The νέος or καινὸς ἄνθρωπος in these
passages is not Christ Himself, as the
parallel expression Χριστὸν ἐνδύσα-
σθαι might suggest, and as it is actu-
ally used in Ign. Ephes. 20 εἰς τὸν και-
νὸν ἄνθρωπον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, but the
regenerate man formed after Christ.
The idea here is the same as in καινὴ
κτίσιο, 2 Cor. vy. 17, Gal. vi. 15: comp.
Rom. vi. 4 καινότης ζωῆς, Barnab. 16
ἐγενόμεθα καινοί, πάλιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς κτιζό-
μενοι.
τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον] ‘which is ever
being renewed’. The force of the pre-
sent tense is explained by 2 Cor. iv.
16 ὁ ἔσω ἡμῶν [ἄνθρωπος] ἀνακαινοῦται
ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ: Compare also the
use of the tenses in the parallel pas-
sage, Ephes. iv. 22 sq. ἀποθέσθαι, ava-
νεοῦσθαι, ἐνδύσασθαι. For the op-
posite see Ephes. iv. 22 τὸν παλαιὸν
ἄνθρωπον τὸν φθειρόμενον x.t.A.
εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν] ‘unto perfect know-
ledge’, the true knowledge in Christ,
as opposed to the false knowledge of
the heretical teachers. For the im-
plied contrast see above pp. 44, 99 Βα.
(see the notes on i. 9, ii, 3), and for
the word ἐπίγνωσις the note on i. 9.
The words here are to be connected
closely with dvaxa:vovpevoy: comp.
Heb. vi. 6 πάλιν ἀνακαινίζειν εἰς pe-
τάνοιαν.
κατ᾽ εἰκόνα x.r.A.] The reference is
to Gen. i. 26 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός Ποιή-
σωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ᾽ εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν
κιτιλ.; Comp. ver. 28 κατ᾽ εἰκόνα Θεοῦ
ἐποίησεν αὐτόν. See also Ephes. iv. 24
τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν κατὰ Θεὸν κτι-
σθέντα. This reference however does
not imply an identity of the creation
here mentioned with the creation of
Genesis, but only an analogy between


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EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.
