SEV Biblia, Chapter 1:19
Por cuanto agrad al Padre que en l habitase toda plenitud,
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Colossians 1:19
Verse 19. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell] As the words, the Father are not in the text, some have translated the verse thus: For in him it seemed right that all fullness should dwell; that is, that the majesty, power, and goodness of God should be manifested in and by Christ Jesus, and thus by him the Father reconciles all things to himself. The plhrwma, or fullness, must refer here to the Divine nature dwelling in the man Christ Jesus.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 19. For it pleased [the Father] , etc.] The phrase, the Father, is not in the original text, but is rightly supplied; since he is expressly mentioned in the context, as he who makes the saints meet to be partakers of the heavenly glory; who deliver, them from the power and dominion of sin, and translates them into the kingdom of his dear Son; and who, by Christ, reconciles all things to himself, ( Colossians 1:12,13,20), and whose sovereign will and pleasure it is, that in him should all fulness dwell : by which is meant, not the fulness of the deity, though it is read by some the fulness of the Godhead: which seems to be transcribed from ( Colossians 2:9); but though all the perfections of God are in Christ, as eternity, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, immutability, independence, and necessary existence, and every other, or he would not be equal with God; nor could all the fulness of the Godhead be said to dwell in him, should anyone be wanting; yet this is a fulness possessed by him, that does not spring from, nor depend upon the Father's good will and pleasure; but what he naturally and necessarily enjoys by a participation of the same undivided nature and essence with the Father and Spirit: nor is the relative fulness of Christ intended, which is his church, so called, ( Ephesians 1:23); and will be so when all the elect are gathered in, and filled with all the gifts and graces of his Spirit, and are arrived to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; for though every believer dwells in Christ, and Christ in him, yet the church is not said to dwell in Christ, but Christ in the church; moreover, as yet she is not his fulness, at least in the sense she will be, and much less can she be said to be all fulness: nor is this to be understood of Christ's fulness of fitness and abilities, as God-man and Mediator, to perform his work and office as such; though this may be taken into the sense of the text as a part, yet is not the whole; but rather chiefly that dispensatory communicative fulness, which is, of the Father's good will and pleasure, put into the hands of Christ to be distributed to others, is here designed. There is a fulness of nature in Christ; the light of nature is from him, and communicated by him to mankind; the blessings of nature are the blessings of his left hand, which he distributes to his people as he thinks fit; and all things in nature are subservient to his mediatorial kingdom and glory. There is a fulness of grace in him, out of which saints receive, and grace for grace, or a large abundance of it; the fulness of the spirit of grace, and of all the graces and gifts of the Spirit is in him; and of all the blessings of grace, as a justifying righteousness, pardon of sin, adoption, sanctification, even of all that grace that is implanted in regeneration, that is necessary to carry on and finish the good work upon the soul; there is a fulness of all light and life, of wisdom, and strength, of peace, joy, and comfort, and of all the promises of grace, both with respect to this world and that which is to come; and there is also a fulness of glory in him, not only the grace, but the glory of the saints, is laid up and hid with him, and is safe and secure in him: this is said to dwell in Christ, which implies its being in him; it is not barely in intention, design, and purpose, but it is really and actually in him, nor is it in any other; and hence it comes to be communicated to the saints: and it also denotes the continuance of it with him; it is an abiding fulness, and yields a continual daily supply to the saints, and will endure to the end of time, and be as sufficient for the last as the first believer; it is like the subject of it, the same yesterday, today, and for ever: and it also intends the safety of it: the saints' life both of grace and glory is hid with Christ, and is secure, it is out of the reach of men and devils, and can never be lost, or they deprived of it; and all this is owing not to any merits of men, to their faith and holiness, or good works, which are all the fruits of this fulness, but to the good will of God; it pleased the Father to place it here for them; it was owing to his good will to his Son, and therefore he puts all things into his hands; and to his elect in him, for, having loved them with an everlasting love, he takes everlasting care of them, and makes everlasting provision for them; it was his pleasure from all eternity to take such a step as this, well knowing it was not proper to put it into the hands of Adam, nor into the hands of angels, nor into their own at once; he saw none so fit for it as his Son, and therefore it pleased him to commit it unto him; and it is his good will and sovereign pleasure, that all grace should come through Christ, all communion with him here, and all enjoyment of him hereafter; which greatly enhances and sets forth the glory of Christ as Mediator, one considerable branch of which is, that he is full of grace and truth; this qualifies him to be the head of the church, and gives a reason, as these words be, why he has, and ought to have, the preeminence in all things.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 15-23 - Christ in his human nature, is the visible discovery of the invisibl God, and he that hath seen Him hath seen the Father. Let us adore thes mysteries in humble faith, and behold the glory of the Lord in Chris Jesus. He was born or begotten before all the creation, before an creature was made; which is the Scripture way of representing eternity and by which the eternity of God is represented to us. All things being created by Him, were created for him; being made by his power, the were made according to his pleasure, and for his praise and glory. He not only created them all at first, but it is by the word of his powe that they are upheld. Christ as Mediator is the Head of the body, the church; all grace and strength are from him; and the church is his body. All fulness dwells in him; a fulness of merit and righteousness of strength and grace for us. God showed his justice in requiring ful satisfaction. This mode of redeeming mankind by the death of Christ wa most suitable. Here is presented to our view the method of being reconciled. And that, notwithstanding the hatred of sin on God's part it pleased God to reconcile fallen man to himself. If convinced that we were enemies in our minds by wicked works, and that we are no reconciled to God by the sacrifice and death of Christ in our nature we shall not attempt to explain away, nor yet think fully to comprehen these mysteries; but we shall see the glory of this plan of redemption and rejoice in the hope set before us. If this be so, that God's love is so great to us, what shall we do now for God? Be frequent in prayer and abound in holy duties; and live no more to yourselves, but to Christ. Christ died for us. But wherefore? That we should still live in sin? No; but that we should die to sin, and live henceforth not to ourselves, but to Him.
Greek Textus Receptus
οτι 3754 εν 1722 αυτω 846 ευδοκησεν 2106 5656 παν 3956 το 3588 πληρωμα 4138 κατοικησαι 2730 5658
Vincent's NT Word Studies
19. It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell (en autw eudokhsen pan to plhrwma katoikhsai). Eujdokew to think it good, to be well pleased is used in the New Testament, both of divine and of human good-pleasure; but, in the former case, always of God the Father. So Matt. iii. 17; Luke xii. 32; 1 Cor. i. 21. The subject of was well pleased, God, is omitted as in Jas. i. 12, and must be supplied; so that, literally, the passage would read, God was well pleased that in Him, etc. 189 Rev., it was the good pleasure of the Father. Fullness, Rev, correctly, the fullness. See on Rom. xi. 12; John i. 16. The word must be taken in its passive sense - that with which a thing is filled, not that which fills. The fullness denotes the sum-total of the divine powers and attributes. In Christ dwelt all the fullness of God as deity. The relation of essential deity to creation and redemption alike, is exhibited by John in the very beginning of his gospel, with which this passage should be compared. In John the order is: 1. The essential nature of Christ; 2. Creation; 3. Redemption. Here it is: 1. Redemption (ver. 13); 2. Essential being of the Son (15); 3. The Son as Creator (16); 4. The Church, with Christ as its head (18). Compare 2 Cor. v. 19; Eph. i. 19, 20, 23. Paul does not add of the Godhead to the fullness, as in ch ii. 9 since the word occurs in direct connection with those which describe Christ's essential nature, and it would seem not to have occurred to the apostle that it could be understood in any other sense than as an expression of the plenitude of the divine attributes and powers.
Thus the phrase in Him should all the fullness dwell gathers into a grand climax the previous statements - image of God, first-born of all creation, Creator, the eternally preexistent, the Head of the Church, the victor over death, first in all things. On this summit we pause, looking, like John, from Christ in His fullness of deity to the exhibition of that divine fullness in redemption consummated in heaven (vers. 20-22).
There must also be taken into the account the selection of this word fullness with reference to the false teaching in the Colossian church, the errors which afterward were developed more distinctly in the Gnostic schools. Pleroma fullness was used by the Gnostic teachers in a technical sense, to express the sum-total of the divine powers and attributes. "From the pleroma they supposed that all those agencies issued through which God has at any time exerted His power in creation, or manifested His will through revelation. These mediatorial beings would retain more or less of its influence, according as they claimed direct parentage from it, or traced their descent through successive evolutions. But in all cases this pleroma was distributed, diluted, transformed, and darkened by foreign admixture. They were only partial and blurred images, often deceptive caricatures, of their original, broken lights of the great Central Light" (Lightfoot). Christ may have been ranked with these inferior images of the divine by the Colossian teachers. Hence the significance of the assertion that the totality of the divine dwells in Him. 190 Dwell (katoikhsai). Permanently. See on Luke xi. 26. Compare the Septuagint usage of katoikein permanent dwelling, and paroikein transient sojourning. Thus Gen. xxxvii. 1, "Jacob dwelt (permanently, katwkei) in the land where his father sojourned (parwkhsen A.V., was a stranger). Perhaps in contrast with the partial and transient connection of the pleroma with Christ asserted by the false teachers. The word is used of the indwelling of the Father, Eph. ii. 22 (katoikhthrion tou Qeou habitation of God); of the Son, Eph. iii. 17; and of the Spirit, Jas. iv. 5.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
1:19 {For it was the good pleasure of the Father} (hoti eudokesen). No word in the Greek for "the Father," though the verb calls for either ho qeos or ho pater as the subject. this verb eudokew is common in the N.T. for God's will and pleasure (#Mt 3:17; 1Co 10:5). {All the fulness} (pan to plerwma). The same idea as in #2:9 pan to plerwma tes qeotetos (all the fulness of the Godhead). "A recognized technical term in theology, denoting the totality of the Divine powers and attributes" (Lightfoot). It is an old word from plerow, to fill full, used in various senses as in #Mr 8:20 of the baskets, #Ga 4:10 of time, etc. The Gnostics distributed the divine powers among various aeons. Paul gathers them all up in Christ, a full and flat statement of the deity of Christ. {Should dwell} (katoikesai). First aorist active infinitive of katoikew, to make abode or home. All the divine attributes are at home in Christ (en autwi).
