Kolose 1:3-4

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ¹  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 1:4 since ²  we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

Kolose 3:8

3:8 But now, put off all such things ³  as anger, rage, malice, slander, abusive language from your mouth.

Kolose 4:6

4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer everyone.

Kolose 4:9

4:9 I sent him ⁴  with Onesimus, the faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. ⁵  They will tell ⁶  you about everything here.

Kolose 4:13

4:13 For I can testify that he has worked hard ⁷  for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Kolose 4:18

4:18 I, Paul, write this greeting by my own hand. ⁸  Remember my chains. ⁹  Grace be with you. ¹⁰ 

[1:3]  ¹ tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).

[1:4]  ² tn The adverbial participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") is understood to be temporal and translated with “since.” A causal idea may also be in the apostle’s mind, but the context emphasizes temporal ideas, e.g., “from the day” (v. 6).

[3:8]  ³ tn The Greek article with τὰ πάντα (ta panta) is anaphoric, referring to the previous list of vices, and has been translated here as “all such things.”

[4:9]  ⁴ tn The Greek sentence continues v. 9 with the phrase “with Onesimus,” but this is awkward in English, so the verb “I sent” was inserted and a new sentence started at the beginning of v. 9 in the translation.

[4:9]  ⁵ tn Grk “is of you.”

[4:9]  ⁶ tn Grk “will make known to you.” This has been simplified in the translation to “will tell.”

[4:13]  ⁷ tn Grk “pain.” This word appears only three times in the NT outside of this verse (Rev 16:10, 11; 21:4) where the translation “pain” makes sense. For the present verse it has been translated “worked hard.” See BDAG 852 s.v. πόνος 1.

[4:18]  ⁸ tn Grk “the greeting by my hand, of Paul.”

[4:18]  ⁹ tn Or “my imprisonment.”

[4:18]  ¹⁰ tc Most witnesses, including a few important ones (א² D Ψ 075 0278 Ï lat sy), conclude this letter with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”). Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, the external evidence for the omission is quite compelling (א* A B C F G 048 6 33 81 1739* 1881 sa). The strongly preferred reading is therefore the omission of ἀμήν.