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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Colossians 1:1

I, Paul, have been sent on special assignment by Christ as part of God's master plan. Together with my friend Timothy, I greet the Christians and stalwart followers of Christ who live in Colosse. May everything good from God our Father be yours!

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Call;   Minister, Christian;   Paul;   Timothy;   Scofield Reference Index - Colossians;   Thompson Chain Reference - Apostleship of Paul;   Paul's;   Timothy;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Timothy;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Apostle;   Mission;   Will of God;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Jesus Christ;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Rome;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Timothy;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Apostles;   Colossians;   Disciples;   Timothy;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Apostles;   Colossae;   Timothy;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Colossians, Epistle to the;   Ephesians Epistle to the;   Timothy;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Christ;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Tim'othy;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Hebrews;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Saul of Tarsus;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Colossae;   Colossians, Epistle to the;   Timothy;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for November 25;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Timothy our brother:
King James Version (1611)
Paul an Apostle of Iesus Christ, by ye will of God, and Timotheus our brother,
King James Version
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,
English Standard Version
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
New American Standard Bible
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
New Century Version
From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle because that is what God wanted. Also from Timothy, our brother.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
Legacy Standard Bible
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
Berean Standard Bible
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
Contemporary English Version
From Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from Timothy, who is also a follower.
Complete Jewish Bible
From: Sha'ul, by God's will an emissary of the Messiah Yeshua, and brother Timothy
Darby Translation
Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus, by God's will, and Timotheus the brother,
Easy-to-Read Version
Greetings from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle because that is what God wanted. Greetings also from Timothy, our brother in Christ.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Paul an Apostle of Iesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,
George Lamsa Translation
PAUL, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Ti-mo''the-us our brother,
Good News Translation
From Paul, who by God's will is an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy—
Lexham English Bible
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
Literal Translation
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Timothy the brother,
Amplified Bible
Paul, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed) by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
American Standard Version
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
Bible in Basic English
Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the purpose of God, and Timothy our brother,
Hebrew Names Version
Sha'ul, an apostle of Messiah Yeshua through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
International Standard Version
FromFrom">[fn] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,Ephesians 1:1;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
PAULOS, an apostle of Jeshu the Meshiha by the will of Aloha, and the brother Timotheos,
Murdock Translation
PAUL, a legate of Jesus the Messiah by the pleasure of God, and Timothy a brother,
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Paul an Apostle of Iesus Christe, by the wyll of God, and Timotheus the brother.
English Revised Version
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
World English Bible
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus a brother,
Weymouth's New Testament
Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God--and Timothy our brother:
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Poul, apostle of `Crist Jhesu, bi the wille of God,
Update Bible Version
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
Webster's Bible Translation
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy [our] brother,
New English Translation
From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
New King James Version
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
New Living Translation
This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.
New Life Bible
This letter is from Paul, a missionary for Jesus Christ. God wanted me to work for Him. This letter is from brother Timothy also.
New Revised Standard
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy my brother, -
Douay-Rheims Bible
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy, a brother:
Revised Standard Version
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Paul an Apostle of Iesu Christ by the wyll of God and brother Timotheus.
Young's Literal Translation
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Timotheus the brother,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Paul an Apostle of Iesu Christ by the will of God, and brother Timotheus.
Mace New Testament (1729)
Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the divine appointment, and Timothy our brother,
Simplified Cowboy Version
Howdy, boys!This letter is written by Paul, chosen by God to ride for his outfit, and our pard, Timothy.

Contextual Overview

1I, Paul, have been sent on special assignment by Christ as part of God's master plan. Together with my friend Timothy, I greet the Christians and stalwart followers of Christ who live in Colosse. May everything good from God our Father be yours!

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

an: Romans 1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:1, 2 Corinthians 1:1, Ephesians 1:1

Timotheus: Philippians 1:1, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2 Thessalonians 1:1, Philemon 1:1

Reciprocal: Numbers 7:23 - General Matthew 12:18 - my beloved Matthew 23:8 - all Acts 16:1 - named Romans 16:21 - Timotheus

Cross-References

Genesis 1:11
God spoke: "Earth, green up! Grow all varieties of seed-bearing plants, Every sort of fruit-bearing tree." And there it was. Earth produced green seed-bearing plants, all varieties, And fruit-bearing trees of all sorts. God saw that it was good. It was evening, it was morning— Day Three.
Genesis 1:16
God made two big lights, the larger to take charge of Day, The smaller to be in charge of Night; and he made the stars. God placed them in the heavenly sky to light up Earth And oversee Day and Night, to separate light and dark. God saw that it was good. It was evening, it was morning— Day Four.
Genesis 1:20
God spoke: "Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life! Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!" God created the huge whales, all the swarm of life in the waters, And every kind and species of flying birds. God saw that it was good. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean! Birds, reproduce on Earth!" It was evening, it was morning— Day Five.
Exodus 31:18
When he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave Moses two tablets of Testimony, slabs of stone, written with the finger of God.
Nehemiah 9:6
Then on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the People of Israel gathered for a fast, wearing burlap and faces smudged with dirt as signs of repentance. The Israelites broke off all relations with foreigners, stood up, and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their parents. While they stood there in their places, they read from the Book of The Revelation of God , their God, for a quarter of the day. For another quarter of the day they confessed and worshiped their God . A group of Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani—stood on the platform and cried out to God , their God, in a loud voice. The Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, "On your feet! Bless God , your God, for ever and ever!" Blessed be your glorious name, exalted above all blessing and praise! You're the one, God , you alone; You made the heavens, the heavens of heavens, and all angels; The earth and everything on it, the seas and everything in them; You keep them all alive; heaven's angels worship you!
Psalms 8:3
I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewelry, Moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, Why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way?
Psalms 33:6
The skies were made by God 's command; he breathed the word and the stars popped out. He scooped Sea into his jug, put Ocean in his keg.
Psalms 104:24
What a wildly wonderful world, God ! You made it all, with Wisdom at your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations. Oh, look—the deep, wide sea, brimming with fish past counting, sardines and sharks and salmon. Ships plow those waters, and Leviathan, your pet dragon, romps in them. All the creatures look expectantly to you to give them their meals on time. You come, and they gather around; you open your hand and they eat from it. If you turned your back, they'd die in a minute— Take back your Spirit and they die, revert to original mud; Send out your Spirit and they spring to life— the whole countryside in bloom and blossom.
Psalms 124:8
God 's strong name is our help, the same God who made heaven and earth.
Proverbs 3:19
With Lady Wisdom, God formed Earth; with Madame Insight, he raised Heaven. They knew when to signal rivers and springs to the surface, and dew to descend from the night skies.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,.... The apostle puts his name to this epistle, by which he was known in the Gentile world, as he usually does in all his epistles; and styles himself "an apostle", as he was, having seen Christ in person, and received his commission, doctrine, and qualifications immediately from him, with a power of doing miracles to confirm the truth of his mission. This he chose to make mention of, partly because the false teachers everywhere insinuated that he was not an apostle; and partly to give the greater sanction and authority, and command the greater regard and credit to what he should say; as well as to excuse his freedom in writing to them whom he had never seen, since he was an apostle of the Gentiles, and so to them; see Romans 11:13; he calls himself an apostle "of Jesus Christ"; not of men, he was not sent out by men, but by Christ, who appeared to him, made him a minister of his, gave him his Gospel by revelation, abundantly qualified him for the work, sent him forth unto the Gentiles, in whose name he went as an ambassador and messenger of his, and whom he preached, and by whom he was greatly succeeded, to the conversion of many souls, who were seals of his apostleship in every place, 1 Corinthians 9:2: into which office he came

by the will of God; not by the will of men, for he derived no authority and power, nor received any doctrine from men; nor by his own will, of his own head, by any usurpation of his; he did not take this office upon him of himself, but was invested with it, according to the secret will and purpose of God, from everlasting, who had ordained and appointed him to this service, and according to his will of command made known to him in time, when he told him what he should do, and openly separated, and sent him forth to do the work he had called him to; and which arose not from any merits or worthiness of the apostle, but from the sovereign good will and pleasure, free grace and favour, of God, to which the apostle continually ascribes it in all his epistles:

and Timotheus [our] brother; who joined with the apostle in this epistle, and whom he calls a "brother"; partly because of the Christian relation he stood in to him, and them, they being all brethren, children of the same Father, partakers of the same grace of regeneration, belonging to the same family, and so should own and love one another as brethren; and partly and chiefly because of his being a brother, companion, fellow soldier, and a fellow labourer in the Gospel. He mentions him, either because he was known unto them, or that he might be so; and to show the agreement there was between them in the doctrine of Christ, which might have the greater weight with them to abide in it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ - See the notes. at Romans 1:1

By the will of God - Notes, 1 Corinthians 1:1.

And Timotheus our brother - On the question as to why Paul associated others with him in his epistles, see the notes at 1 Corinthians 1:1. There was a particular reason why Timothy should be associated with him in writing this Epistle. He was a native of the region where the church was situated Acts 16:1-3, and had been with Paul when be preached there, and was doubtless well known to the church there; Acts 16:6. It is evident, however, from the manner in which Paul mentions him here, that he did not regard him as “an apostle,” and did not wish the church at Colosse to consider him as such. It is not “Paul and Timothy, apostles of Jesus Christ,” but “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother.” Paul is careful never to apply the term “apostle” to Timothy; Philippians 1:1. “Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ;” compare 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1. If he had regarded Timothy as an apostle, or as having apostolic authority, it is not easy to conceive why he should not have referred to him as such in these letters to the churches. Could he have failed to see that the manner in which he referred to him was adapted to produce a very important difference in file estimate in which he and Timothy would be held by the Colossians?

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

Chronological Notes relative to this Epistle.

Usherian year of the world, 4066.

-Alexandrian era of the world, 5564.

-Antiochian era of the world, 5554.

-Constantinopolitan era of the world, 5570.

-Year of the Eusebian epocha of the Creation, 4290.

-Year of the Julian period, 4772.

-Year of the minor Jewish era of the world, 3822.

-Year of the Greater Rabbinical era of the world, 4421.

-Year from the Flood, according to Archbishop Usher, and the English Bible, 2410.

-Year of the Cali yuga, or Indian era of the Deluge, 3164.

-Year of the era of Iphitus, or since the first commencement of the Olympic games, 1002.

-Year of the Nabonassarean era, 809.

-Year of the era of the Seleucidae, 374.

-Year of the Spanish era, 100.

-Year of the Actiac or Actian era, 93.

-Year from the birth of Christ, 66.

-Year of the vulgar era of Christ's nativity, 62.

-Year from the building of Rome, according to Varro, 814.

-Year of the CCXth Olympiad, 2.

-Jesus, high priest of the Jews.

-Common Golden Number, 6.

-Jewish Golden Number, 3.

-Year of the Solar Cycle, 15.

-Dominical Letter, C.

-Jewish Passover, April 10th.

-Easter Sunday, April 11th.

-Epact, or the moon's age on the 22d of March, or the Xth of the Calends of April, 25.

-Year of the reign of Nero Caesar, the sixth emperor of the Romans, 9.

-In the first year of Albinus, governor of the Jews.

-Year of Vologesus, king of the Parthians, 12.

-Year of Domitius Corbulo, governor of Syria, 3.

-Roman Consuls, P. Marius Celsus, and L. Asinius Gallus, from Jan. 1st to July 1st; and L. Annaeus Seneca, the philosopher, and Trebellius Maximus, for the remainder of the year.

CHAPTER I.

The salutation of Paul and Timothy to the Church at Colosse,

1, 2.

They give thanks to God for the good estate of that Church, and

the wonderful progress of the Gospel in every place, 3-6;

having received particulars of their state from Epaphroditus,

which not only excited their gratitude, but led them to pray to

God that they might walk worthy of the Gospel; and they give

thanks to Him who had made them meet for an inheritance among

the saints in light, 7-12.

This state is described as a deliverance from the power of

darkness, and being brought into the kingdom of God's dear Son,

13, 14.

The glorious character of Jesus Christ, and what He has done for

mankind, 15-20.

The salvation which the Colossians had received, and of which

the apostle had been the minister and dispenser, 21-26.

The sum and substance of the apostle's preaching, and the manner

in which he executed his ministry, 27-29.

NOTES ON CHAP. I.

Verse Colossians 1:1. Paul, an apostle - by the will of God — As the word αποστολος, apostle, signifies one sent, an envoy or messenger, any person or persons may be the senders: but the word is particularly restrained to the messengers of the everlasting Gospel, sent immediately from God himself; and this is what St. Paul particularly remarks here when he calls himself an apostle by the will of God; signifying that he had derived his commission from an express volition or purpose of the Almighty.

And Timotheus — Though Timothy is here joined in the salutation, yet he has never been understood as having any part in composing this epistle. He has been considered as the amanuensis or scribe of the apostle.


 
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