For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him;
Parallel translations
- KJV For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
- BSB For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,
- NKJV For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
- NASB For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
- NLT For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Christ. The complete divine nature resides in the Son.
Overview
'All the fullness' refers to the totality of God's own being and perfections, which dwell in Christ by the Father's good pleasure. This directly counters any view that divine fullness was spread among many intermediaries or angelic beings. In Christ alone the believer meets the fullness of God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Col 2:9For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,
- John 1:16From his fullness we all received grace upon grace.
- Eph 1:23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
- Col 2:3in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden.
- Col 3:11where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.
- John 3:34For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure.
- Eph 4:10He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
- Eph 1:3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ;
- Luke 10:21In that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight.”
- Eph 1:5having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire,
- Matt 11:25–27At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The image of the invisible God, firstborn over creation, in whom all things hold together and all the fullness of God dwells bodily — supreme over every power.
How Colossians 1:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.