Section 80
179See especially Eph. 2:13-22, with exposition and notes (pp. 295-307).
180The possessive pronoun brings out the force of the article (δɩὰ τοῦ θανάτου).
181The preposition ἐν probably has instrumental force: Jesus’ body of flesh was the means by which he brought about reconciliation through his death. In Eph. 2:16 he has reconciled Jew and Gentile “to God in one body through the cross,” ἐν ἑνὶσώματɩ denoting the new unity into which they have been incorporated. There may be an oscillation of thought between the two meanings of σѽμα. “The thought which finds clear expression in Eph. 2:16, that the human beings to be reconciled are included in the body of Christ, and that at the very time when Christ died for them on the cross, also lies plainly behind ἐν τῷ σώματɩ τῆς σαϱϰòς αὐτοῦ in Col. 1:22” (E. Percy, Die Probleme, p. 382).
182Heb. bigewiyyaṯ beśārô in 1QpHab 9.3 (on Hab. 2:7) is the exact verbal equivalent of ἐν τῷ σώματɩ τῆς σαϱϰòς αὐτοῦ here. See also 4Q 169.2.6; Sir. 23:17; 1 Enoch 102:5. See K. G. Kuhn, “New Light on Temptation, Sin and Flesh in the New Testament” (1952), E.T. in The Scrolls and the New Testament, ed. K. Stendahl (London, 1958), p. 107. See further on Col. 2:11.