Sunday, December 25, 2022

Colossians 1:12-20, annotated


The bolded scriptural citation will take you to additional translations. The entire chapter is included to provide context. 

 

Information about the meaning the original Greek of what seem to be key words is provided in blue.  

 

Excerpts collected in yellow  at the end of this post tell us something about God’s nature or our relationship to Him. 

 

Excerpts collected in green  at the end of this post tell us about something God wants us to do. 

 

Colossians 1:12-20

Let us give thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light. 

 

He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.


For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him.

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

He is the head of the body, the church.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the blood of his cross through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.

 

thanks = εχαριστω = eucharisteō  Blue Letter Bible  to be grateful; feel thankful; give thanks; to express gratitude;  Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon   to be thankful, return thanks; to be thanked; to be received with thanks; bestow a favour on, oblige

 

made you fit = κανω = hikanoō  Blue Letter Bible   render fit, meet, to make sufficient; to equip one with adequate power to perform duties of one; qualify; make able;  Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon   make sufficient, qualify; to be empowered; to be made complete, brought to perfection, of the soul; to be satisfied, content

 

share = μερς = meris  Blue Letter Bible  participation;  part or portion; a part as distinct from the whole; an assigned part, a portion, share; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon    contribution, contribute to, part, portion

 

inheritance = κλρος = klēros  Blue Letter Bible   a lot, allotment, heritage; what is obtained by lot, an allotted portion; an object used in casting or drawing lots; an acquisition; especially a patrimony; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon   that which is assigned by lot; allotment of land; piece of land, farm, estate; legacy, inheritance, heritable estate; body of inheritors; province, sphere; casting of lots, drawing of lots

 

holy ones = γιος = hagios  Blue Letter Bible fundamentally signifies "separated" (among the Greeks, dedicated to the gods), and hence, in Scripture in its moral and spiritual significance, separated from sin and therefore consecrated to God, sacred; most holy thing, a saint; sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated); reverend, worthy of veneration; things which on account of some connection with God possess a certain distinction and claim to reverence; set apart for God, to be, as it were, exclusively his; prepared for God; pure, sinless, upright, holy;  Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  devoted to the gods; sacred, holy; pure; R. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament  Its fundamental idea is separation, and, so to speak, consecration and devotion to the service of Deity

 

light = φς = phōs Blue Letter Bible  luminousness in the widest application, natural or artificial, abstract or concrete, literal or figurative; to give light; light as seen by the eye; a luminous emanation; anything emitting light; brightness; fire; that which is exposed to the view of all, openly, publicly;  reason, mind, the power of understanding esp. moral and spiritual truth; truth and its knowledge, together with the spiritual purity associated with it; God is light because light has the extremely delicate, subtle, pure, brilliant quality; to live agreeably to saving wisdom; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon   light, esp. daylight; daybreak; the light of a torch, lamp, fire, etc. ; illuminations; metaph. for deliverance, happiness, victory, glory, etc.; illumination of the mind

 

delivered = ῥύομαι = rhyomai  Blue Letter Bible  to rescue from, deliver; preserve from; to draw to one's self; to rush or draw to oneself; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon   to draw to oneself, i. e. draw out of danger, to rescue, save, deliver; to save from; to save from an illness, cure; to set free, redeem; to shield, guard, protect; defensive armour; to remove the charges; to draw back, to hold back, check; to keep off

 

power = ξουσα = exousia Blue Letter Bible  the power of one whose will and commands must be obeyed; right of disposal; power; the ability or strength with which one is endued, which he either possesses or exercises; the power of him whose will and commands must be submitted to by others and obeyed; privilege; mastery; the power of authority (influence) and of right; delegated authority; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  power, authority to do a thing; permission to do; license; qualification for; office, magistracy; abundance of means, resources

 

darkness = σκτος = skotos  Blue Letter Bible   physical darkness; intellectual darkness; darkened eyesight or blindness; of ignorance respecting divine things and human duties, and the accompanying ungodliness and immorality, together with their consequent misery in hell; persons in whom darkness becomes visible and holds sway;  Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon   darkness, gloom; blindness; ignorance; deceit; shadows

transferred = μεθστημι = methistēmi  Blue Letter Bible   change, remove; transpose, transfer; remove from one place to another; change of situation or place; carry away; exchange; seduce; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  place in another way, change; introduce a new polity; set free; remove by killing; remove from one place to another; remove from oneself or from one's presence; stand among or in the midst of; change one's position; depart; cease from; go over to another party, revolt; change or alter, either for the better or for the worse;  change position 


kingdom = βασιλεα = basileia  Blue Letter Bible  sovereignty, royal power, dominion; the people over whom a king rules; the right or authority to rule; reign; royal power and dignity; the rule of God; God's rule, the divine administration; the universe subject to God's sway, God's royal domain; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  dominion; being ruled by a king; reign

 

beloved = γπη = agape  Blue Letter Bible  affection, good will, love, benevolence, brotherly love; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  the love of husband and wife; brotherly love, charity

children = υἱός = yhios Blue Letter Bible a descendant, one of the posterity of any one; one who depends on another or is his follower, equivalent to pupils; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  child; term of affection; inheritors of the nature of

image = εκν = eikon Blue Letter Bible   representation; manifestation; an image, figure, likeness; one in whom the likeness of any one is seen; resemblance; moral likeness; denotes not mere similarity but likeness; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon   likeness, image; image in a mirror;  living image, representation; similitude, comparison; pattern, archetype

firstborn = πρωττοκος = prōtotokos  Blue Letter Bible the firstborn; priority to, and preeminence over

 

creation = κτσις = ktisis  Blue Letter Bible  the act of founding, establishing, building etc.; the creative act in process; creation i.e. thing created; collectively, the sum or aggregate of created things; some particular kind or class of created things or beings; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  founding, settling; created thing, creature 

 

created = κτζω = ktizō Blue Letter Bible   to create; to form, shape; to fabricate; to make habitable, to people; to found; to completely change or transform; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon   people; build; found; plant; establish; produce, create, bring into being; bring about; make, perpetuate

 

all = πς = pas Blue Letter Bible  radically means "all." Used without the article it means "every," every kind or variety; any and every, of every kind, all manner of; in every way or particular; the whole; each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything; thoroughly, whatsoever; all manner of; the highest degree, the maximum; always; in everything, in every way, on every side, in every particular or relation; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  when used of a number, all; when of one only, the whole; all, the whole; every; all things as a unity, as a totality; all kinds of things; in all points, entirely, wholly; in every way, by all means, altogether

 

through = δι = dia  Blue Letter Bible  on account of this, for this cause;  because of; by, by means of, by which means; to consider deeply; the ground or reason by which something is or is not done; on account of; the channel of an act; by occasion of, by reason of; instrument, or of the efficient cause; due to; instrument used to accomplish a thing, or of the instrumental cause in the stricter sense; the formal cause;  Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon   through; the Instrument or Means; thanks to, by aid of; by reason of, on account of

 

before = πρ = pro  Blue Letter Bible   in front of, prior; previously; beforehand, in advance; superior to, above; superiority or pre-eminence; preference;  Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  before, in front of; more than; position before or in front

 

all—see above

 

hold  together= συνστημι = synistēmi  Blue Letter Bible  to set together;  to place together, to set in the same place, to bring or band together; to put together, unite parts into one whole; to put together; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon    set together, combine; associate, unite; organize, frame; make solid or firm, brace up; congeal; to come or be put together; come into existence; to be compact, solid, firm; acquire substance or consistency

 

head = κεφαλ = kephalē Blue Letter Bible the head, both of men and often of animals; metaph. anything supreme, chief, prominent; the corner stone; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  head of man or beast; from above; the noblest part; source, origin, crown, capital, completion, consummation

 

body = σμα =sōma   Blue Letter Bible the body as a whole, the instrument of life; slaves, the body both of men or animals; the body (as a sound whole); the instrument of the soul; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  the living body; civic rights; a person, human being; a body, i.e. any corporeal substance, the body or whole of a thing 

 

beginning = ρχή = archē  Blue Letter Bible   the origin, the active cause; first in time, order, or place; the person or thing that commences; that by which anything begins to be; the first person or thing in a series; the leader; the first place, principality, rule, magistracy; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  beginning, origin; foundation, source; original, principal sum; first principle, element; first place or power, sovereignty; magistracy, office; authority, command

 

first born—see above

 

preeminent = πρωτεω = prōteuō Blue Letter Bible   to be first, hold the first place; have the preeminence;  Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon   to be the first, hold first place; to be first of or among

 

fullness = πλρωμα = plērōma Blue Letter Bible  that which fills up; that which has been completed; that which is (has been) filled; fulness, abundance; repletion; copiousness; flooded; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon

Satiety; full and perfect nature; the aggregate of properties which constitute the complete nature of a thing; filling up, completing, fulfillment

 

dwell = κατοικω= katoikeō Blue Letter Bible  to settle down in a dwelling, to dwell fixedly in a place; inhabit; pervade, govern; reside; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  settle in, colonize; administer, govern; lie, be situated

 

reconcile = ποκαταλλσσω = apokatallassō   Blue Letter Bible   to reconcile completely; to remove all enmity and leave no impediment to unity and peace; bring back a former state of harmony; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon   reconcile again

 

making peace = ερηνοποιω = eirēnopoieō  Blue Letter Bible   to make peace, establish harmony; to harmonize;  Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  to make peace, make peaceful

 

What this scripture tells about God/our relationship to Him:

the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light

He delivered us from the power of darkness

his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God

in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible,
all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things

in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning

in all things he himself might be preeminent

in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell

through him to reconcile all things for him

making peace

whether those on earth or those in heaven.

 

What this scripture tells to do:

give thanks to the Father

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