And Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These only are my fellowworkers unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me.
a co-laborer · adjective — nominative plural masculine
unto
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
kingdom
βασιλείανbasileian
G932
properly · noun — accusative singular feminine
God
θεοῦ,theou
G2316
figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
which
οἵτινεςoitines
G3748
which some · relative pronoun — nominative plural masculine
been
ἐγενήθησάνegenēthēsan
G1096
to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — second aorist passive deponent indicative, 3rd person plural
comfort
παρηγορία.¶parēgoria
G3931
an address alongside · noun — nominative singular feminine
me
μοίmoí
G3427
to me
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
Acts 11:2 And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,
Acts 10:45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out th…
Romans 4:12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abra…
2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
2 Corinthians 7:6-7 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;
Colossians 4:7 All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellowservant in the Lord:
1 Thessalonians 3:2 And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you c…
Titus 1:10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Colossians 4:7–end
In the close of this epistle the apostle does several of his friends the honour to leave their names upon record, with some testimony of his respect, which will be spoken of wherever the gospel comes, and last to the end of the world.
I. Concerning Tychicus, Col 4:7. By him this epistle was sent; and he does not give them an account in writing of his present state, because Tychicus would do it by word of mouth more fully and particularly. He knew they would be glad to hear how it fared with him. The churches cannot but be concerned for good ministers and desirous to know their state. He gives him this character, A beloved brother and faithful minister. Paul, though a great apostle, owns a fa…
Justus--that is, righteous; a common name among the Jews; Hebrew, "tzadik" (Act 1:23).
of the circumcision--This implies that Epaphras, Luke, and Demas (Col 4:12, Col 4:14) were not of the circumcision. This agrees with Luke's Gentile name (the same as Lucanus), and the Gentile aspect of his Gospel.
These only, &c.--namely, of the Jews. For the Jewish teachers were generally opposed to the apostle of the Gentiles (Phi 1:15). Epaphras, &c., were also fellow laborers, but Gentiles.
unto--that is, in promoting the Gospel kingdom.
which have been--Greek, "which have been made," or "have become," that is, inasmuch as they have become a comfort to me. The Greek implies comfort in forensic…
Jesus, which is called Justus - Jesus, Joshua, or Jehoshua, was his name among his countrymen the Jews; Justus was the name which he bore among the Greeks and Romans.
These only - That is, only Aristarchus, Marcus, and Jesus Justus, who were formerly Jews or proselytes; for οἱ οντες εκ περιτομης, they were of the circumcision, and assisted the apostle in preaching the Gospel. There were others who did preach Christianity, but they did it from envy and strife, in order to add affliction to the apostle's bonds. It is evident, therefore, that St. Peter was not now at Rome, else he certainly would have been mentioned in this list; for we cannot suppose that he was in the list of those who preac…
The Church Fathers
This man was probably a Corinthian. Next, he bestows a common praise on all, having already spoken that of each one in particular; "who are of the circumcision: these only are my fellow-workers unto the kingdom of God, men that have been a comfort unto me." After having said, "fellow-prisoner"; in order that he may not therewith depress the soul of his hearers, see how by this expression he rouseth them up. "Fellow-workers," he saith, "unto the kingdom of God." So that being partakers of the trials, they become partakers of the kingdom. "Who have been a comfort to me." He shows them to be great persons, seeing that to Paul they have been a comfort.
"Who are of the circumcision." He represseth the swelling pride of the Jews, and inspiriteth the souls of these, [the Colossians,] because few of them were of the circumcision, the greater number of the Gentiles. "Men that have been," he saith, "a comfort unto me." He shows himself to be set in the midst of great trials. So that neither is this a small thing. When we comfort the Saints by presence, by words, by assiduous attendance when we suffer adversity together with them, (for he saith, "as bound with those in bonds"; [Heb. xiii. 3]) when we make their sufferings ours, we shall also be partakers in their crowns. Hast thou not been dragged to the stadium? Hast thou not entered into the lists? It is another that strips himself, another that wrestles but if thou be so minded, thou too shall be a sharer. Anoint him, become his favorer and partisan, from without the lists shout loudly for him, stir up his strength, refresh his spirit. It follows that the same things should be done in all other cases. For Paul stood not in need, but in order to stimulate them he said these things. Thou therefore in the case of all others, stop the mouths of those who would abuse such an one, procure favorers for him, receive him as he cometh forth with great attention, so shall thou, be a sharer in his crowns, so, in his glory; and if thou do no other thing, but only hast pleasure in what is done, even thus thou sharest in no common degree, for thou hast contributed love, the sum of all good things.
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
Jesus — (1.) Joshua, the son of Nun (Acts 7:45; Heb. 4:8; R.V., “Joshua”). (2.) A Jewish Christian surnamed Justus (Col. 4:11). Je’sus, the proper, as Christ is the official, name of our Lord. To distinguish…
Justus — (1.) Another name for Joseph, surnamed Barsabas. He and Matthias are mentioned only in Acts 1:23. “They must have been among the earliest disciples of Jesus, and must have been faithful to the end;…
Luke — The evangelist, was a Gentile. The date and circumstances of his conversion are unknown. According to his own statement (Luke 1:2), he was not an “eye-witness and minister of the word from the…
Mark — The evangelist; “John whose surname was Mark” (Acts 12:12, 25). Mark (Marcus, Col. 4:10, etc.) was his Roman name, which gradually came to supersede his Jewish name John. He is called John in Acts…
Justus · .A disciple in Rome — .A disciple in Rome
Mark · Fellow-worker with Paul at Rome — Fellow-worker with Paul at Rome
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 4:11 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
And Jesus, which is called Justus,.... The former of these names is the same with Joshua, and was very frequent with the Jews, and the later a surname that was sometimes given to men remarkable for holiness and righteousness: so Joseph, called Barsabas, is surnamed Justus, Acts 1:23 and James, the brother of our Lord, was called by the Jews James the Just (m): whether this man was not the same with Justus of Corinth, whose house joined to the synagogue, and into which Paul entered, Acts 18:7 is not certain, but is likely: who are of the circumcision; were Jews, were circumcised persons, though not now sticklers for circumcision, and the rest of the ceremonies, as appears by what follows: thi…
Colossians 4:10-13
10. Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive him;)
10. Salutat vos Aristarchus, concaptivus meus, et Marcus, cognatus Barnabae, de quo accepistis mandata si venerit ad vos, ut suscipiatis ipsum.
11. And Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These only are my fellowworkers unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me.
11. Et Iesus qui dicitur Iustus, qui sunt ex circumcisione, hi soli cooperarii in regnum Dei, qui mihi fuerunt solatio.
12. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring ferve…
Jesus (the one we call Justus) is mentioned only here in the New Testament. The surname Justus is included because Jesus (which means the Lord saves) was a common name among Jews in the first century.
