Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word

Colossians 2:19

And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

KJV

καὶ οὐ κρατῶν τὴν κεφαλήν, ἐξ οὗ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα διὰ τῶν ἁφῶν καὶ συνδέσμων ἐπιχορηγούμενον καὶ συνβιβαζόμενον αὔξει τὴν αὔξησιν τοῦ θεοῦ.

Greek NT

et non tenens caput, ex quo totum corpus per nexus, et conjunctiones subministratum, et constructum crescit in augmentum Dei.

Vulgate

and not holding fast the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and bands, increaseth with the increase of God.

ASV

And not holding the head, from which the whole body, by joints and bands, being supplied with nourishment and compacted, groweth into the increase of God.

Douay-Rheims

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In the original Greek

17 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

αὐξάνω
auxano
verb · 22×
αὔξησις
auxesis
noun · 2×
διά
dia
preposition · 633×
θεός
theos
noun · 1311×
καί
kai
conjunction · 8973×
κεφαλή
kephale
noun · 75×
κρατέω
krateo
verb · 47×
οὐ
ou
particle · 1626×
πᾶς
pas
adjective · 1226×
συμβιβάζω
sumbibazo
verb · 7×
σύνδεσμος
sundesmos
noun · 4×
σῶμα
soma
noun · 141×
ἁφή
aphe
noun · 2×
ἐκ
ek
preposition · 915×
ἐπιχορηγέω
epichoregeo
verb · 5×
ὁ
o
article · 19778×
ὅς
os
relative_pronoun · 1404×

Historic Christian voices

10 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

§794Christ provides for our growth: to make us grow toward him, our head,229 he provides in his Body, the Church, the gifts and assistance by which we help one another along the way of salvation.
That one God was the author of both Testaments, is confirmed by the authority of a presbyter who had been taught by the apostles. 1. After this fashion also did a presbyter, a disciple of the apostles, reason with respect to the two testaments, proving that both were truly from one and the same God. For [he maintained] that there was no other God besides Him who made and fashio…
Unless the flesh were to be saved, the Word would not have taken upon Him flesh of the same substance as ours: from this it would follow that neither should we have been reconciled by Him. 1. And inasmuch as the apostle has not pronounced against the very substance of flesh and blood, that it cannot inherit the kingdom of God, the same apostle has everywhere adopted the term fl…
1. Moses in the beginning of the history and writings of the Old Testament speaks to us of the objects of sense, and enumerates them to us at length. For, In the beginning, he says, God made the heaven and the earth, and then he adds, that light was created, and a second heaven and the stars, the various kinds of living creatures, and, that we may not delay by going through par…
§34That this Mystical Body which is the Church should be called Christ's is proved in the second place from the fact that He must be universally acknowledged as its actual Head. "He," as St. Paul says, "is the Head of the Body, the Church." [43] He is the Head from whom the whole body perfectly organized, "groweth and maketh increase unto the edifying of itself." [44]
§44Because Christ the Head holds such an eminent position, one must not think that he does not require the help of the Body. What Paul said of the human organism is to be applied likewise to the Mystical Body: "The head cannot say to the feet: I have no need of you."[69] It is manifestly clear that the faithful need the help of the Divine Redeemer, for He has said: "Without me you…
§51Holiness begins from Christ; and Christ is its cause. For no act conducive to salvation can be performed unless it proceeds from Him as from its supernatural source. "Without me," He says, "you can do nothing."[89] If we grieve and do penance for our sins if, with filial fear and hope, we turn again to God, it is because He is leading us. Grace and glory flow from His inexhaust…

Cross-references

  • 1Cor 3:6 — I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
  • 1Cor 6:15 — Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
  • 1Cor 11:3 — But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
  • 1Cor 12:12 — For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
  • 1Pet 3:8 — Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
  • 1Thess 3:12 — And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
  • 1Thess 4:10 — And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;
  • 1Tim 2:4 — Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
  • 2Pet 3:18 — But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
  • 2Thess 1:3 — We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;
  • Col 1:10 — That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
  • Col 2:2 — That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of C
  • Eph 1:22 — And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
  • Eph 3:6 — That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
  • Eph 4:15 — But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
  • Eph 4:16 — From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the
  • Eph 5:30 — For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
  • John 15:4 — Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
  • Luke 5:38 — But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.
  • Rom 12:4 — For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
  • Rom 12:5 — So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
  • Song 4:4 — Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.