J. B. Lightfoot on Colossians 3:14-15

τὴν ἀγάπην, ὅ ἐστιν σύνδεσμος τῆς τελείοτητος. ^{15}καὶ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ Χριστοῦ βραβεύετω ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν, εἰς ἣν καὶ ἐκλήθητε ἐν ἑνὶ σώματι. καὶ εὐχάριστοι τὴν ἀγάπην] sc. ἐνδύσασθε, from ver. 12. ὅ] ‘_which thing_’, i.e. ‘love’; comp. Ephes. v. 5 πλεονέκτης, ὅ ἐστιν εἰδωλολάτρης, Ign. _Rom._ 7 ἅρτον Θεοῦ θέλω, ὅ ἐστιν σὰρξ Χριστοῦ, _Magn._ 10 μετάβάλεσθε εἰς νέαν ζύμην ὅ ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, _Trall._ 7 ἀνακτήσασθε ἑαυτοὺς ἐν πίστει ὅ ἐστιν σὰρξ τοῦ Κυρίου. Though there are various readings in the passages of the Ignatian Epistles, the ὅ seems to be right in every case. These instances will show that ὅ may be referred to τὴν ἀγάπην alone. Otherwise we might suppose the antecedent to be τὸ ἐνδυσασθαι τὴν ἀγάπην, but this hardly suits the sense. The common reading ἥτις is obviously a scribe’s correction. σύνδεσμος κ.τ.λ.] ‘_the bond of perfection_’, i.e. the power, which unites and holds together all those graces and virtues, which together make up perfection. Πάντα ἐκεῖνα, says Chrysostom, hάυτη συσφίγγει· ὅπερ ἂν εἴπῃς ἀγαθόν, τάυτης ἀπούσης οὐδέν ἐστιν ἀλλὰ διαρρεῖ: comp. Clem. Rom. 49 τὸν δεσμὸν τῆς ἀγαπῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ τίς δύναται ἐξηγήσασθαι; Thus the Pythagoreans (Simplic. _in Epictet._ p. 208 A) περισσῶς τῶν ἄλλων ἀρετῶν τὴν φιλίαν ἐτίμων καὶ σύνδεσμον αὐτὴν πασῶν τῶν ἀρετῶν ἔλεγον. So too Themist. _Orat._ i. (p. 5 C) βασιλικὴ (ἀρετὴ) παρὰ τὰς ἄλλας εἰς ἣν ξυνδοῦνται καὶ αἱ λοιπαί, ὥσπερ εἰς μίαν κορυφὴν ἀνημμέναι. The word will take a genitive either of the object bound or of the binding force: e.g. Plato _Polit._ 310 A τοῦτον θειότερον εἶναι τὸν ξύνδεσμον ἀρετῆς μερῶν φύσεως ἀνόμοιων καὶ ἐπὶ τἀναντία φερομένων, where the ἀρετὴ ξυνδεῖ and the μέρη φύσεως ξυνδεῖται. We have an instance of the one genitive (the objective) here, of the other (the subjective) in Ephes. iv. 3 ἐν τῷ συνδέσμῳ τῆς εἰρήνης (see the note there). Another explanation makes σύνδεσμος = σύνθεσις here, ‘the bundle, the totality’, as e.g. Herodian. iv. 12 πάντα τὸν σύνδεσμον τῶν ἐπιστολῶν (comp. Ign. _Trall._ 3 σύνδεσμον ἀποστόλων); but this unusual metaphor is highly improbable and inappropriate here, not to mention that we should expect the definite article ὁ σύνδεσμος in this case. With either interpretation, the function assigned to ἀγάπη here is the same as when it is declared to be πλήρωμα νόμου, Rom. xiii. 10 (comp. Gal. v. 14). See also the all-embracing office which is assigned to it in 1 Cor. xiii. 15. ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ Χριστοῦ] ‘_Christ’s peace_’, which He left as a legacy to His disciples: Joh. xiv. 27 εἰρήνην ἀφίημι ὑμῖν, εἰρήνην _τὴν ἐμὴν_ δίδωμι ὑμῖν; comp. Ephes. ii. 14 αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ εἰρήνη ἡμῶν with the context. The common reading ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ Θεοῦ has a parallel in Phil. iv. 7. βραβεύετω] ‘_be umpire_’, for the idea of a contest is only less prominent here, than in βραβεῖον 1 Cor. ix. 24, Phil. iii. 14 (see the note there). Στάδιον ἕνδον ἐποίησεν ἐν τοῖς λογισμοῖς, writes Chrysostom, καὶ ἀγῶνα καὶ ἄθλησιν καὶ βραβευτήν. Wherever there is a conflict of motives or impulses or reasons, the peace of Christ must step in and decide which is to prevail; Μὴ θυμὸς βραβεύετω, says Chrysostom again, μὴ φιλονεικία, μὴ ἀνθρωπίνη εἰρήνη· ἡ γὰρ ἀνθρωπίνη εἰρήνη ἐκ τοῦ ἀμύνεσθαι γίνεται, ἐκ τοῦ μηδὲν πάσχειν δεινόν. For this metaphor of some one paramount consideration acting as umpire, where there is a conflict of internal motives, see Polyb. ii. 35. 3 ἅπαν τὸ γιγνόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν Γαλάτων θυμῷ μᾶλλον ἢ _λογισμῷ_ βραβεύεσθαι, Philo _de Migr. Abr._ 12 (I[. p. 446) πορεύεται ὁ ἄφρων δι’ ἀμφοτέρων θυμοῦ τε καὶ ἐπιθυμίας )αὲι ... τὸν ἡνίοχον καὶ βραβευτὴν λόγον ἀποβαλών (comp. _de Ebriet._ 19, I. p. 368), Jos. B. J. vi. 2. 6 ἐβράβευε τὰς τόλμας ὁ ... φόβος. Somewhat similarly τύχη (Polyb. xxvii. 14. 4) or φύσις (Athen. xv. p. 670 A) are made βραβεύειν. In other passages, where ὁ Θεὸς or τὸ θεῖον is said βραβεύειν, this implies that, while man proposes, God _disposes_. In Philo ἀλήθεια βραβεύουσα (_Qui rer. div. her._ 19, I. p. 486) is a rough synonyme for ἀλήθεια δικάζουσα (_de Abrah._ 14, II. p. 10, etc.): and in Josephus (_Ant._ vi. 3. 1) δικάζειν and βραβεύειν are used together of the same action. In all such cases it appears that the idea of a _decision_ and an _award_ is prominent in the word, and that it must not be taken to denote simply _rule_ or _power_. εἰς ἣν κ.τ.λ.] Comp. 1 Cor. vii. 15 ἐν δὲ εἰρήνῃ κέκληκεν ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεός. ἐν ἑνὶ σώματι] ‘As ye were called as members of one body, so let there be one spirit animating that body’: Ephes. iv. 4 hὲν σῶμα καὶ hὲν πνεῦμα. This passage strikes the keynote of the companion Epistle to the Ephesians (see esp. ii. 16 sq., iv. 3 sq.). εὐχάριστοι] ‘And to crown all forget yourselves in thanksgiving towards God’: see the notes on i. 12, ii. 7. The adjective εὐχάριστος, though not occurring elsewhere in the Greek Bible, is not uncommon in classical writers, and like the English ‘grateful’, has two meanings; either (1) ‘pleasurable’ (e.g. Xen. _Cyr._ ii. 2. 1); or (2) ‘thankful’ (e.g. Boeckh _C. I._ no. 1625), as here.