What Does Colossians 1:4 Mean in the King James?

Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,

Colossians 1:4 · 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

Trust directed toward Jesus and love extended to every set-apart one appear here as one recognizable shape, not two unrelated virtues.

THE MEANING

Your trust rests in Jesus the Anointed One, and your love reaches every set-apart person around you. The verse holds these together as one living pattern: inward reliance becomes visible in how broadly love is shared.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The verse undoes the idea that trust in Jesus can be measured apart from how you regard other believers, or that love belongs only to a chosen few.

THE ROOT

πίστιν

pistin

GROWS FROM

πιστ-

pist-

Trust and reliance; the stem also carries the sense of being trustworthy.

The word rendered “faith” is ⁨πίστις⁩ (pistis), trust. Its family includes the act of trusting and the quality of being trustworthy, so the verse’s trust is not merely an opinion held inwardly; beside love, it becomes recognizable in a relationship.

ALSO GROWS

pisteuō: To trust or believe

πιστεύω

This is the verb from the same word family: trust is something exercised, not just a label.

pistos: Trustworthy or faithful

πιστός

The shared stem connects reliance with reliability, giving trust a lived and relational quality.

ἀγάπην

agapēn

GROWS FROM

ἀγαπ-

agap-

Love; the word family names loving and being beloved.

The verse does not leave love abstract: it reaches “all” the set-apart ones. The breadth of its object is part of the meaning, making love visible in who is included.

ALSO GROWS

agapaō: To love

ἀγαπάω

The verb form shows love as an enacted relation, matching the verse’s concrete direction toward others.

agapētos: Beloved

ἀγαπητός

This branch names the one who is loved, bringing the focus back to the people included in “all the saints.”

ἁγίους

hagious

GROWS FROM

ἁγι-

hagi-

Set apart.

“Saints” here means the set-apart ones, not a select class of spiritual celebrities. The word’s root makes the verse’s “all” stand out: love extends across the whole set-apart community.

ALSO GROWS

hagiazō: To set apart

ἁγιάζω

This verb shares the root and makes the setting apart an action or state, clarifying what marks these people.

hagiosynē: Set-apartness

ἁγιωσύνη

This noun names the quality associated with the same root, showing that “saints” describes a shared belonging.

THE PATTERN

Trust becomes visible in love, joining inward reliance to the way people are held and treated.

For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

Galatians 5:6 · KJVTrust and love appear together again, with love named as the way faith is active.

Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

1 Thessalonians 1:3 · KJVFaith and love are both expressed through lived action, not kept as private ideas.

We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

1 John 3:14 · KJVLove among people is presented as the visible sign of a deeper passage into life.

THE THREAD

For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

Galatians 5:6 · KJV

Galatians makes explicit the pairing Colossians places side by side: faith works through love. Colossians shows how far that love reaches, “all the saints”, so its breadth is part of what trust looks like.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us