to you in himself a false humility and the worship of angels, so that you might believe them more readily. Moreover, he calls “angels” either heavenly spirits or holy preachers.

“taking delight in false humility”,

COMMENTARY: JEROME. “Taking delight in false humility.” For they worshiped the host of heaven. Hence Amos says: “He gave them over to serve the host of heaven” (Acts 7:42). AMBROSE. “Taking delight in false humility.” Do not pay attention, he says, to those who say that the angels are indignant if the law is not kept, on the grounds that the law is said to have been given through angels. And simulating a certain humility, they hasten to show themselves as those who fear to despise the law.

“fabricated in himself, and the worship of angels”, or worship to be offered to angels, saying, “things he has not seen and vainly puffed up by his carnal mind”, if he hopes to be saved by a carnal law and is puffed up by this, “and not holding fast to the Head”, that is, Christ, “from whom the whole body”, the church, “supported and held together by its joints”, the unions of believers, “and ligaments, grows with a growth”, to the honor, “of God. Therefore, if you died”,

COMMENTARY: “If you died.” If you are so established as those who have already died together with Christ, and have risen together with him. He says this concerning the elements of this world. JEROME. “If you died.” “The elements of the world,” to which we have died, should be understood as the law of Moses. From these, as if from the elements and beginnings of the Lord’s religion, we learn in the same way that letters are called elements, through which we combine syllables and words, and proceed to weave a speech. In this way, the infancy of a holy man is instructed by the elements of the Old Testament so that he may come to the evangelical fullness.

“pertaining to what he said, buried together in baptism”, “with Christ to the elements”,

COMMENTARY: LANFRANC. “To the elements.” He calls these visible creatures elements, which are parts of the world in the entire universe. If, he says, when you received the faith of Christ, you died, that is, you were separated from abstaining from the creatures of the world (from which you used to abstain according to the Jewish rite), why, as though still living in that same abstention from the creatures of the world according to the Jewish rite, do you still submit to decrees, saying: “‘Do not touch, and do not taste,’” and so on. It can also be understood as “with” [or “concerning”] Christ, as if to say: if you died just as Christ did, that is, as the church of Christ also did.

“by elements understand animals, by animals understand meats, and by meats understand abstinence”, “of this world”, to carnal observances, and the observing of creatures, such as pigs and others, “why, as if still living in the world”, according to the world, that is, carnal, “do you submit to decrees”, saying: “‘Do not touch’”, things which are prohibited in the law, “‘do not taste, do not handle’? These are all destined to perish”, in the ruin of the soul, “with use”, I mean the things spoken of, “according to human precepts and doctrines. These things indeed have the appearance of wisdom in superstition”, which seem to be done wisely according to their superstition, “and in”, a feigned, “humility, and in not sparing the body”,

COMMENTARY: “And not sparing the body.” These decrees—namely, that pork should not be eaten—were established for the purpose of not sparing the body, so that the body might be afflicted; for when food is withdrawn, the body is afflicted. Or they were not established to spare the body, that is, to provide for our body; for when we abstain from deadly foods, we provide for our body. But the Jews do not abstain from this kind of meat for this reason; nor is it because one can be more respectably satisfied by foods other than the prohibited meats.

“not in any honor for the satisfying of the flesh.”

CHAPTER 3

“Therefore”,

COMMENTARY: AUGUSTINE (Against Faustus 11.7). “Therefore if you have been raised.” We have certainly not yet been resurrected in the same way Christ was, but nevertheless, according to the hope that is in him [or, that we have in him], he testifies that we have already been raised with him.

“pertaining to what he said, ‘in which you also rose’”, “if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God”, equal to the Father: “set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”, Take each point individually. “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ”, who is hidden, “in God. When Christ, your life, appears”, for when Christ appears, your life will appear, “then you also will appear with him in glory.” Thus far concerning faith; now concerning morals. “Put to death”,

COMMENTARY: AUGUSTINE (On the Resurrection of the Dead, Fragment 31). “Put to death.” He calls spiritual forces of wickedness the members on the earth. For he continues and explains greed, impurity, and so on, which he follows up with “stripping off,” and so forth.

“therefore”, so that you may live with Christ, “your members”,

COMMENTARY: LANFRANC. “Your members,” that is, the parts of the old man, who is understood as the totality of sin, or the sinful desires of our members.

“your wicked deeds, “which are on the earth”, behold which members: “fornication”, by turning away from God, “impurity”, against blood relatives, “lust”, against nature, “evil desire”, for what one does not possess, “and greed”, for what one does possess, “which is idolatry”,

COMMENTARY: “Idolatry.” He says this on account of the images of emperors that are found engraved on coins. Consequently, those who are slaves to money are seen to serve idols and statues.

“because of which”, aforementioned things, “the wrath of God is coming upon the children”, intransitively, “of disobedience. In these”, vices, “you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, robbery, blasphemy”, against God, “and filthy language”, jokes, “from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old man”,

COMMENTARY: AUGUSTINE (Against Faustus 24). “Stripping off the old man.” The apostle calls the old man nothing other than the old life, which is in sin, in which one lives according to Adam.

“with his practices”, the mass of vices, “and have put on the new man”,

COMMENTARY: LANFRANC. “Putting on the new man,” that is, putting on newness, make yourselves a new man.

“who is being renewed”,

COMMENTARY: AUGUSTINE (On the Trinity 14.16). “Who is being renewed.” This renewal is the reforming of the mind according to God, or according to the image of God. But it is said to be “according to God” so that it is not thought to happen according to another creature. Moreover, it is said to be “according to the image of God” so that this renewal may be understood to take place in that reality where the image of God resides, that is, in the mind. Therefore, we should not understand “according to the image of him who created him” as if there is one image according to which it is renewed, rather than the very image itself which is being renewed.

“in the knowledge”,

COMMENTARY: LANFRANC. “In the knowledge.” In the knowledge of God human beings are renewed according to the image of God. For this is the image of God, according to which he created man, namely so that he would be rational and would always love heavenly things.

“of God in order to know God, “according to the image of him”, behold where it is renewed in the soul, namely in that part which is similar to the Creator, “who created him. Where”, in which renewal no one is excluded, nor is anyone accepted on account of their person, “there is not just Gentile and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian and Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all, and in all”, Christ dwells, and Christ receives from all. “Therefore, clothe yourselves”, putting to death the wicked acts within you; put on the bowels of mercy, “as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, with bowels”, parts, “of mercy”, behold, “kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if anyone has a grievance against someone else; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. But above all these things, have love”, be having it, “which”,

COMMENTARY: AMBROSE. “Which is the bond.” In the coming age where we will be established, he says, we will remain bound together to one another in love, enduring no further separation.

“that is, love, “is the bond of perfection”, of the mass of virtues, or of the perfect. “And let the peace of Christ”, by which he reconciled men to God, “exult in your hearts”, make your hearts exult, “to which”, through which, “you also were called”, may you be, “in one body”, the church, “and be thankful”, give thanks. “Let the word”, the preaching, “of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom”, may you be, “teaching and admonishing one another”, behold in what wisdom, “with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with grace”, with thanksgiving, “singing in your hearts”, not with the mouth only, “to God”, not to men. “To speak to you briefly and more fully: whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father through him”, Jesus the mediator. “Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be bitter toward them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger”, so they do not become faint-hearted, either in enduring or in fleeing. “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not with eye-service, as people-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God the Father. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, not”, considering what, “men are, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. Serve the Lord Christ.”,

COMMENTARY: LANFRANC. “Serve the Lord Christ.” It is as if he were saying: Even though I command that some of you must be subject to others, some must love, others must obey others, and the other things that follow, nevertheless in all these things serve the Lord Christ.

“For the wrongdoer”,

COMMENTARY: “For the wrongdoer.” This is the rationale proving the earlier statements, from the point where he says: “Wives,” and so on.

“will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality with God.”

CHAPTER 4

“Masters, provide your slaves with what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving, praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open to us a door for the word to speak the mystery of Christ”, a mouth to preach, or the mouth of the listeners, that is, their heart, “on account of which”, because I make it manifest, “I am also in chains”, that he might open a door in this way, “that I may make it clear, just as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward those”, lest they blaspheme Christianity, “who are outside”, the unbelievers, “redeeming the time”,

COMMENTARY: AMBROSE. “Redeeming the time.” Acquiring the present time for our benefit. GREGORY. “Redeeming the time.” We truly redeem the time when we repair with weeping the past life that we squandered in unrestrained living.

“by living well, because you have lived wickedly. Let your speech always be gracious”,

COMMENTARY: LANFRANC. “Let your speech be gracious.” Here he calls “grace” good observance, which is given through the grace of God, as he says to the Ephesians: “That it may impart grace to the hearers” (Eph 4:29).

“seasoned”, tempered, “with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone. Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all about my activities. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that he may know how you are doing and encourage your hearts, along with Onesimus, the beloved and faithful brother, who is one of you”, he was a Colossian, “They will tell you about everything that is going on here. Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark”,

COMMENTARY: “And Mark.” Because of this Mark, a disagreement arose between Paul and Barnabas, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 15:39). Upon hearing this, the Colossians perhaps might not have dared to receive either Mark or Barnabas, unless the apostle had commanded them to do so; for “concerning whom” can refer to either of them.

“the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you received instructions from me”, not to receive him, “if Mark comes to you”, now, “welcome him; and Jesus”, a proper name, “who is called Justus”, greets you; “who”, the aforementioned, “are of the circumcision, these are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God, who have been a comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect”,

COMMENTARY: AUGUSTINE (On Rebuke and Grace 7). “That you may stand perfect.” When we pray that the one who stands may stand, we are praying for nothing else but that he may persevere. Similarly, when the apostle Jude says, “Now to him who is able to keep them [or, you] from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy” (Jude 24), does he not show most clearly that persevering in the good until the end is the gift of God?

“and fully assured in all the will of God. For I bear witness to him”, Epaphras, “that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. Greet the brothers in Laodicea, and Nympha, and the church in her house. And when this letter has been read among you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you also read the one from Laodicea.”

COMMENTARY: LANFRANC. “And that from the Laodiceans.” The Laodiceans wrote a letter to the apostle concerning their doubts. The apostle commands that this letter be read at Colossae, so that, having now seen the doubt of the Laodiceans, they might know how to respond, and that they should have the letter he writes to them read to the Laodiceans themselves. (Lanfranc denies that the letter to the Laodiceans belongs to the blessed Paul.) If this were a letter of the apostle to the Laodiceans, he would not say “from the Laodiceans,” and there would be more than thirteen [or, fourteen] letters of Paul. AMBROSE. “And that from the Laodiceans.” The apostle does not say “to the Laodiceans,” but “from Laodicea,” which they wrote to the apostle, in which some things worthy of rebuke were introduced.

“And say to Archippus, ‘See that you fulfill the ministry that you received in the Lord.’ The greeting is by my own hand, Paul’s. Remember”,

COMMENTARY: “Remember.” That is, to imitate me, do not be sluggish on behalf of the truth.

“my chains.”,

COMMENTARY: LANFRANC. “Remember my chains.” He asks them to be mindful of his chains, either so that they might pray for him in chains or so that they might supply him with necessities.

“The grace”, of God, “be with you. Amen.”