Colossians 1

Colossians · Chapter 1

Colossians 1:15

1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,2To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.3We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,4Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,5For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;6Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:7As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ;8Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.9For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;10That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;11Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;12Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:13Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:14In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:15Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.19For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;20And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.21And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled22In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:23If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;24Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:25Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;26Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:27To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:28Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:29Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
15Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;

In context

AI-assisted, sourced

Colossians 1:15-23The preeminence of Christ

About Colossians 1Paul and Timotheus give thanks for the Colossians' faith and love, which Epaphras "declared unto us," and pray that they may be "filled with the knowledge of his will" and "walk worthy of the Lord." Christ "is the image of the invisible God," by whom "all things were created," the head of the church, in whom "should all fulness dwell," and who has made "peace through the blood of his cross." Paul rejoices in his sufferings as a minister of "the mystery... which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Colossians 1:1Colossians 1:4Colossians 1:7Colossians 1:9Colossians 1:10Colossians 1:15Colossians 1:16Colossians 1:18Colossians 1:19Colossians 1:20Colossians 1:23Colossians 1:24Colossians 1:27Colossians 1:2Colossians 1:3Colossians 1:8Colossians overview

Who, where and when in this chapter

Original Greek words

EnglishGreekSay itStrong'sMeaning
[He]ὅςhosG3739
which

ὅς (hos, hē) ὅς, ἥ, ὅ, the postpositive article (ἄρθρον ὑποτακτικόν). I. As demonstr. pron. = οὗτος, ὅδε, this, that, also for αὐτός, chiefly in nom.: ὅς δέ, but he (cf. ἦ δὲ ὅς, frequently in Plat.), Mrk.15:23, Jhn.5:11; ὃς μὲν . . . ὃς δέ, the one . . . the other, Mat.21:35, 22:5, 25:15, Luk.23:33, Act.27:14, Rom.14:5, 1Co.11:21, 2Co.2:18, Ju 22; neut., ὃ μὲν . . . ὃ δέ, the one . . . the other, some . . . some, Mat.13:8, 23, Rom.9:21; ὃς (ὃ) μὲν . . . (ἄλλος (ἄλλο)) . . . ἕτερος, Mrk.4:4, Luk.8:5, 1Co.12:8-10; οὓς μέν, absol., 1Co.12:28; ὃς μὲν . . . ὁ δέ, Rom.14:2. …

isἐστινestinG1510
you are

εἶ (ei) εἰμί, with various uses and significations, like the English verb to be. I. As substantive verb. 1. Of persons and things, to be, exist: Act.17:28, Jhn.1:1, 8:58, 17:5, al; ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν (for past ptcp.), Rev.1:4, 8, 4:8, 11:17, 16:5 (see Swete, Ap., 5; M, Pr., 228); τὰ (μὴ) ὄντα, Rom.4:17, 1Co.1:28. 2. Of times, events, etc., to be, happen, take place: Mat.24:3, Mrk.14:2, 15:42, Luk.21:23, Jhn.4:6, 23, 5:10, al. …

[the] imageεἰκὼνeikōnG1504
image

εἰκών (eikōn) εἰκών, -όνος (cf. ἔοικα), [in LXX chiefly for צֶלֶם ;] an image, likeness: Mat.22:20, Mrk.12:16, Luk.20:24, Rom.1:23, 1Co.15:49, Rev.13:14, 15 14:9, 11 15:2 16:2 19:20 20:4; opposite to σκιά, Heb.10:1; of man, εἰ. θεοῦ, 1 Co 11:7; of the regenerate, εἰ. τ. θεοῦ Col.3:10 (see Lft., in l.); εἰ. τ. υἱοῦ τ. θεοῦ, Rom.8:29, 2Co.3:18; of Christ, εἰ. τ. θεοῦ, 2Co.4:4, Col.1:15.† SYN.: ὁμοίωμα, denoting resemblance, which may however be merely accidental. εἰ. is a derived likeness and like the head on a coin or the parental likeness in a child, implies an archetype. Cf. also εἶδος, appearance, not n …

GodθεοῦtheouG2316
God

θεός (theos) θεός, -οῦ, ὁ, ἡ (Act.19:37 only; see M, Pr., 60, 244), late voc., θεέ (Mat.27:46; cf. Deu.3:24, al.), [in LXX chiefly for אֱלֹהִים, also for אֵל and other cognate forms, יהוה, etc. ;] a god or deity, God. 1. In polytheistic sense, a god or deity: Act.28:6, 1Co.8:4, 2Th.2:4, al.; pl., Ac. 14:11 19:26, Gal.4:8, al. 2. Of the one true God; …

invisible,ἀοράτου,aoratouG0517
invisible

ἀόρατος (aoratos) ἀόρατος, -ον (ὁράω), [in LXX: Gen.1:2 (תֹּהוּ), Isa.45:3 (מִסְתָּר), 2Ma.9:5 * ;] unseen, invisible: Rom.1:20, Col.1:15-16, 1Ti.1:17, Heb.11:27.† (AS)

[the] firstbornπρωτότοκοςprōtotokosG4416
firstborn

πρωτότοκος (prōtotokos) πρωτότοκος, -ον (πρῶτος, τίκτω) [in LXX chiefly for בְּכוֹר ;] first-born: Luk.2:7; pl., Heb.11:28. Metaphorical, of the priority of Christ (originally perh. a Messianic title, cf. Psa.89:28, Heb.1:6; see ICC on Col.1:15): Heb.1:6; π. πάσης κτίσεως, Col.1:15; ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, Rom.8:29; π. (ἐκ) τ. νεκρῶν, Col.1:18, Rev.1:5; pl., of the elect, ἐκκλησία πρωτοτόκων, Heb.12:23.† (AS)

over allπάσηςpasēsG3956
all

πᾶς (pas) πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν, genitive, παντός, πάσης, παντός, [in LXX chiefly for כֹּל ;] all, every. I. As adj., 1. with subst. anarth., all, every, of every kind: Mat.3:10 4:23, Mrk.9:49, Luk.4:37, Jhn.2:1o, Act.27:20, Rom.7:8, Rev.18:17, al. mult.; pl., all, Act.22:15, Rom.5:12, Heb.1:6, al.; of the highest degree, π. ἐξουσία (προθυμία, χαρά), Mat.28:18, Act.17:11, Phi 2:29, al.; also the whole (though in this sense more frequently with art.), Mat.2:3, Act.2:36, Rom.11:26. …

creation;κτίσεως·ktiseōsG2937
creation

κτίσις (ktisis) κτίσις, -εως, ἡ (κτίζω), [in LXX: Psa.104:24 (קִנְיָן), Pro.1:13 A (הוֹן), Tob.8:5, Wis.2:6, Sir.16:17, 3Ma.2:2, al. ;] 1. a founding, settling, foundation (cl.). 2. In LXX and NT, (a) the act of creating, creation: Mrk.10:6 (Swete, in l), Mrk.13:19, Rom.1:20, 2Pe.3:4; (b) that which has been created, creation: Rom.1:25 8:39, Heb.4:13; καινὴ κ., 2Co.5:17, Gal.6:15; πάσῃ ἀνθρωπίνῃ κ. (Hort., in l), 1Pe.2:13; collectively, of the sum of created things (Wis.19:6, Jdth.16:14), Mrk.16:15, Col.1:15, 23 Heb.9:11, Rev.3:14; of the irrational creation, Rom.8:19-22.† (AS)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.