22:1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, 8 which is called the Passover, was approaching.
1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, 9 whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.
1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together 10 in him.
1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn 11 from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. 12
1:19 For God 13 was pleased to have all his 14 fullness dwell 15 in the Son 16
1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, 17 whether things on earth or things in heaven.
1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your 18 minds 19 as expressed through 20 your evil deeds,
1 tn Heb “three cubits” (i.e., 1.575 meters).
2 tn Heb “two cubits” (i.e., 1.05 meters).
3 tc So the Masoretic text. The LXX reads “base.”
4 sn The word table, here a synonym for “altar,” has overtones of covenant imagery in which a feast shared by the covenant partners was an important element (see Exod 24:11). It also draws attention to the analogy of sitting down at a common meal with the governor (v. 8).
5 tn Heb “fruit.” The following word “food” in the Hebrew text (אָכְלוֹ, ’okhlo) appears to be an explanatory gloss to clarify the meaning of the rare word נִיב (niv, “fruit”; see Isa 57:19 Qere; נוֹב, nov, “fruit,” in Kethib). Cf. ASV “the fruit thereof, even its food.” In this cultic context the reference is to the offerings on the altar.
6 tn This verb is future indicative, and thus not subordinate to “grant” (διατίθεμαι, diatiqemai) as part of the result clause beginning with ἵνα ἔσθητε ({ina esqhte) at the beginning of v. 30. It is better understood as a predictive future.
7 sn The statement you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel looks at the future authority the Twelve will have when Jesus returns. They will share in Israel’s judgment.
8 sn The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a week long celebration that followed the day of Passover, so one name was used for both feasts (Exod 12:1-20; 23:15; 34:18; Deut 16:1-8).
9 tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.
10 tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.
11 tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.
12 tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”
13 tn The noun “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but since God is the one who reconciles the world to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:19), he is clearly the subject of εὐδόκησεν (eudokhsen).
14 tn The Greek article τό (to), insofar as it relates to God, may be translated as a possessive pronoun, i.e., “his.” BDAG 404 s.v. εὐδοκέω 1 translates the phrase as “all the fullness willed to dwell in him” thus leaving the referent as impersonal. Insofar as Paul is alluding to the so-called emanations from God this is acceptable. But the fact that “the fullness” dwells in a person (i.e., “in him”) seems to argue for the translation “his fullness” where “his” refers to God.
15 tn The aorist verb κατοικῆσαι (katoikhsai) could be taken as an ingressive, in which case it refers to the incarnation and may be translated as “begin to dwell, to take up residence.” It is perhaps better, though, to take it as a constative aorist and simply a reference to the fact that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus Christ. This is a permanent dwelling, though, not a temporary one, as the present tense in 2:9 makes clear.
16 tn Grk “him”; the referent (the Son; see v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17 tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally important witnesses have it (Ì46 א A C D1 Ψ 048vid 33 Ï). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as original. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In short, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original.
18 tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
19 tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.
20 tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.