Colossians 2:19 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Colossians 2:19
And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
causative (by reduplication) of the base of G939 (βάσις… · verb — present passive participle, nominative singular neuter
with
αὔξειauxei
G837
to grow ("wax") · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
increase
αὔξησινauxēsin
G838
growth · noun — accusative singular feminine
God
θεοῦ.¶theou
G2316
figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ephesians 4:15-16 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
John 15:4-6 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Romans 12:4-5 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
Colossians 2:2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknow…
1 Timothy 2:4-6 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1 Peter 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
2 Peter 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
1 Thessalonians 3:12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Colossians 2:16–end
The apostle concludes the chapter with exhortations to proper duty, which he infers from the foregoing discourse.
I. Here is a caution to take heed of judaizing teachers, or those who would impose upon Christians the yoke of the ceremonial law: Let no man therefore judge you in meat nor drink, etc., Col 2:16. Much of the ceremonies of the law of Moses consisted in the distinction of meats and days. It appears by Rom. 14 that there were those who were for keeping up those distinctions: but here the apostle shows that since Christ has come, and has cancelled the ceremonial law, we ought not to keep it up. "Let no man impose those things upon you, for God has not imposed them: if God has made y…
Translate, "Not holding fast the Head." He who does not hold Christ solely and supremely above all others, does not hold Him at all [BENGEL]. The want of firm holding of Christ has set him loose to (pry into, and so) "tread haughtily on (pride himself on) things which he hath seen." Each must hold fast the Head for himself, not merely be attached to the other members, however high in the body [ALFORD].
from which--rather, "from whom."
the body--that is, all the members of the body (Eph 4:16).
joints--the points of union where the supply of nourishment passes to the different members, furnishing the body with the materials of growth.
bands--the sinews and nerves which bind together li…
And not holding the Head - Not acknowledging Jesus Christ as the only Savior of mankind, and the only Head or chief of the Christian Church, on whom every member of it depends, and from whom each derives both light and life. For a farther explanation of these words see the notes on Eph 4:16, where the figures and phraseology are the same.
John Gill on Colossians 2:19
And not holding the head,.... Christ, as some copies express it; for by making use of angels as mediators and intercessors, Christ the only Mediator, the Lord and head of angels, and of the church, was dropped and laid aside; which is another reason the apostle gives, why such men, and their principles and practices, should be shunned and avoided by all those that had a regard for Christ the head:
from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God: by "all the body", or the whole body, is meant the church, the mystical body of Christ; which, like an human body, consists of various members, all in union with one a…
The Church Fathers
The purpose and view of the epistle is here, as Paul mentions, to respond to the emphasis on angels urged by some. Christ is the head of all, just as the soul is the head of the body. Christ is head of all the cosmic elements. It makes no sense to be in submission to anything else. .
Remember, therefore, my beloved friend, that thou hast been redeemed by the flesh of our Lord, re-established by His blood; and "holding the Head, from which the whole body of the Church, having been fitted together, takes increase" -that is, acknowledging the advent in the flesh of the Son of God, and [His] divinity, and looking forward with constancy to His human nature, availing thyself also of these proofs drawn from Scripture-thou dost easily overthrow, as I have pointed out, all those notions of the heretics which were concocted afterwards.
"And not holding fast the Head," he saith, "from whom all the body." All the body thence hath its being, and its well-being. Why, letting go the Head, dost thou cling to the members? If thou art fallen off from it, thou art lost. "From whom all the body." Every one, be he who he may, thence has not life only, but also even connection. All the Church, so long as she holds The Head, increaseth; because here is no more passion of pride and vainglory, nor invention of human fancy. Mark that "from whom," meaning the Son. "Through the joints and bands," he says, "being supplied, and knit together, increases with the increase of God"; he means, that which is according to God, that of the best life.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Bands — (1) of love (Hos. 11:4); (2) of Christ (Ps. 2:3); (3) uniting together Christ’s body the church (Col. 2:19; 3:14; Eph. 4:3); (4) the emblem of the captivity of Israel (Ezek. 34:27; Isa. 28:22; 52:2);…
Ephesians, Epistle to — Was written by Paul at Rome about the same time as that to the Colossians, which in many points it resembles. Contents of. The Epistle to the Colossians is mainly polemical, designed to refute…
Kingly office of Christ — One of the three special relations in which Christ stands to his people. Christ’s office as mediator comprehends three different functions, viz., those of a prophet, priest, and king. These are not…
Philosophy — It is the object of the following article to give some account (I.) of that development of thought among the Jews which answered to the philosophy of the West; (II.) of the systematic progress of…
Christ, The Head Of The Church · Perverters of the truth do not hold — Perverters of the truth do not hold
Doctrines · FALSE — FALSE
Grace Of God · GROWTH IN — GROWTH IN
Head · Illustrative: Of Christ — Illustrative: Of Christ
Philosophy · Rabbini — Rabbini
Physiology · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Union With Christ · Necessary to growth in grace — Necessary to growth in grace
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Colossians 2:16-19
16. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath-days:
16. Itaque ne quis vos iudicet [382] vel in cibo, vel in potu, vel in parte [383] diei festi, vel neomeniae, vel sabbatorum:
17. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
17. Quae sunt umbra futurorum, corpus autem Christi.
18. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
18. Ne quis palmam eripiat, volens in humilitate et cultu Angelorum, (id facere,) in ea quae non vidit se ingerens,…
the worship of angels: People in the first century were fascinated with spiritual beings. Some Jews believed that angels were present during their times of worship, and some might even have worshiped them. • The false teachers were evidently saying they had had visions that established certain rituals as requirements for the community.
