What Does Colossians 1:1 Mean in the King James?

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,

Colossians 1:1 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The word “apostle” names someone by the sending they receive, so Paul’s identity begins in God’s will and moves outward.

THE MEANING

This verse sets before you a life whose direction is received from God and whose work sits alongside brotherhood. Sending and belonging remain together in the same sentence: Paul is commissioned, and Timothy is named as brother.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A calling has to be self-issued, and being sent means being alone.

THE ROOT

ἀπόστολος

apostolos

GROWS FROM

στελλ

⁨στελλ-⁩ (stell-): send, dispatch; the related verb ⁨στέλλω⁩ (stéllō) means to send or dispatch.

The Greek noun ⁨ἀπόστολος⁩ (apóstolos, one sent) belongs to the sending family: ⁨ἀποστέλλω⁩ (apostéllō, send out) and ⁨ἀποστολή⁩ (apostolḗ, sending or commission) reveal the movement inside the title. “By the will of God” names the source of that sending, so apostle is not merely a rank but a life defined by being sent.

ALSO GROWS

stéllō: send, dispatch

στέλλω

This verb gives the word family its sending stem, ⁨στελλ-⁩.

apostéllō: send out, dispatch

ἀποστέλλω

This compound verb carries the same ⁨στελλ-⁩ stem into the act of sending someone forth.

apostolḗ: sending, commission

ἀποστολή

This related noun names the sending or commission carried within ⁨ἀπόστολος⁩.

THE PATTERN

A sending begins in God’s intention and takes shape among people joined in shared belonging.

But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

Jeremiah 1:7 · KJVThe direction and words of Jeremiah’s going come from the one who sends him.

Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

John 20:21 · KJVJesus’ sending comes from the Father and extends outward to others.

But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

1 Corinthians 12:18 · KJVGod’s intention also places each person within a shared body.

THE THREAD

As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

John 17:18 · KJV

The word translated “apostle” here and the words translated “sent” there belong to the same Greek sending family. That connection lets you hear Paul’s designation as a sending received from God and carried outward.

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