What Does Colossians 2:9 Mean in the King James?
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
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 fullness of God does not merely appear in him; it makes its home in a body.
THE MEANING
In him, all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form. Divine fullness is present in him as an embodied reality, not as a quality detached from a body. The verse speaks now of God’s fullness as at home in a person.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that embodiment is only an obstacle to the divine, or that God’s fullness can be present only in a distant, bodiless way.
THE ROOT
κατοικεῖ
katoikei
GROWS FROM
οἰκέω
oikeō
To live in or inhabit; the word carries the language of a home or dwelling.
“dwelleth” in this verse is katoikei. The verb presents fullness as inhabiting him, not merely appearing for a moment. Its house-language makes the claim concrete: fullness is at home in him.
ALSO GROWS
oikos: House, home, or household.
οἶκος
This related word makes the dwelling beneath “dwelleth” feel like residence, not a passing visit.
oikeō: To inhabit or dwell.
οἰκέω
The verb shares the idea of living in a place, illuminating fullness as resident in him.
σωματικῶς
sōmatikōs
GROWS FROM
σῶμα
sōma
Body; embodied form.
The adverb specifies the manner of this dwelling as bodily. It keeps the verse’s claim joined to embodied life rather than leaving fullness as an abstract quality.
ALSO GROWS
sōma: Body.
σῶμα
This is the concrete bodily reality named by “bodily.”
sōmatikos: Bodily or corporeal.
σωματικός
This related form carries the same body-root into the description of how fullness dwells.
πλήρωμα
plērōma
GROWS FROM
πληρόω
plēroō
To fill, make full, or bring to completion.
“fulness” in this verse is plērōma. The Greek word belongs to a family built around filling and fullness. Joined to “all,” it names the complete fullness that dwells bodily in him.
ALSO GROWS
plēroō: To fill, fulfill, or bring to fullness.
πληρόω
The verb shows the filling-language carried within the noun “fulness.”
plērēs: Full or filled.
πλήρης
This related form makes fullness a state of being filled, not a vague quality.
THE PATTERN
God’s presence is joined to tangible forms of dwelling, from a tent to a body to fragile vessels.
Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.THE THREAD
For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;This verse repeats πλήρωμα (plērōma, “fullness”) and the dwelling verb κατοικέω (katoikeō, “to dwell”). The repetition ties fullness to settled residence: what dwells in him is all fullness.
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