Colossians 3:7 - Exposition

In which also ye walked once, when you were living in these (things) ( Ephesians 2:3 ; Ephesians 5:8 ; Romans 6:19-21 ; 1 Corinthians 6:11 ; 1 Corinthians 12:2 ; Titus 3:3 ; 1 Peter 4:3 ). Even retaining "sons of disobedience" in Colossians 3:6 , it seems better, with Alford, Lightfoot, and the English Version, to read οἷς as neuter, "in which," referring to the same antecedent ( Colossians 3:5 )as "because of which" in Colossians 3:6 ; not "amongst whom" (Ellicott, Meyer). The latter interpretation is against the general usage of "walk in" with St. Paul ( Colossians 4:5 ; Ephesians 2:2 , Ephesians 2:10 ; Ephesians 4:17 ; Ephesians 5:2 ; Romans 6:4 ; 2 Corinthians 4:2 ), and seems to condemn the mere fact of living "amongst the sons of disobedience" (see, on the other hand, 1 Corinthians 5:9 , 1 Corinthians 5:10 ; Philippians 2:15 ; John 17:15 ; 1 Peter 2:12 ). The parallel "because of which" ( Colossians 3:6 ) gives also its force: these sins are visited with the Divine anger, and moreover are the very sins in which the Colossians aforetime had lived; observe the same connection in Ephesians 5:6-8 ; 1 Corinthians 6:10 , 1 Corinthians 6:11 . "Were living" stands opposed to "make dead" of 1 Corinthians 6:5 , and to "ye died" ( 1 Corinthians 6:3 : comp. Colossians 2:20 ; Galatians 2:20 ); it marks the time when "the old man" ( 1 Corinthians 6:9 ), with his "earthly members'' ( 1 Corinthians 6:5 ) was alive and active (comp. Romans 7:5 , Romans 7:9 , "sin came to life"). "In these things" ( τούτοις , not αὐτοῖς : Revised Text) points to the things enumerated in 1 Corinthians 6:6 , with a mental gesture of contempt.