Devine Scripture

Colossians 2:9

What does Colossians 2:9 mean?

A plain-English look at Colossians 2:9 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Colossians 2:9 means

In Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. This affirms both His true deity and His real incarnation. He is not a partial revelation or a lesser emanation; the fullness of God’s nature and presence resides in Him in a human body. Therefore, no spiritual lack exists in Christ. To seek divine reality elsewhere is to look away from where God has made Himself known. The incarnate Lord is the living temple of God’s fullness. This means that a right view of God, salvation, and life cannot be found by bypassing or supplementing Jesus. Knowing Him is knowing God truly and sufficiently.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,

KJV

King James Version · 1611

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

For in him all the wealth of God's being has a living form,

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

because in him doth tabernacle all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead corporeally.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

For in him dwells all the fulness of theGodhead bodily;

Context

This verse provides the theological engine for the warning in verse 8. Because God’s fullness is in Christ, anything “not according to Christ” is necessarily deficient. Verse 10 will immediately apply this truth to believers: if Christ is full, those who are in Him are made full, and He rules over every spiritual authority. That application prepares for the practical implications about circumcision, baptism, forgiveness, and victory over hostile powers (verses 11–15).

v.8Take heed lest there shall be any one that maketh spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ:

v.9This passage

v.10and in him ye are made full, who is the head of all principality and power:

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • John 10:30

    I and the Father are one.

  • 1 Timothy 3:16

    And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; He who was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the spirit, Seen of angels, Preached among the nations, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.

  • John 14:20

    In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

  • John 2:21

    But he spake of the temple of his body.

  • John 10:38

    But if I do them, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.

  • 1 John 5:20

    And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

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