Colossians 2:7

2:7 rooted ¹  and built up in him and firm ²  in your ³  faith just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Matthew 7:24-25

Hearing and Doing

7:24 “Everyone ⁴  who hears these words of mine and does them is like ⁵  a wise man ⁶  who built his house on rock. 7:25 The rain fell, the flood ⁷  came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because it had been founded on rock.

Luke 6:48

6:48 He is like a man ⁸  building a house, who dug down deep, ⁹  and laid the foundation on bedrock. When ¹⁰  a flood came, the river ¹¹  burst against that house but ¹²  could not shake it, because it had been well built. ¹³ 

Ephesians 2:21

2:21 In him ¹⁴  the whole building, ¹⁵  being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,

Ephesians 3:17

3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love,

Ephesians 4:16

4:16 From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together ¹⁶  through every supporting ligament. ¹⁷  As each one does its part, the body grows in love.

¹ tn Or “having been rooted.”

² sn The three participles rooted, built up, and firm belong together and reflect three different metaphors. The first participle “rooted” (perfect tense) indicates a settled condition on the part of the Colossian believers and refers to horticulture. The second participle “built up” (present passive) comes from the world of architecture. The third participle “firm [established]” (present passive) comes from the law courts. With these three metaphors (as well as the following comment on thankfulness) Paul explains what he means when he commands them to continue to live their lives in Christ. The use of the passive probably reflects God’s activity among them. It was he who had rooted them, had been building them up, and had established them in the faith (cf. 1 Cor 3:5-15 for the use of mixed metaphors).

³ tn The Greek text has the article τῇ (th), not the possessive pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn), but the article often functions as a possessive pronoun and was translated as such here (ExSyn 215).

⁴ tn Grk “Therefore everyone.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.

⁵ tn Grk “will be like.” The same phrase occurs in v. 26.

⁶ tn Here and in v. 26 the Greek text reads ἀνήρ (anhr), while the parallel account in Luke 6:47-49 uses ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") in vv. 48 and 49.

⁷ tn Grk “the rivers.”

⁸ tn Here and in v. 49 the Greek text reads ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), while the parallel account in Matt 7:24-27 uses ἀνήρ (anhr) in vv. 24 and 26.

⁹ tn There are actually two different Greek verbs used here: “who dug (ἔσκαψεν, eskayen) and dug deep (ἐβάθυνεν, ebaqunen).” Jesus is placing emphasis on the effort to which the man went to prepare his foundation.

¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹¹ sn The picture here is of a river overflowing its banks and causing flooding and chaos.

¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in the context.

¹³ tc Most mss, especially later ones (A C D Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï latt), read “because he built [it] on the rock” rather than “because it had been well built” (Ì^75vid א B L W Ξ 33 579 892 1241 2542 pc sa). The reading of the later mss seems to be a harmonization to Matt 7:25, rendering it most likely secondary.

¹⁴ tn Grk “in whom” (v. 21 is a relative clause, subordinate to v. 20).

¹⁵ tc Although several important witnesses (א¹ A C P 6 81 326 1739^c 1881) have πᾶσα ἡ οἰκοδομή (pasa Jh oikodomh), instead of πᾶσα οἰκοδομή (the reading of א* B D F G Ψ 33 1739* Ï), the article is almost surely a scribal addition intended to clarify the meaning of the text, for with the article the meaning is unambiguously “the whole building.”

¹⁶ tn The Greek participle συμβιβαζόμενον (sumbibazomenon) translated “held together” also has in different contexts, the idea of teaching implied in it.

¹⁷ tn Grk “joint of supply.”