Colossians 1:17
in Colossians 1He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and he is before all things, and in him all things consist.
KJV
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
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This verse in Colossians 1
Commentary
13 notes on this verseA commentator
Athanasius of Alexandria296–373
Discourses Against the Arians 1.12 · Written before 373.
For after making mention of the creation, he naturally speaks of the Framer's Power as seen in it, which Power, I say, is the Word of God, by whom all things have been made. If indeed the creation is sufficient of itself alone, without the Son, to make God known, see that you fall not, from thinking that without the Son it has come to be.
This site's exposition
visible and invisible
on Colossians 1:16-17
The creation claim reaches into the unseen, thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, the very ranks the Colossian error taught men to appease. All were created through Him and for Him, and in Him all things hold together.
This site's exposition
He is before all things
Barnes reads before as existence in time, as the Son who created all things must be before them. Chrysostom turns the verse against Paul of Samosata. All things cannot hold together in Him if He did not yet exist.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"And He is before all things," he saith. This is befitting God. Where is Paul of Samosata? "And in Him all things consist," that is, they are created into Him. He repeats these expressions in close sequence; with their close succession, as it were with rapid strokes, tearing up the deadly doctrine by the roots. For, if even when such great things had been declared, still after so long a time Paul of Samosata sprung up, how much more [would such have been the case], had not these things been said before? "And in Him," he saith, "all things consist." How "consist" in one who was not? So that the things also done through Angels are of Him.
A commentator
Ambrose of MilanExposition of the Christian Faith, Book 4 · Written before 397.
proposed
Now we come to that laughable method, attempted by some, of showing a difference of Power to subsist between Father and Son, on the strength of apostolic testimony, it being written "But for us there is One God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and we in Him, and One Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things, and we through Him." It is urged that no small difference in degree of Divine Majesty is signified in the affirmation that all things are "of" the Father, and "through" the Son. Whereas nothing is clearer than that here a plain reason is given of the Omnipotence of the Son, inasmuch as whilst all things are "of" the Father, none the less are they all "through" the Son. The Father is not "amongst" all things, for to Him it is confessed that "all things serve Thee." Nor is the Son reckoned "amongst" all things, for "all things were made by Him," and "all things exist together in Him, and He is above all the heavens." The Son, therefore, exists not "amongst" but above all things, being, indeed, after the flesh, of the people, of the Jews, but yet at the same time God over all, blessed for ever, having a Name which is above every name, it being said of Him, "Thou hast put all things in subjection under His feet." But in making all things subject to Him, He left nothing that is not subject, even as the Apostle hath said.
The Medieval Church3 voices
Since someone might ask: Are all things eternal? the Apostle says in answer: No! He is before all, that is, before all times and other things: "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before he made anything from the beginning" (Prov 8:22). …
He constantly returns to the same thing, so that by unceasing words, as by frequent blows, he might uproot the pernicious teaching. And notice, he did not say that He came into being before all, but – "is," which is proper to God. Where then …
A commentator
Symeon the New TheologianCommentary (church-history corpus) · Written before 1022.
proposed
For God knows all things beforehand, both past and present at once, and everything which is going to happen in the future up to the end of the world. He sees them as already present, because in and through Him all things hold together (Colossians …
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
27 ), in his natural faculties and dominion over the creatures: no, he is the express image of his person, Heb. i. He is so the image of God as the son is the image of his father, who has a natural likeness to him; so that he who has seen him has seen the Father, and his glory was the glory of the only-begotten of the Father, John i.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
Inscription and Apostolical Benediction. 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The inscription of this epistle is much the same with the rest; only it is observable that, 1.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:42w-of-63
And he is before all things,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And he is before all things - As he must be, if he created all things. Those who regard this as referring to a moral creation, interpret it as meaning that he has the pre-eminence over all things; not as referring to his pre-existence. But the fair and proper meaning of the word “before” (πρὸ pro) is, that he was before all things in the order of existence; compare Mat 8:29; Joh 11:55; Joh 13:1; Act 5:36; Act 21:38; 2Co 12:
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
(Joh 8:58.) Translate as Greek, "And He Himself (the great HE) is (implying divine essential being) before all things," in time, as well as in dignity. Since He is before all things, He is before even time, that is, from eternity.
The words behind it
11 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| αὐτός | autos | He himself | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἐστιν | estin | is | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| πρὸ | pro | before | G4253 → | |
| πάντων, | panton | all things, | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| τὰ | ta | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πάντα | panta | all things | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| αὐτῷ | auto | Him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| συνέστηκεν, | sunesteken | have held together, | G4921 → |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
αὐτόςHe himself
autosG846 →5565 times
ἐστινis
estinG1510 →2333 times
πρὸbefore
proG4253 →
πάντων,all things,
pantonG3956 →1235 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
τὰ<the>
taG3588 →19766 times
πάνταall things
pantaG3956 →1235 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
αὐτῷHim
autoG846 →5565 times
συνέστηκεν,have held together,
sunestekenG4921 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Hebrews 1:3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the…
it leads to
- Colossians 1:15–17
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 4:11
“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and came to be.”
- Colossians 1:15–17
Through
Acts 17:28‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’
it leads to
- Job 12:10
The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.
- Hebrews 1:3
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the…
- Psalms 36:9
For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.
- Job 12:10
Through
John 8:58“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
it leads to
- Exodus 3:14
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
- Exodus 3:14
Through
John 17:5And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world existed.
it leads to
- John 1:1–3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- John 1:1–3
Through
1 Corinthians 8:6yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and…
it leads to
- Romans 11:36
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.
- Romans 11:36
Where this verse is studied
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About Colossians
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Exposition of the Christian Faith, Book 4; Athanasius of Alexandria, Discourses Against the Arians 1.12; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Colossians 3; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Symeon the New Theologian, Commentary (church-history corpus); Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Colossians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Colossians.