Friday, March 9, 2018

Colossians 1:2 – Brothers

To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae... (NRSV-CE) 

Covenants make families. Christ came to institute a new covenant in His blood. Through His death and resurrection, He reconciled us to God, creating a new covenant and making us God's family, the Father's children, the siblings of Christ. 

That's why Paul addresses his hearers as brothers and sisters in Christ, at least in translation. In the original Greek, the word translated as “brothers and sisters” is adelphois. It is literally “brothers,” but modern people, of course, like to be inclusive and include sisters as well. 

I would argue that this addition isn't necessary or perhaps even desirable. Adelphos, brother, literally means someone from the same womb, so the plural of this word could, perhaps, include female siblings as well, as plurals of mixed groups often conjugate in the masculine. But there is a Greek word for sister: adelphē. If Paul had meant to say “brothers and sisters,” he might have written adelphois kai adelphais. But he doesn't. 

Why doesn't he? In Biblical days, the heirs to a family's wealth were sons, brothers from the same father. Daughters/sisters were usually married off into another family and expected to become part of their new family's heritage (which their husbands inherited). 

Paul knows that we are all heirs to God in Christ. We inherit the good things of God, our patrimony, because we are joined to Christ and reconciled through Him to God our Father. But sisters don't inherit. Brothers do. That's why Paul addresses his hearers as brothers in Christ. He's certainly writing to a mixed audience of men and women (in fact, many of the most faithful people in early Christian communities were women, and Paul realized that – think Priscilla, who with her husband, Aquila, taught the Christian faith). But he's also emphasizing that all the people he's addressing are brothers in Christ and therefore heirs in Christ. We are all sons in the Son. We are all family members who receive an inheritance because we are incorporated into the Heir. 

When Paul doesn't write adelphois kai adelphais, then, he's not being misogynistic or trying to leave women out of the picture. Instead, he's recognizing that all Christians, both male and female, are inheritors of God's amazing grace. 

(Greek definitions come from Biblehub.com, especially HELPS Word Studies, and the Perseus Tufts Greek Word Study Tool.)

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