Colossians 1
Colossians 1 is the first chapter of the Epistle to the Colossians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Traditionally, it is believed to be written for the church in Colossae by Apostle Paul, with Timothy as his co-author, while he was in prison in Ephesus, although there were debatable charges that it is the work of a secondary imitator or that it was written in Rome. This chapter contains the greeting, thanksgiving and prayer, followed by a "Christological Hymn" and the thesis of the letter.
Text
The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 29 verses.Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:- Papyrus 46
- Codex Vaticanus
- Codex Sinaiticus
- Codex Alexandrinus
- Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus
- Codex Freerianus
- Codex Claromontanus
- Codex Coislinianus
Greeting (1:1–2)
Verse 1
The mention of Timothy alone among the fellow believers who were with Paul at that time suggests that he was the co-author of this epistle.Verse 2
Paul's opening greeting in his epistles normally mentions "a double source of divine benefactions: 'from God our/the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ'. The omission of the second element may be due to the presence of 'in Christ' in the first part of this verse.Thanksgiving (1:3–8)
In most of his letters, Paul follows the greeting with a thanksgiving to God for his recipients, which "carefully reflect Paul's assessment to the state of the community, and reveal his concerns". The information about the believers at Collosae was obtained from Epaphras, who was also from Collosae.Prayer for the Future (1:9–11)
The believers have been the object of Paul's constant concern, so he asks God to make them understand his will, do good works and persevere.Conversion (1:12–14)
This section is actually still within one unbroken sentence with the previous, but in here Paul describes the crucial conversion of the believers into the form displayed by Christ, that is "by incorporation into Christ in baptism, the structures of the world are replaced by new values".The Christological Hymn (1:15–20)
A pattern of a 'Christological Hymn' in verses 15–20 has been hinted multiple times in the past without any hypothesis getting significant support. Jerome Murphy-O'Connor offers a reconstruction that shows "two four-line strophes" as follows:| Verse | Line | Text |
| 1:15a | Who is image of the invisible God | |
| 1:15b | Firstborn of all creation | |
| 1:16a | For in him were created all things | |
| 1:16b | All things through him and to him were created. | |
| 1:18b | Who is beginning | |
| 1:18c | Firstborn from the dead | |
| 1:19 | For in him was pleased all the Fullness to dwell | |
| 1:20a | And through him to reconcile all things to him. |
Verse 15
See Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament.Verse 16
Verse 17
Verse 18
Verses 19–20
The Thesis of the Letter (1:21—23)
The three verses in this part enunciate the major themes of the epistle.Servant of the Mystery (1:24-2:5)
This section continues to chapter 2, dealing with Paul's sufferings which "reveal the present reality of grace" as a member of the body of Christ.Verses 24–26
- "Fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ": Murphy-O'Connor prefers a more literal translation as given by Aletti: "I complete what is lacking in the sufferings-of-Christ-in-my-flesh" with no reference to the "individual Jesus Christ", because Paul's sufferings is due to him being a member of Christ's body.