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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
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OET (OET-LV) Because_of this we, also from that day we_heard it, are_ not _ceasing praying for you_all and requesting, in_order_that you_all_may_be_filled with_the knowledge of_the will of_him in all wisdom and spiritual insight,
OET (OET-RV) It’s because of that that we haven’t stopped praying from the time that we heard it, and requesting that you all would be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual insight,
In this section, Paul told the Colossian Christians that he often thanked God for them. He was grateful to God that they had trusted in Christ Jesus, and that they loved all God’s people. He told them about his prayers for them—that God would cause them to be wise and help them to know what he wanted them to do.
Epaphras had come from Colossae to visit Paul in prison. He brought news to Paul about the Christian congregations in Colossae and the towns nearby. Paul was happy to hear that the Christians in Colossae were trusting firmly in Jesus. However, he was concerned to hear that there were some people among them who wanted to continue to practice their old religious beliefs, and others who said that Christians must obey the Jewish laws. In this section of his letter, Paul concentrated on the good news he had heard from Epaphras.
Theme: Paul was constantly asking God to help the Colossians to know all that God wanted them to do.
In these verses Paul was not actually praying. Rather, he was telling the Colossians what he usually prayed for them. In Greek these four verses are one long sentence. You will probably need to divide this sentence into several sentences in your translation, as most English versions do. The main part of the long sentence is “we have not stopped praying for you and asking God…” (1:9a–b). The rest of these verses contain a list of what Paul was praying for the Colossians.
Study the different ways the English versions have broken 1:9–12 into different sentences. Consider how you can arrange the sentences and connect them together to make Paul’s prayer sound natural in your language. One way to do this would be to repeat, “We pray that…” at the beginning of each subject Paul prayed for the Colossians.
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you
¶ Because we(excl) have heard this good report about you, we(excl) have been praying continually for you since the day we(excl) first heard it.
¶ Since the time Epaphras/people told us(excl) this news about you, we(excl) have been constantly asking God to help you.
For this reason: These words connect 1:9–12 with what Paul said in 1:3–8. Because of the news Paul had heard about the Colossians, he prayed for them.
we have not stopped praying for you: This is another hyperbole (see 1:6b). It does not mean that Paul prayed for the Colossian believers all day and all night and never stopped. It means that he prayed for them often and regularly. If it is more natural in your language, you could translate not stopped praying in a positive way. For example:
we have always prayed for you (GNT)
See also NCV, NLT.
and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will
We(excl) have been asking God to help you to know fully what he wants you to do.
We(excl) have been requesting that God would help you to understand everything that he wants you to do.
to fill you with the knowledge of: This is a figure of speech. To be “filled with knowledge of something” means “to know something fully, to understand it completely.”
His will: God’s will is what God wants and desires. So Paul was praying that God would cause the Colossians to know fully what he wanted for them. He was praying that they would understand all that God wanted them to do.
in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
We(excl) have been asking God to do this by making you very wise about spiritual matters and enabling you to understand them well.
in all spiritual wisdom and understanding: The Greek preposition en that the BSB translates in has many possible meanings depending on the context. Because of this, commentators have three opinions of how to connect 1:9b and 1:9c:
1:9c is the means by which a person is filled with the knowledge of God’s will (1:9b). So 1:9b–c means: “[We ask God] to cause you to know fully all that he wants you to do by means of him making you very wise and enabling you to understand spiritual things.” (NIV, GW, NJB)
1:9c is a restatement of 1:9b. So 1:9b–c means: “[We ask God] to cause you to know fully all that he wants you to do; that is, we ask him to make you very wise and to enable you to understand spiritual things.” No English version follows this, but several commentaries support it.
1:9c is something that accompanies 1:9b. So Paul not only prayed that God would fill the Colossians with the knowledge of God’s will, but also with all spiritual wisdom and understanding. (GNT, CEV, NCV, NLT)
All these options are possible. The Display follows the first interpretation (1) because it has strong support from both English versions and commentaries. If you wish to follow the second option, you could say:
that is, that God will fill you with all spiritual wisdom and understanding
all spiritual wisdom and understanding: The order of the words in Greek here is: “all wisdom and understanding spiritual.” It is not clear from this word order how the adjectives all and spiritual are connected to the nouns wisdom and understanding. There are two main possibilities:
The adjectives all and spiritual modify both nouns, so it is translated all spiritual wisdom and understanding. (BSB, NIV, GNT, RSV, CEV, GW, NET, NLT)
The adjective all only modifies the noun wisdom and the adjective spiritual only modifies the noun understanding. For example:
perfect (all) wisdom and spiritual understanding (NJB) (NJB, see also SSA)
It is recommended you follow the first interpretation (1) like the majority of English versions and commentaries do. This means that Paul was not simply praying that the Colossians would be wise, but that they would be wise “spiritually.”
spiritual: There are two ways to understand spiritual in this context:
It means being wise about and understanding spiritual matters, that is, about God and his ways. (NCV)
It means that the wisdom and understanding come from the Holy Spirit. (GNT, CEV)
Either of these interpretations is acceptable. Most English versions are ambiguous. The Display follows the first interpretation (1), which is supported by many commentaries. If you wish to follow the second interpretation you could say:
we(excl) ask God to make you very wise and cause you to understand his ways by means of the Holy Spirit helping you
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive
ἡμεῖς & ἠκούσαμεν, οὐ παυόμεθα
we & ˱we˲_heard_‹it› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Διά τοῦτο καί ἡμεῖς ἀφʼ ἧς ἡμέρας ἠκούσαμεν οὒ παυόμεθα ὑπέρ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι καί αἰτούμενοι ἵνα πληρωθῆτε τήν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καί συνέσει πνευματικῇ)
The word we here does not include the Colossians.
ἀφ’ ἧς ἡμέρας ἠκούσαμεν
from that day ˱we˲_heard_‹it›
Alternate translation: [from the day Epaphras told us these things]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / hyperbole
οὐ παυόμεθα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Διά τοῦτο καί ἡμεῖς ἀφʼ ἧς ἡμέρας ἠκούσαμεν οὒ παυόμεθα ὑπέρ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι καί αἰτούμενοι ἵνα πληρωθῆτε τήν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καί συνέσει πνευματικῇ)
Here, have not stopped is an exaggeration that the Colossians would have understood to mean that Paul and Timothy pray often for the Colossians. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that indicates frequency. Alternate translation: [have been frequently] or [have made a habit of]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / litotes
οὐ παυόμεθα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Διά τοῦτο καί ἡμεῖς ἀφʼ ἧς ἡμέρας ἠκούσαμεν οὒ παυόμεθα ὑπέρ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι καί αἰτούμενοι ἵνα πληρωθῆτε τήν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καί συνέσει πνευματικῇ)
Paul uses a figure of speech that expresses a strong positive meaning by using a negative word together with a word that is the opposite of the intended meaning. If this is confusing in your language, you could express the meaning positively. Alternate translation: [have kept] or [are continually]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἵνα πληρωθῆτε τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ
in_order_that ˱you_all˲_˓may_be˒_filled (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Διά τοῦτο καί ἡμεῖς ἀφʼ ἧς ἡμέρας ἠκούσαμεν οὒ παυόμεθα ὑπέρ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι καί αἰτούμενοι ἵνα πληρωθῆτε τήν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καί συνέσει πνευματικῇ)
Paul speaks of the Colossian believers as though they were containers that could be filled up. By speaking this way, he emphasizes that the Colossians should know God’s will in every area of their lives. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this plainly. Alternate translation: [that God would enable you to understand fully what he wants you to do]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
πληρωθῆτε
˱you_all˲_˓may_be˒_filled
If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in an active form, with God as the subject. Alternate translation: [God would fill you with]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
πληρωθῆτε τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ
˱you_all˲_˓may_be˒_filled (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Διά τοῦτο καί ἡμεῖς ἀφʼ ἧς ἡμέρας ἠκούσαμεν οὒ παυόμεθα ὑπέρ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι καί αἰτούμενοι ἵνα πληρωθῆτε τήν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καί συνέσει πνευματικῇ)
If your language does not use abstract nouns for the ideas behind the words knowledge and will, you could express those ideas in another way, such as with verbs. Alternate translation: [you might fully know what he has planned for you]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / infostructure
πληρωθῆτε τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καὶ συνέσει πνευματικῇ,
˱you_all˲_˓may_be˒_filled (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Διά τοῦτο καί ἡμεῖς ἀφʼ ἧς ἡμέρας ἠκούσαμεν οὒ παυόμεθα ὑπέρ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι καί αἰτούμενοι ἵνα πληρωθῆτε τήν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καί συνέσει πνευματικῇ)
Here, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding identifies how the Colossians are filled. The phrase does not describe God’s will. If it would be helpful in your language, you could move the phrase so that it appears immediately after filled. Alternate translation: [you might be filled in all wisdom and spiritual understanding with the knowledge of his will]
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καὶ συνέσει πνευματικῇ
in all wisdom (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Διά τοῦτο καί ἡμεῖς ἀφʼ ἧς ἡμέρας ἠκούσαμεν οὒ παυόμεθα ὑπέρ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι καί αἰτούμενοι ἵνα πληρωθῆτε τήν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καί συνέσει πνευματικῇ)
If your language does not use abstract nouns to express the ideas behind wisdom and understanding, you could express the ideas with adjectives or verbs. If you use the following alternate translation, you may need to add a comma before it. Alternate translation: [which includes being spiritually very wise and intelligent]
σοφίᾳ καὶ συνέσει πνευματικῇ
wisdom (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Διά τοῦτο καί ἡμεῖς ἀφʼ ἧς ἡμέρας ἠκούσαμεν οὒ παυόμεθα ὑπέρ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι καί αἰτούμενοι ἵνα πληρωθῆτε τήν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καί συνέσει πνευματικῇ)
Here, wisdom and spiritual understanding could refer to: (1) wisdom and understanding that comes from the Holy Spirit. Alternate translation: [wisdom and understanding given by the Holy Spirit] (2) wisdom and understanding in spiritual matters. Alternate translation: [wisdom and understanding about spiritual things]
Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet
σοφίᾳ καὶ συνέσει πνευματικῇ
wisdom (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Διά τοῦτο καί ἡμεῖς ἀφʼ ἧς ἡμέρας ἠκούσαμεν οὒ παυόμεθα ὑπέρ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι καί αἰτούμενοι ἵνα πληρωθῆτε τήν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καί συνέσει πνευματικῇ)
The words wisdom and understanding mean very similar things. The repetition is used to emphasize the breadth of spiritual wisdom. If your language does not use repetition in this way or has only one word for this concept, you could use just one word. Alternate translation: [spiritual comprehension] or [spiritual insight]
1:3-14 This opening section begins with a thanksgiving, typical of New Testament letters. Paul thanks God for the Colossians’ progress in the faith and prays that they might understand it even better. With this prayer, Paul hints at his concern about the influence of false teachers.
OET (OET-LV) Because_of this we, also from that day we_heard it, are_ not _ceasing praying for you_all and requesting, in_order_that you_all_may_be_filled with_the knowledge of_the will of_him in all wisdom and spiritual insight,
OET (OET-RV) It’s because of that that we haven’t stopped praying from the time that we heard it, and requesting that you all would be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual insight,
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.