Colossians 4:6

Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Let	ἠρτυμένος, ērtumenos	G741	to prepare · verb — perfect passive participle, nominative singular masculine
your	ὑμῶν hymōn	G5216	of (from or concerning) you
speech	λόγος logos	G3056	something said (including the thought) · noun — nominative singular masculine
alway	πάντοτε pantote	G3842	every when · adverb
with	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
grace	χάριτι, chariti	G5485	graciousness (as gratifying) · noun — dative singular feminine
seasoned	ἀρτύω artýō	G741	to prepare
salt	ἅλατι halati	G217	salt · noun — dative singular neuter
know	εἴδω eídō	G1492	used only in certain past tenses
how	πῶς pōs	G4459	an interrogative particle of manner · particle — interrogative
ye	ὑμᾶς hymâs	G5209	you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
ought	δεῖ dei	G1163	also deon deh-on' · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
answer	ἀποκρίνεσθαι.¶ apokrinesthai	G611	to conclude for oneself · verb — present middle or passive deponent infinitive
every	ἑκάστῳ hekastō	G1538	each or every · adjective — dative singular masculine
man	ἑνὶ heni	G1520	one · adjective — dative singular masculine

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 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the h…
1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in…
Ecclesiastes 10:12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.
Mark 9:50 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
Proverbs 15:4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
Proverbs 15:7 The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, sing…
Proverbs 22:17-18 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Colossians 4:5-6

The apostle exhorts them further to a prudent and decent conduct towards all those with whom they conversed, towards the heathen world, or those out of the Christian church among whom they lived (Col 4:5): Walk in wisdom towards those who are without. Be careful, in all your converse with them, to get no hurt by them, or contract any of their customs; for evil communications corrupt good manners; and to do not hurt to them, or increase their prejudices against religion, and give them an occasion of dislike. Yea, do them all the good you can, and by all the fittest means and in the proper seasons recommend religion to them. - Redeeming the time; that is, either "improving every opportunity of…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Colossians 4:6

with grace--Greek, "IN grace" as its element (Col 3:16; Eph 4:29). Contrast the case of those "of the world" who "therefore speak of the world" (Jo1 4:5). Even the smallest leaf of the believer should be full of the sap of the Holy Spirit (Jer 17:7-8). His conversation should be cheerful without levity, serious without gloom. Compare Luk 4:22; Joh 7:46, as to Jesus' speech. seasoned with salt--that is, the savor of fresh and lively spiritual wisdom and earnestness, excluding all "corrupt communication," and also tasteless insipidity (Mat 5:13; Mar 9:50; Eph 4:29). Compare all the sacrifices seasoned with salt (Lev 2:13). Not far from Colosse, in Phrygia, there was a salt lake, which gives…

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Adam Clarke on Colossians 4:6

Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt - Let it be such as has a tendency to oppose and preserve from the corruption of sin. The rabbins say: "He who, in prayer, omits any word, should begin again at the beginning; for he who does not is like boiled pottage, in which there is no salt." Berachoth, fol. 34, 1. Let all your conversation be such as may tend to exemplify and recommend Christianity; let it not only be holy, but wise, gracious, and intelligent. A harsh method of proposing or defending the doctrines of Christianity only serves to repel men from those doctrines, and from the way of salvation. Salt, from its use in preserving food from corruption, and rendering it bot…

The Church Fathers

Let your conversation always be temperate and modest, and seasoned with religion as with salt. And, further, let there be no jealousy among you or contentiousness, which might bring you into all manner of confusion and division, and thus also make you objects of aversion to Christ and to the emperor, and lead you into the deepest abomination, so that not one stone of your building could stand upon another.
— Theonas of Alexandria, The Epistle of Theonas, Bishop of Alexandria, to Lucianus, the Chief Chamberlain

"Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt"; that is, that this graciousness may not lapse into indifferentism. For it is possible to be simply agreeable, it is possible also to be so with due seemliness. "That ye may know how ye ought to answer each one." So that one ought not to discourse alike to all, Greeks, I mean, and Brethren. By no means, for this were the very extreme of senselessness.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on Colossians 11

A hermit said to a brother, 'Do not measure yourself against your brother, saying that you are more serious or more chaste or more understanding than he is. But be obedient to the grace of God, in the spirit of poverty, and in love unfeigned. The efforts of a man swollen with vanity are futile. It is written, "Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12); "let your speech be seasoned with salt" (Col. 4:6) and so you will be dependent upon Christ.'
— Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

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

Luke, Gospel according to — Was written by Luke. He does not claim to have been an eye-witness of our Lord’s ministry, but to have gone to the best sources of information within his reach, and to have written an orderly…
Conversation · 4:29; — 4:29;
Grace · Saints: Should speak with — Saints: Should speak with
Missionaries, All Christians Should Be As · In holy conservation — In holy conservation
Salt · .Of wise behavior — .Of wise behavior

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 4:6

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Colossians 4:5-6

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Colossians 4:6

Adam Clarke on Colossians 4:6

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Colossians 4:6

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Colossians 4:5-6

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Colossians 4:6

Adam Clarke on Colossians 4:6

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Colossians 4:6

John Calvin on Colossians 4:5-9

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Colossians 4:6