The Hymnic Structure of Colossians 1 : 15 - 20

T recent publication of Edward Lohse's superb commentary on Colossians in the attractive "Hermeneia" series! no doubt has stimulated new interest in the study and exegesis of this great Epistle. At Western Evangelical Seminary it prompted the selection of Colossians (along with Ephesians and Philemon) as the subject for the Advanced Greek Seminar of 1973-74. In the course of our study, an insight on the part of seminarian Sammy L. Schwab led to the development of a new proposal relative to the hymnic structure of Col. 1: 15-20. It is our desire here to publish this proposal, for consideration and critique. (An adequate rebuttal to other views is not possible in such a brief space, nor can we present also a commentary on the passage at the same time: the literature is too extensive, the interpretations too diverse, the conceptions too great. We shall have to be content with our more humble purpose.)