What Does Colossians 1:16 Mean?
For in him all things were created, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, the seen and the unseen, whether seats or lordships or beginnings or authorities; all things have been created through him and toward him.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:THE KEY
The powers that seem to rule reality are themselves created things, held within a world whose source and destination are the Son.
THE MEANING
The whole created order is in him, comes through him, and is directed toward him; even thrones and powers belong inside that order. Your present world, visible and invisible, is not self-originating or self-final: its source and direction are held in the Son.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that any throne, dominion, or power is self-originating and ultimate dissolves here: every rank is among the things created through him and for him.
THE ROOT
κτίζω
ktizō
GROWS FROM
κτιζ-
ktiz-
To create, establish, or bring into being.
The same κτιζ- seed names both the act of creating and the created thing: the thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers belong to the creaturely order. Creation is located in him, comes through him, and is directed toward him, so no visible or invisible authority has a source or end of its own.
ALSO GROWS
ktisis: Creation; the act or order of creating.
κτίσις
It names the whole created order that includes every rank and power listed in the verse.
ktisma: A created thing or creature.
κτίσμα
It makes clear that even the powers that appear to govern are creatures within the order, not powers outside it.
THE PATTERN
All creation is held in a single movement: from its source, through its mediator, and toward its end.
All things came to be through him, and apart from him not one thing came to be that has come to be.For from him, and through him, and to him, are all things. To him let there be weight for the ages. Amen.Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive the weight, and the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and through your will they were and were created.THE THREAD
Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive the weight, and the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and through your will they were and were created.The verb κτίζω (ktizō), meaning “create,” appears in both verses. Revelation makes the direction explicit: all things were created for the Lord’s pleasure, echoing Colossians’ claim that all things are created for him.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us