Kolose 1:19

1:19 For God ¹  was pleased to have all his ²  fullness dwell ³  in the Son ⁴ 

Kolose 2:10

2:10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

Kolose 2:22

2:22 These are all destined to perish with use, founded as they are ⁵  on human commands and teachings. ⁶ 

Kolose 3:14

3:14 And to all these ⁷  virtues ⁸  add ⁹  love, which is the perfect bond. ¹⁰ 

[1:19]  ¹ tn The noun “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but since God is the one who reconciles the world to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:19), he is clearly the subject of εὐδόκησεν (eudokhsen).

[1:19]  ² tn The Greek article τό (to), insofar as it relates to God, may be translated as a possessive pronoun, i.e., “his.” BDAG 404 s.v. εὐδοκέω 1 translates the phrase as “all the fullness willed to dwell in him” thus leaving the referent as impersonal. Insofar as Paul is alluding to the so-called emanations from God this is acceptable. But the fact that “the fullness” dwells in a person (i.e., “in him”) seems to argue for the translation “his fullness” where “his” refers to God.

[1:19]  ³ tn The aorist verb κατοικῆσαι (katoikhsai) could be taken as an ingressive, in which case it refers to the incarnation and may be translated as “begin to dwell, to take up residence.” It is perhaps better, though, to take it as a constative aorist and simply a reference to the fact that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus Christ. This is a permanent dwelling, though, not a temporary one, as the present tense in 2:9 makes clear.

[1:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the Son; see v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:22]  ⁵ tn The expression “founded as they are” brings out the force of the Greek preposition κατά (kata).

[2:22]  ⁶ tn Grk “The commands and teachings of men.”

[3:14]  ⁷ tn BDAG 365 s.v. ἐπί 7 suggests “to all these” as a translation for ἐπὶ πᾶσιν δὲ τούτοις (epi pasin de toutoi").

[3:14]  ⁸ tn The term “virtues” is not in the Greek text, but is included in the translation to specify the antecedent and to make clear the sense of the pronoun “these.”

[3:14]  ⁹ tn The verb “add,” though not in the Greek text, is implied, picking up the initial imperative “clothe yourselves.”

[3:14]  ¹⁰ tn The genitive τῆς τελειότητος (th" teleiothto") has been translated as an attributive genitive, “the perfect bond.”