EXEGESIS AND EXPOSITION OF COLOSSIANS 4:7-8 Pastor William E. Wenstrom Jr. WENSTROM BIBLE MINISTRIES Marion, Iowa 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries Exegesis and Exposition of Colossians 4:7-8 Colossians 4:7 Tychicus Colossians 4:7 As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. (NASB95) “Tychicus” is the nominative masculine singular form of the proper name Tychikos (Τυχικός), which means “fortunate.” This word is functioning as a nominative subject meaning it is performing the action of the verb gnōrizō, “will bring information,” which indicates that Tychicus will perform the action of communicating information to the Colossian Christian community regarding Paul’s circumstances in Rome. Beloved Brother Colossians 4:7 As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. (NASB95) “Beloved brother” is composed of the following: (1) nominative masculine singular form of the adjective agapētos (ἀγαπητός), “beloved” (2) articular nominative masculine singular form of the noun adelphos (ἀδελφός), “brother.” The adjective agapētos means “beloved” indicating the eternal spiritual relationship that existed between Tychicus, Paul, Timothy, their companions in Rome, Epaphras and the Colossians as a result of all of them exercising faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. It describes the personal love and affection Paul, Timothy, their companions in Rome, the Colossians and Epaphras had for Tychicus indicating that they were all dear friends. The adjective agapētos is modifying the articular nominative masculine singular form of the noun adelphos, which means “brother” referring of course to Tychicus. The word refers to a “fellow-believer, fellow-Christian, spiritual brother” emphasizing with the faithful believers in Colossae their common familial relationship with Paul, Timothy, their companions in Rome, Epaphras and Tychicus. The noun adelphos is functioning as a nominative in simple apposition meaning it is appositive to the proper name Tychikos indicating that it specifically identifies 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 1 which Tychicus Paul was referring to since his name was “found most frequently in Magnesia, down the Meander from the Lycus Valley and Colossae.”1 The article immediately preceding the adjective agapētos is marking this adjective is in the first attributive position (article-adjective-noun) which indicates that the word is receiving greater emphasis than the noun adelphos. Faithful Servant Colossians 4:7 As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. (NASB95) “And faithful servant” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (2) nominative masculine singular form of the adjective pistos (πιστός), “faithful” (3) nominative masculine singular form of the noun diakonos (διάκονος), “a servant.” The conjunction kai is adjunctive meaning it is introducing a description of Tychicus which is in addition to the first one that he was “a beloved brother.” The noun diakonos means “servant” and is used to describe Tychicus’ service as a pastor who communicates the gospel of Jesus Christ. It speaks of Tychicus faithfully communicating Paul’s apostolic teaching to the church at Colossae. It describes him as someone who serves Jesus Christ on behalf of His church. This word is used to describe the relationship between Tychicus and the Lord Jesus Christ. The noun diakonos is functioning as a nominative in simple apposition meaning it is appositive to the proper name Tychikos indicating that it specifically identifies for the Colossians which Tychicus Paul was referring to. The noun diakonos is modified by the adjective pistos which means “faithful” and is describing Tychicus’ service on behalf of Jesus Christ and His body, the church as remaining a loyal servant of Jesus Christ. This adjective describes him as firmly adhering to Paul’s apostolic teaching and firmly resisting the false teaching of the Essence branch of the Judaizers whose teaching was being propagated in Colossae. Fellow Bond-Servant Colossians 4:7 As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. (NASB95) 1 Lightfoot 1896:232 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2 “And fellow bond-servant in the Lord” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (2) nominative masculine singular form of the noun sundoulos (σύνδουλος), “fellow bond-servant” (3) preposition en (ἐν), “in” (6) dative masculine singular form of the noun kurios (κύριος), “the Lord.” The conjunction kai is adjunctive meaning it is introducing a description of Tychicus which is in addition to the previous two which describe him as a beloved brother and faithful servant respectively. The noun sundoulos which means “fellow slave, fellow servant” and is a compound word composed of the noun doulos, “slave, servant” and the preposition sun, “together with.” Thus, it expresses the idea of being a slave together with others. Here in Colossians 4:7, the word is used figuratively of Tychicus who faithfully served the Lord Jesus Christ. It expresses the common relationship that Tychicus had with Paul, Timothy, their companions in Rome and Epaphras in that they all were serving the Lord Jesus Christ in some fashion or another. The noun diakonos is functioning as a nominative in simple apposition meaning it is appositive to the proper name Tychikos which means that it is contributing to the identification of the Tychicus mentioned in this verse. The noun kurios refers to Jesus Christ and indicates the following: (1) His equality with the Father and the Spirit. (2) His joint-rulership with the Father over the entire cosmos. (3) His highest-ranking position as Chief Administrator in the divine government. (4) His absolute sovereign authority as Ruler over all creation and every creature. (5) His victory over the sin nature and Satan and His kingdom. In His deity, Jesus Christ is “Lord” (See Luke 20:42). However, in His human nature He received this title as a result of His obedience to the Father’s will, which called for Him to suffer a spiritual and physical death on the cross as a substitute for every member of the human race-past, present and future (See Philippians 2:5- 11). The noun kurios emphasizes the victory that Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Christ, accomplished for the believer through His spiritual and physical deaths and resurrection. His spiritual death solved the problem of personal sins, which are produced by the sin nature through the function of human volition. His physical death solved the problem of the sin nature, which resides in the genetic structure of the human body. His resurrection guarantees the believer that he or she will receive a resurrection body at the rapture of the church, which will be immortal and minus the sin nature. The noun kurios is the object of the preposition en, which functions as a marker of content as a means of specifying a particular referent. This preposition could also be interpreted as a marker of a state or condition expressing the idea that Tychicus exists in the state or condition of being a fellow-servant of the Lord. 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3 Paul’s Circumstances in Rome Colossians 4:7 As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. (NASB95) “As to all my affairs” is composed of the following: (1) accusative neuter plural form of the definite article ho (ὁ), which is not translated (2) preposition kata (κατά), “as” (3) accusative first person singular form of the possessive personal pronoun egō (ἐγώ), “my” (4) accusative neuter plural form of the adjective pas (πᾶς), “to all.” The accusative neuter plural form of the definite article ho means, “circumstances” and functions as a substantiver meaning it is “nominalizing” or in other words, it turns the prepositional phrase katʼ eme (κατʼ ἐμὲ) into a noun. The accusative first person singular form of the possessive personal pronoun egō means “my” and functions as a possessive pronoun indicating that these circumstances are Paul’s. This personal pronoun is modified by the adjective pas, which means “all” since it denotes totality expressing the idea Tychicus will communicate to the Colossians everything they need to know about Paul’s circumstances in Rome. This word is the object of the preposition kata which denotes a relationship to something, or reference to something which in our context, is Paul’s circumstances in Rome. This prepositional phrase is a reference to Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome while awaiting trial before Nero in A.D. 62. This same phrase is employed by Paul in Ephesians 6:21, Philippians 1:12, and Colossians 4:7 both of which were used in reference to his imprisonment. However, Colossians 4:7 contains the adjective pas which the other two do not. Colossians Will Receive Information Regarding Paul’s Circumstances Colossians 4:7 As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. (NASB95) “Will bring you information” is composed of the following: (1) third person singular future active indicative form of the verb gnōrizō (γνωρίζω), “will bring information” (2) dative second personal plural form of the personal pronoun su (σύ), “you.” The verb gnōrizō means “to cause someone to know something, to cause information to be known by someone.” It refers to Tychicus causing the Colossians to receive information with regards to all of Paul’s circumstances in Rome. 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 4 The future tense of this verb gnōrizō is a predictive future tense indicating that something will take place or come to pass.