Colossians 2:19
New International Version
They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

New Living Translation
and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.

English Standard Version
and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

Berean Standard Bible
He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow.

Berean Literal Bible
and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, being supplied and being knit together by the joints and ligaments, increases with the increase of God.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.

New American Standard Bible
and not holding firmly to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

NASB 1995
and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

NASB 1977
and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

Legacy Standard Bible
and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

Amplified Bible
and not holding fast to the head [of the body, Jesus Christ], from whom the entire body, supplied and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows with the growth [that can come only] from God.

Christian Standard Bible
He doesn’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with growth from God.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He doesn’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, develops with growth from God.

American Standard Version
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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And is not holding The Head, from whom the whole body is constructed and settled in the joints and members, and grows with the growth of God.

Contemporary English Version
They are no longer part of Christ, who is the head of the whole body. Christ gives the body its strength, and he uses its joints and muscles to hold it together, as it grows by the power of God.

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

English Revised Version
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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He doesn't hold on to [Christ,] the head. Christ makes the whole body grow as God wants it to, through support and unity given by the joints and ligaments.

Good News Translation
and have stopped holding on to Christ, who is the head of the body. Under Christ's control the whole body is nourished and held together by its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God wants it to grow.

International Standard Version
He does not hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, which is nourished and held together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God enables it.

Literal Standard Version
and not holding the Head, from which all the body—gathering supply through the joints and bands, and being knit together—may increase with the increase of God.

Majority Standard Bible
He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow.

New American Bible
and not holding closely to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and bonds, achieves the growth that comes from God.

NET Bible
He has not held fast to the head from whom the whole body, supported and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.

New Revised Standard Version
and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.

New Heart English Bible
and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with God's growth.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

Weymouth New Testament
Such a one does not keep his hold upon Christ, the Head, from whom the Body, in all its parts nourished and strengthened by its points of contact and its connections, grows with a divine growth.

World English Bible
and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with God’s growth.

Young's Literal Translation
and not holding the head, from which all the body -- through the joints and bands gathering supply, and being knit together -- may increase with the increase of God.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Alive in Christ
18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual mind. 19 He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow. 20If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations:…

Cross References
1 Corinthians 11:3
But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

1 Corinthians 12:27
Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it.

Ephesians 1:22
And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,

Ephesians 1:23
which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 2:21
In Him the whole building is fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

Ephesians 4:16
From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the work of each individual part.

Colossians 1:18
And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.


Treasury of Scripture

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

not.

Colossians 2:6-9
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: …

Colossians 1:18
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Galatians 1:6-9
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: …

all.

Ephesians 4:15,16
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: …

by.

Job 19:9-12
He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head…

Psalm 139:15,16
My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth…

nourishment.

John 15:4-6
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…

Romans 11:17
And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

Ephesians 5:29
For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

knit.

Colossians 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 Christ;

John 17:21
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

Acts 4:32
And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

increaseth.

Colossians 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;

1 Corinthians 3:6
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

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Bands Body Causes Connection Contact Firmly God's Grows Growth Head Hold Holding Increase Increaseth Joined Joints Kept Knit Ministered Nourished Nourishment Parts Points Sinews Strength Strengthened Supplied Supported Together United
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Bands Body Causes Connection Contact Firmly God's Grows Growth Head Hold Holding Increase Increaseth Joined Joints Kept Knit Ministered Nourished Nourishment Parts Points Sinews Strength Strengthened Supplied Supported Together United
Colossians 2
1. Paul still exhorts them to be constant in Christ;
8. to beware of philosophy, and vain traditions;
18. worshipping of angels;
20. and legal ceremonies, which are ended in Christ.














(19) Not holding the Head.--In this lay the fatal error. All these speculations and superstitions interfered with the direct hold of the soul on the mediation of Christ, as the Head, from whom alone, as being "the image of the invisible God," come all spiritual life and growth. Therefore they had a practical and spiritual importance.

From which all the body . . .--Comp Ephesians 4:15-16, and see Note there. The agreement is nearly verbal, but the characteristic difference of idea, so often noted, is still traceable. There the body "maketh increase unto the building up of itself in love;" here the increase is simply "the increase of God"--the increase which God gives, and which grows into His likeness. In this passage there is also a greater scientific exactness: the "joints and bands" are the "articulations and ligaments;" the two functions thereof are the diffusion of nourishment and the knitting together of organic unity.

Verse 19. - And not holding fast the Head (vers. 6, 8; Colossians 1:15-20; Ephesians 1:20-23; Philippians 2:9-11; Romans 9:5; Romans 14:9; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Revelation 19:16). In the last verse the errorist was judged "out of his own mouth," and the intrinsic hollowness of his pretensions was exposed. Now" he appears before the judgment seat of Christ," charged with high treason against him, the Lord alike of the kingdoms of nature and of grace. So the apostle falls back once more (comp. ver. 10) on the foundation laid down in Colossians 1:15-20, on which his whole polemic rests. Both in creation and redemption, the philosophic Judaists assigned to the angels a role inconsistent with the sovereign mediatorship of Christ (see notes on vers. 10 and 15). From whom all the body, through its joinings and bands being supplied and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God (Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22, 23; Ephesians 4:15, 16; John 15:1-6; 1 Corinthians 3:6). Disloyalty to "the head" works destruction to "the body," which in this case "proceeds from" ("grows out of," ἐξ... αυ}ξει,) its Head, while it depends upon him. Gnosticism from the beginning tended to disintegrate the Church, by the caste feeling (Colossians 1:28, note; Colossians 3:11) and the sectarian spirit to which it gave birth (ver. 8; Acts 20:30). Its vague and subjective doctrines were ready to assume a different form with each new exponent, Here lies the connection between this and the Ephesian letter, the doctrine of the Church following upon and growing out of that of the person of Christ, each being threatened - the latter immediately, the former more remotely - by the rise of the new Judaeo-Christian mystic rationalism. Colossians asserts the "thou in me" of John 17:23; Ephesians the corresponding "I in them;" and both the consequent "they made perfect in one" (comp., especially, Ephesians 3:14-21 and Ephesians 4:7-16 with Colossians 1:15-20 and Colossians 2:9-15). (On "body," see note, Colossians 1:18.) Αφαὶ signifies, not "joints "as parts of the bony skeleton, but includes all points of contact and connection in the body; Latin nexus, junetura (see Lightfoot). Bengel and Meyer, following Chrysostom, interpret it as "senses," or "nerves;" but this does not commend itself either lexically or contextually. The συνδεσμοί (comp. Colossians 3:14) are the "ligaments," the stronger and more distinct connections that give the bodily framework unity and solidity. So, by the organic cooperation of the whole structure, the body of Christ is furnished with its supplies, enabled to receive and dispense to each member the needed sustenance; and "knit together" (ver. 2), drawn into a close and firm unity. "Supplied" (comp. 2 Corinthians 9:10; Galatians 3:5) indicates a sustenance both required and due. In Colossians 1:6 we read of the increase of the gospel, in Colossians 1:10 of the individual believer, and now of the Church as a body) Ephesians 2:21; Ephesians 4:16). "The increase of God" is that which God bestows (1 Corinthians 3:6), as it proceeds "from Christ" (ἐξ οῦ: ver. 10; Colossians 3:11; John 1:16), in whom is "the fulness of the Godhead" (ver. 9: comp. Ephesians 1:23 and Ephesians 3:17 - 19). In Ephesians 4:16 the same idea is expressed in almost the same terms. There, however, the growth appears as proper to the body, resulting from its very constitution; here, as a bestowment of God, dependent, therefore, upon Christ, and ceasing if the Church ceases to hold fast to him.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

he loses connection
κρατῶν (kratōn)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2902: From kratos; to use strength, i.e. Seize or retain.

to the
τὴν (tēn)
Article - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

head,
Κεφαλήν (Kephalēn)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2776: From the primary kapto; the head, literally or figuratively.

from
ἐξ (ex)
Preposition
Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.

whom
οὗ (hou)
Personal / Relative Pronoun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3739: Who, which, what, that.

the
τὸ (to)
Article - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

whole
πᾶν (pan)
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3956: All, the whole, every kind of. Including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole.

body,
σῶμα (sōma)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4983: Body, flesh; the body of the Church. From sozo; the body, used in a very wide application, literally or figuratively.

supported
ἐπιχορηγούμενον (epichorēgoumenon)
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 2023: From epi and choregeo; to furnish besides, i.e. Fully supply, aid or contribute.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

knit together
συμβιβαζόμενον (symbibazomenon)
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4822: From sun and bibazo (by reduplication) of the base of basis); to drive together, i.e. Unite, to infer, show, teach.

by
διὰ (dia)
Preposition
Strong's 1223: A primary preposition denoting the channel of an act; through.

[its]
τῶν (tōn)
Article - Genitive Feminine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

joints
ἁφῶν (haphōn)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural
Strong's 860: A band, fastening (hence, possibly: a ligament), joint. From haptomai; probably a ligament.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

ligaments,
συνδέσμων (syndesmōn)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 4886: That which binds together; a band, bond. From sun and desmon; a joint tie, i.e. Ligament, uniting principle, control.

grows
αὔξει (auxei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 837: (a) I cause to increase, become greater (b) I increase, grow. A prolonged form of a primary verb; to grow, i.e. Enlarge.

as
τὴν (tēn)
Article - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

God
Θεοῦ (Theou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.

causes it to grow.
αὔξησιν (auxēsin)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 838: Increasing, increase, growth. From auzano; growth.


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NT Letters: Colossians 2:19 And not holding firmly to the Head (Coloss. Col Co)
Colossians 2:18
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