Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 4:18

4:18 I, Paul, write this greeting by my own hand. ²  Remember my chains. ³  Grace be with you. ⁴ 

Colossians 1:23

1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ⁵  without shifting ⁶  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

[1:1]  ¹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[4:18]  ² tn Grk “the greeting by my hand, of Paul.”

[4:18]  ³ tn Or “my imprisonment.”

[4:18]  ⁴ tc Most witnesses, including a few important ones (א² D Ψ 075 0278 Ï lat sy), conclude this letter with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”). Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, the external evidence for the omission is quite compelling (א* A B C F G 048 6 33 81 1739* 1881 sa). The strongly preferred reading is therefore the omission of ἀμήν.

[1:23]  ³ tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

[1:23]  ⁴ tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.