COL 1:19 Interlinear View

1. Greek word
2. Greek lemma
3. OET-LV words
4. OET-RV words
5. Strongs
6. Role/Morphology
7. OET Gloss
8. VLT Gloss
9. CAPS codes
10. Confidence
11. OET tags
12. OET word #
1. ὅτι
2. hoti
3. because
4. because
5. 37540
6. C·······
7. because
8. because
9. -
10. Y64
11. 132878
1. ἐν
2. en
3. in
4. -
5. 17220
6. P·······
7. in
8. in
9. -
10. Y64
11. 132879
1. αὐτῷ
2. autos
3. him
4. him
5. 8460
6. R···3DMS
7. him
8. him
9. -
10. Y64
11. 132880
1. ἐδόκησεν
2. dokeō
3. -
4. -
5. 13800
6. VIAA3··S
7. ˱he˲ supposed
8. ˱he˲ supposed
9. -
10. -
11. 132881
1. εὐδόκησεν
2. eudokeō
3. he took pleasure
4. pleased
5. 21060
6. VIAA3··S
7. ˱he˲ took_pleasure
8. ˱he˲ took_pleasure
9. -
10. Y64
11. 132882
1. παν
2. pas
3. all
4. -
5. 39560
6. E····ANS
7. all
8. all
9. -
10. Y64
11. 132883
1. τό
2. ho
3. the
4. -
5. 35880
6. E····ANS
7. the
8. the
9. -
10. Y64
11. 132884
1. πλήρωμα
2. plērōma
3. fullness
4. -
5. 41380
6. N····ANS
7. fullness
8. fullness
9. -
10. Y64
11. 132885
1. κατοικῆσαι
2. katoikeō
3. to dwell
4. -
5. 27300
6. VNAA····
7. ˓to˒ dwell
8. ˓to˒ dwell
9. -
10. Y64
11. 132886

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:13–23: Jesus Christ is greater than everything

In this section, Paul stated these things: Jesus is equal to God in every way. He has always been with God and he (with God) created the world. God has freed Christians from the power of Satan and has placed them under the rule of his Son, Christ Jesus. God has accepted those who believe in Jesus as his own people. This was possible because Jesus died on the cross instead of them.

Paragraph 1:15–20

Theme: Jesus Christ has shown exactly what God is like. He is the great ruler over everything that he, with God, created.

In this paragraph Paul was emphasizing how great Jesus is. This was in order to oppose the following things that the false teachers were teaching the Colossian Christians.

The Greek people believed that evil spirits created and then controlled the world. A summary of Paul’s response to that false teaching is: No, Jesus, who is equal to God, created the world and now controls it.
The Greeks also said that God’s Messiah would never live in a human body. A summary of Paul’s response is: When Jesus, God’s Messiah, became a man, he retained all the character and power of God.

1:19

For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,

For God himself decided that his Son would fully have all God’s character/nature.
Because God also planned that even when Christ became a man, he/Christ would be fully equal to God in every way.

For: Notice that the BSB begins 1:19 with the word For. 1:19 explains and provides a reason for the previous verses.

God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him: A literal English translation of the Greek is: “in him was-pleased all the fullness to-dwell.” The phrase in Him refers to Jesus. In Greek there is no subject of the verb that the BSB translates was pleased. There are two main possibilities:

The subject of the verb is God. This is how most English versions translate the verse. (BSB, NIV, GNT, CEV, GW, NCV, NET, NLT).
The subject of the verb is fullness. This is how the RSV translates the verse.

Most scholars agree that God is the subject of the verb was pleased and so it is recommended that you follow the first option (1). Another way to translate the words God was pleased is:

God decided…

all His fullness: The Greek is literally “all the fullness.” It is not clear from this verse alone what fullness Paul meant. However, this is similar to what Paul says in 2:9: “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.” This helps us to understand that Paul was probably referring to God’s fullness in this verse. When Jesus came into the world, even though he became a man, he was still God, and he still retained all the power and characteristics of God.We know from what Paul says in this letter to the Colossians that there were people in Colossae teaching false doctrine. These teachings were probably similar to what was later called gnosticism. Gnosticism taught that between God and people there were many lesser gods and powerful beings, and that Christ was just one of these beings. That is why in this letter Paul told the Colossians how supreme and how important Christ is. Here in 1:19 Paul says that “all the fullness” of God was in Christ. Christ is not just one of many powerful beings between God and man, Christ is not just a little like God. All of God and God’s nature was fully in Christ.

in Him: This, of course, refers to Christ. In the Greek text Paul placed these words at the beginning of the clause to emphasize them. You should emphasize them in your translation in a way that is natural in your language.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

ὅτι

because

The word For provides a reason for previous statements. If it would be helpful in your language, you could clarify for which statements this verse gives a reason. These statements could be: (1) everything in the previous verse, including the Son’s headship over the church, his founding of the church, his resurrection, and his status as most important. Alternate translation: [He is all these things because] (2) why the Son is first among all things. Alternate translation: [He is first among all things because]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἐν αὐτῷ εὐδόκησεν πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα κατοικῆσαι

in him ˱he˲_took_pleasure (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ εὐδόκησεν παν τό πλήρωμα κατοικῆσαι)

The verb was pleased implies a personal subject, which must be God the Father. By using the phrase all the fullness, Paul is speaking of everything that God the Father is, either by ellipsis or metonymy. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this explicit. Alternate translation: [God the Father was pleased to make all of his fullness dwell in the Son] or [all the fullness of God the Father was pleased to dwell in the Son]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἐν αὐτῷ εὐδόκησεν πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα κατοικῆσαι

in him ˱he˲_took_pleasure (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ εὐδόκησεν παν τό πλήρωμα κατοικῆσαι)

Paul speaks of the Son as though he were a house in which God’s fullness could dwell. This does not mean that God lives inside of the Son or that the Son is part of God. This means that the Son has all the divinity of God. It means that the Son is fully God just as the Father is fully God. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state it more plainly. Alternate translation: [the Son is fully God in every way]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ εὐδόκησεν παν τό πλήρωμα κατοικῆσαι)

In the context, fullness stands for the fullness of divinity, or everything that characterizes God. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make it clear that fullness refers to the fullness of God. Alternate translation: [the full divinity of God]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear COL 1:19

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 1:13–23: Jesus Christ is greater than everything

Paragraph 1:15–20

1:19

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)