Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Colossians 1:11
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
11. strengthened ] “ made powerful; ” R.V. marg. The same verb occurs in the LXX. of Psalms 67:(Heb. and Eng. 68.) 28, and some other O.T. passages, and in Heb 11:34. A compound of it occurs Act 9:12; Rom 4:20; Eph 6:10; Php 4:13. The three last reff. are a full spiritual commentary on the word here. The Lat. Versions have confortati; Wyclif, “ counfortid.” Observe that the Greek participle is in the present or continuing form, and suggests a maintained and abiding strengthening.
with ] Lit., in.
all might ] Greek dunamis; the cognate noun to the verb just rendered “ strengthened.” The strengthening was to meet “all” sides and kinds of spiritual need with a corresponding completeness. For the word in such a connexion, cp. especially Luk 24:49; Act 1:8 in the Greek.
according to his glorious power ] Lit. and far better, according to the power (or might, R.V.) of His glory; in a way worthy of the forces springing from that “glory” of God which is in fact His supreme and blessed Nature in manifestation. The word “ glorious ” (in the A.V.) represents similar Greek in the following passages; Rom 8:21; 2Co 4:4; Php 3:21; 1Ti 1:11; Tit 2:13; and these all gain greatly in significance by the literal rendering.
unto all patience ] The “all” of result answers to the “all” of Divine supply.
“ Patience: ” the Greek word rises above, while it amply includes, the thought of uncomplaining suffering. It is a noble word, denoting the endurance of the soul in the path of faith, hope, and love; perseverance, under trials, in the will of God. Cp. (in the Greek) especially Mat 10:22; Luk 8:15; Luk 21:19; Rom 2:7; Heb 12:1; Heb 12:7.
longsuffering ] Latin Versions, longanimitas, a beautiful and literal equivalent for the Greek. The word “longanimity,” formed on this, and used by the Rhemish translators (1582), was adopted by Bp Jeremy Taylor (cent. 17), but has never taken root in English. The temper indicated is the opposite to that haste of spirit which gives the man no time, under pressure of pain or (particularly) of wrong, to remember what is due to others, and to the Lord. Cp., for the use of the word and its cognates, Mat 18:26; 1Co 13:4, &c.; and, for a soul-moving reference to the “longanimity” of the Lord Himself, 1Ti 1:16. The two words, “ patience,” “ longsuffering,” occur together, 2Co 6:4; 2Co 6:6 ; 2Ti 3:10; Jas 5:10-11.
with joyfulness ] with joy. Cp. esp. Isa 29:19; Hab 3:17-18; Joh 16:20-24; Joh 17:14; Act 13:52 (a good illustration here from facts); Rom 14:17; Rom 15:13 ; 1Th 1:6; Heb 10:34; Jas 1:2; 1Pe 1:8. Nothing like the Gospel can open the secret of a joy, perfectly real and unaffected, under sufferings and sorrows, and that without the least tendency to blunt sensibility.
Observe the holy paradox of the thought here. The fulness of Divine power in the saints is to result primarily not in “doing some great thing” but in enduring and forbearing, with heavenly joy of heart. The paradox points to one deep characteristic of the Gospel, which prepares the Christian for service by the way of a true abnegation of himself as his own strength and his own aim.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Strengthened with all might – This was also an object of Pauls earnest prayer. He desired that they might be strengthened for the performance of duty; to meet temptations; and to bear up under the various trials of life.
According to his glorious power – Not by any human means, but by the power of God. There is a manifestation of power in the spirit with which Christians are enabled to bear up under trials, which shows that it is not of human origin. It is the power which God gives them in the day of trial. This power is glorious, or, as it is in the Greek, it is the power of his glory. It is manifestly the power of the great and glorious God, and it tends to promote his glory, and to show forth his praise.
Unto all patience – So that you may be enabled to bear all your trials without complaining. It is only the power of God that can enable us to do that.
And long-suffering – Notes, 1Co 13:4.
With joyfulness – Rom 5:3, note; 2Co 7:4, note. The Syriac version, Chrysostom, and a few manuscripts attach this to the following verse, and read it: With joyfulness giving thanks to the Father, etc. The only difference is in the pointing, and either reading makes good sense.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Col 1:11
Strengthened with all might according to His glorious power.
Gods all strength
I. The strength.
1. The reference is not to intellectual strength, although no doubt as a highly intellectual man, the apostle would highly prize this in his brethren. It is important as a shield to protect from imposition, for guidance in times of sifting or wild speculation, and its possession widens the distance between man and the lower creation, and assimilates to Him whose understanding is infinite.
2. Here reference is to power distinctively spiritual. Paul prayed that they might be strengthened in their ethical principles, so that they might be stronger in their faith, hope, and love. This was important for their Christian consistency, usefulness, and prosperity,
II. The strengthening. Strengthened in all strength. As if the apostle conceived them as needing to be immersed in some other ones strength greater than their own: and as he was thinking of Divine strength, he did not scruple to say all strength, i.e., strength all-sufficient. Not merely enough for some duties and trials, but such as would enable them to say, I can do all things (Php 4:13). All kinds of strength belong to God, physical, intellectual, moral Nothing is too hard for the Lord. Power belongeth unto God, and not only that which can create and uphold. What power of perception from which nothing is hidden! of memory! looking back into infinity; of prevision! looking forward into eternity. Hence this moral power. What power of goodness, righteousness, compassion, and forgiving fervour–all inherently infinite. No wonder Paul speaks of the power of His glory, the power that is inherent in His glory and therefore glorious. No wonder that he desires that the Colossians should be steeped in it.
III. The result of the strengthening.
1. Patience is needed on the part of all in such a world as this. Men everywhere have had trials that have taxed them to the utmost, and will continue to have. But the reference here is to the trials which Christians have in addition as Christians, to which they are exposed for the gospels sake at home and in society.
2. Long-suffering is akin to patient endurance. It is the opposite of irascibility in relation to persons who deal with us unreasonably or unkindly, whereas patience has to do with things. With trying things our difficulty is to endure; with trying persons to suppress irritability.
3. But these are not enough. Paul wants joyfulness in addition. But he knew that the happy God could and would make all things work together for good, and so enable His people to rejoice in the Lord alway. (J. Morison, D. D.)
Strengthened with glorious power
I. Why does the apostle say, strengthened with all might?
1. To intimate that we fight not against one enemy, neither are opposed by weapons on one side only, but by many, and on every side. Unless we overcome these enemies, one and all, we are conquered. There is therefore need of all might against every kind of enemy.
II. The apostle could have said, we are strengthened by God, or by His power; but he adds this epithet, glorious power.
1. That we may place the greater confidence in this Divine power. Because this very word contains in itself an earnest of victory and triumph; for this could not be glorious power, if it might be overcome by an evil spirit and sin (Rom 8:1-39.).
2. It is called glorious power on account of the admirable mode of conquering the devil, the world, and the flesh. For the Spirit of God not immediately, by His absolute power, beats off these enemies of our salvation; but by inspiring us with strength, causes even ourselves to trample them under. Moreover, that power must necessarily be very admirable and glorious which makes feeble man, clothed with sinful flesh, to overcome the insults and wiles of devils, the alarms and solicitations of the flesh, the hatred, snares, and injuries of the whole world. Of this glorious power God Himself speaks (2Co 12:9; Vide 1Co 1:27). (Bishop Davenant.)
The source and object of spiritual strength
I. The process experienced. Strengthened with all might.
1. Man is essentially weak, and his frequent boasting of strength is but a sign of it. Adam was weak, and fell before the first assault; and now that sin, thus triumphing, has entered into our world, degenerate men are weaker still. It was when we were without strength that God laid help on One mighty to save.
2. Yet men rarely think of their weakness, and consider themselves equal to all the demands made upon them. It is only when a man receives new power that he is conscious of his weakness. It is when you try to stem a torrent that you know its force, so when a Christian begins to crucify his flesh he knows its power. But for him there is might to overcome. Yet how much weakness is manifest in professors. You see men conquered by the love of the world, and those who began well slackening their pace, and instead of resisting the allurements around them becoming entangled by them and falling into spiritual apostasy.
3. Mark the fulness of the blessing.
(1) With might for all the faculties of the soul, so that every power of manhood shall be invigorated.
(2) For all the wants of life created by its varied circumstances of prosperity and adversity.
II. The divine principle manifested–according to the power of His glory (Eph 3:16).
1. Spiritual power, then, is not indigenous to the soul; it is from God, who alone knows its capacities and needs. If the word or smile of an earthly: parent can strengthen the soul of his child, much more God. We can only influence from without, God from within.
2. The principle of this Divine action is according, etc. Often are Gods power and glory conjoined (Psa 63:2; Rev 19:1). Power is an essential attribute of the Divine glory.
(1) The glory of God is powerful in creation. The heavens declare, etc. Power is everywhere apparent. Even the thoughtless, who have no eye to trace His wisdom and no heart to acknowledge His goodness, are constrained to see His eternal power and Godhead.
(2) In providence (Psa 62:11; Job 9:19; Dan 4:35). What power in ordering times and seasons, governing a tumultuous world, restraining powers of darkness and preserving a feeble Church.
(3) In redemption. Christ, who is the brightness of His glory, is the power of God. The exceeding greatness of His power working by His spirit accomplishes the new creation and strengthens the souls of His children.
3. The expression suggests the measure of the might imparted–not according to human power or angelic might, but according to a Divine measure. As the power of the Divine glory is manifested in nature, providence, or redemption, so will it be in the souls,experiences, and triumphs of His people.
4. It is also the model of our might. We may be strengthened with a might corresponding to the power of Gods glory, so that we shall be strong in accordance with our finite nature as God is strong according to His infinite nature.
III. The great moral purpose of this strengthening–not so much to do as to suffer, which requires the greatest strength.
1. Patience has its sphere in relation to God.
(1) In the endurance of trial. Our discipline is often protracted, and we are apt to sink. How much we need the promised strength.
(2) In anticipation of coming good. The deliverance is long protracted. We become impatient, and ask, Where is the promise of His coming? and impatience often leads to sin, and is always a sign of weakness. To possess our souls in patience and bide Gods time requires His strength. Long-suffering has its sphere in relation to man, and means long-mindedness as opposed to shortness of temper in the midst of irritation. It requires the strength of God to imitate His forbearance who endured such contradiction of sinners.
3. The spirit of this patience or joyfulness produced by a consciousness of power to strengthen, deliver, reward. (J. Spence, D. D.)
Patience
Patience is the superintendent of all the affairs of God, and without it it is not possible to execute His commands or to wait for His promises. It defeats all its enemies without toil. Its repose is more efficacious than the movements and deeds of others. It renders those things salutary to us which, of their own nature, are most pernicious. It changes poisons into remedies, and defeats into victories. It rejoices the angels, it confounds devils, it overcomes the world. It subdues the greatest courage, and converts the most obstinate hearts. It is the strength and the triumph of the Church, according to the saying of the ancient oracle, In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. (Tertullian.)
Patience and long-suffering
Long suffering will be found to express patience in respect of persons, and patience the same in respect to things. The man is long-suffering, who, having to do with injurious persons does not suffer himself easily to be provoked by them, or to blaze up into anger. The man is patient who, under a great siege of trials, bears up and does not lose heart or courage (Rom 5:3; 2Co 1:6). We should speak, there fore, of the long-suffering of David (2Sa 16:10-13), the patience of Job (Jam 5:11). Thus, while both graces are ascribed to the saints, only long-suffering is an attribute of God. Men may tempt and provoke Him, and He may and does display an infinite long-suffering in regard of them (Exo 34:6; Rom 2:4; 1Pe 3:20); there may be a resistance to God in men, because He respects the wills with which He has created them, even when those wills are fighting against Him. But there can be no resistance to God, nor burden upon Him, the Almighty, from things; therefore patience cannot find place in Him, nor is it ever rightly ascribed to Him; for when God is called the God of patience (Rom 15:5) this does not mean God whose attribute patience is, but God who gives patience to His people. (See also 1Pe 5:10; Heb 13:20; Rom 15:13). (Archbishop Trench.)
The two words occur in the same context in 2Co 6:4; 2Co 6:6; 2Ti 3:10; Jam 5:10-11. The difference of meaning is best seen in their opposites. While patience is the temper which does not easily succumb under suffering, long-suffering is the self-restraint that does not hastily retaliate a wrong. The one is opposed to cowardice or despondency, the other to wrath or revenge (Pro 15:18; Pro 16:32). (Bishop Lightfoot.)
Peace in pain
I have been ready to doubt, said Dr. Payson, whether pain be really an evil; for though more pain was crowded into last week than any other week of my life, yet it was one of the happiest weeks of my life, and now I am ready to say, Come what will, come sickness, pain, agony, poverty, loss of friends; only let God come with them, and they shall be welcome. Later, on his death-bed, he said, Every bone is almost dislocated with pain; yet while my body is thus tortured, my soul is perfectly happy and peaceful, more happy than I can possibly express to you. I seem to swim in a flood of glory which God pours down on me.
Patient long-suffering
I heard of a city missionary who was going along one of the streets and saw a little girl sleeping on the steps of a door, and he awoke her, and said, Why are you sleeping here in this drizzling rain? And she said, My father has turned me out of doors. Hes a drunkard, and Im waiting till he falls asleep, and then Im going into the house. The next morning the drunken father awakened from his dream of iniquity, and he saw his little girl preparing his breakfast, and he said, Milly, why do you stay with me? Oh, she said, father, I love you; and my mother, when she died, said I must never leave you. She said the rum fiend would sometimes go out of you, and then you would be very kind to me; and so she said I was never to leave you, and, father, I never will.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. Strengthened with all might] That they might be able to walk worthy of the Lord, bring forth fruit, &c. See Clarke on Eph 3:13, &c.
According to his glorious power] According to that sufficiency of strength which may be expected from him who has all power both in the heavens and in the earth.
Unto all patience] Relieving, hoping, and enduring all things.
With joyfulness] Feeling the continual testimony that ye please God, which will be a spring of perpetual comfort. See Clarke on Eph 4:2.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power: whereunto that they might be enabled, it was needful to pray for a power from above, for the best Christians here below are but infirm as well as imperfect, not able to perform what is required of them for doing and suffering the will of God till strengthened: See Poole on “Phi 4:13“, compared with Rev 7:17. We have here great need of all might, special aids of God, to discharge difficult duties, to mortify strong corruptions, to contemn worldly allurements, to repulse frequent temptations, to bear manifold crosses, and to improve daily mercies, derived from exceeding great and mighty power; See Poole on “Eph 1:19“. See Poole on “Eph 1:20“. See Poole on “Eph 3:16“; an excellent glorious power, 2Co 4:7,13, needful to consummate and complete, as well as begin, the work of grace, 2Th 1:11; a great reality (and not a metaphor) to sincere converts and sound believers.
Unto all patience; every way to bear the things which come hard upon them or continue long. Philosophy, with all its prescriptions, is ineffectual to form the soul to true patience and contentment under sufferings, it must be given on the behalf of Christ, Phi 1:29, to a believer, to suffer patiently in tongue and heart, without a prevailing mixture of passion, so that evils do not make all impression upon him, but he doth possess his soul with patience to the end.
And long-suffering with joyfulness; which he could not do with a becoming Christian cheerfulness, when, surcharged with a weight of troubles, he finds himself sinking, if he were not supported with the hands of Heaven, which relieve with present comfort, and raise up to believe a future reward, Mat 5:12; Act 5:41; Rom 5:3; 1Co 11:32; 2Co 1:5; Heb 11:27; 12:10,12; Jas 1:2,4.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. Greek, “Beingmade mighty with (literally, ‘in‘) all might.”
according to his gloriouspowerrather, “according to the power (the characteristicof ‘His glory,’ here appropriate to Paul’s argument, Eph 1:19;Eph 6:10; as its exuberant’riches,’ in Eph 3:16) of Hisglory.” His power is inseparable from His glory (Ro6:4).
unto all patienceso asto attain to all patient endurance; persevering, enduringcontinuance in the faith, in spite of trials of persecutors, andseductions of false teachers.
long-sufferingtowardsthose whom one could repel. “Patience,” or “endurance,”is exercised in respect to those whom one cannot repel [CHRYSOSTOM].
with joyfulnessjoyfulendurance (Act 16:25; Rom 5:3;Rom 5:11).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Strengthened with all might,…. This is still a continuation of the apostle’s prayer for these believers; for having prayed for an increase of spiritual knowledge, and that this might be put into practice, he proceeds to pray for strength for them, that they might be enabled to practise what they had knowledge of; to walk worthily, to please God in all things, to bring forth fruit with patience, to persevere in knowledge, practice, fruitfulness, and in an increase thereof. It implies, that believers are weak in themselves, and insufficient to do or bear anything of themselves, but stand in need of strength from above, even of “all might”; of all kind of spiritual might and strength, proportionate to the various kinds of services, temptations, and trials they are called unto, and exercised with: they have need of every kind, degree, and supply of strength, to enable them to resist the temptations of Satan, to stand against them, and bear up under them; to oppose the corruptions of their own nature, that great company which comes upon them, wars against them, threatens to carry them captive, and destroy them, and against which they have no power of their own; to bear the cross, which, without the presence and grace of Christ, is very heavy, and all afflictions and adversities of every sort, which are grievous to the flesh, and at which it recoils; to perform the various duties of religion, and the whole of the work of their generation; which though they have a will unto, yet often know not how to perform, they want renewed strength their souls; and also to persevere in faith and holiness, and hold on and out to the end: and which strength they cannot expect to have from themselves, or from any creature, but
according to his glorious power; the glorious power of God. Power belongs to God, is a perfection of his nature, and has been, and is gloriously displayed in many things; as in the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the upholding of all things in their being; in the redemption and salvation of sinners; in their faith and conversion; in supporting the saints under various trials and exercises; and in the safe keeping them through faith unto salvation: from this glorious power of God saints may hope to be supplied with all might, or a sufficient supply of strength for every service, and for every difficulty; as also from the grace that is in Christ, who has strength as well as righteousness for his people, who is the glorious power and arm of the Lord, without whom they can neither do, nor bear anything, but through him strengthening them, they can do, and bear all things; as likewise from the Spirit of the Lord, who is the finger of God, by whom Christ wrought his miracles; and is that glorious power from on high, with which the apostles being endued, did the wondrous things they did; and it is by the same Spirit that believers are strengthened with might in the inner man:
unto all patience; to bring forth fruit with patience; to run with patience the race set before them; to bear patiently all afflictions and tribulations; to wait patiently for the things promised by God, and for the coming and appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the heavenly glory or hope laid up for them in heaven:
and longsuffering; to be slow to anger, and not easily provoked to wrath; to be ready to forgive injuries; and to bear long, and with patience, all reproaches and persecutions for the sake of Christ, and his Gospel; all which require daily fresh supplies of grace and strength, especially to endure all
with joyfulness, as well as with patience and longsuffering, with a cheerful spirit, or with joy in the Holy Ghost; to esteem reproach for Christ’s sake above the riches and honours of this world; to rejoice when counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. This requires strength above that of nature, and a renewed supply of that of grace. This last clause, “with joyfulness”, the Syriac version connects with the following verse, reading it, “with joy do ye give thanks”, &c.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Strengthened (). Present passive participle of late verb (from ), to empower, “empowered with all power.” In LXX and papyri and modern Greek. In N.T. only here and Heb 11:34 and MSS. in Eph 6:10 (W H in margin).
According to the might of his glory ( ). is old word for perfect strength (cf. , ). In N.T. it is applied only to God. Here his might is accompanied by glory (Shekinah).
Unto all patience and longsuffering ( ). See both together also in Jas 5:10; 2Cor 6:4; 2Cor 6:6; 2Tim 3:10. H is remaining under () difficulties without succumbing, while is the long endurance that does not retaliate (Trench).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Strengthened [] . Only here in the New Testament, but found in Septuagint. The compound (ejndunamow to make strong) is frequent in Paul, Rom 4:20; Eph 6:10; Phi 4:13; 1Ti 1:12.
Power – might [ – ] . See on 2Pe 2:11; Joh 1:12. Glory. See on Rom 3:23.
Patience – long – suffering [ – ] . See on 2Pe 1:6; Jas 5:7.
With joyfulness. Compare ver. 24; Jas 1:2, 3; 1Pe 4:13. Some connect with giving thanks, ver. 12, and this is favored by the construction of the previous clauses : in every good work bearing fruit : with all power strengthened : with joy giving thanks. But Paul is not always careful to maintain the symmetry of his periods. The idea of joy is contained in thanksgiving, which would make the emphatic position of with joy inexplicable; besides which we lose thus the idea of joyful endurance (ver. 24) and of joyful suffering expressing itself in thanksgiving. Compare Rom 5:3.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Strengthened with all might” (en pase dunamei dunamoumenoi) “Being empowered with all might,” Eph 3:16; Php_4:13.
2) “According to his glorious power” (kata to kratos tes dokses autou) “according to the glory of his mighty power.” The Divine supply of his power is both abundant and available to all who seek it or ask for it, aright; Eph 6:10; Jos 1:5-6; Jos 1:9.
3) “Unto A patience and longsuffering with joyfulness” (eis pasan hupomonen kai makrothumian meta charas) “unto all endurance and longsuffering, with joy;” 2Co 6:4; 2Co 12:12; Eph 4:2. Great joy may be found in the will of the Lord, even in times of troubles and great cares, 2Co 8:2; Heb 10:34.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
11. Strengthened with all might. As he has previously prayed that they might have both a sound understanding and the right use of it, so also now he prays that they may have courage and constancy. In this manner he puts them in mind of their own weakness, for he says, that they will not be strong otherwise than by the Lord’s help; and not only so, but with the view of magnifying this exercise of grace the more, he adds, according to his glorious power. “So far from any one being able to stand, through dependence on his own strength, the power of God shews itself illustriously in helping our infirmity.” Lastly, he shews in what it is that the strength of believers ought to display itself — in all patience and long-suffering. For they are constantly, while in this world, exercised with the cross, and a thousand temptations daily present themselves, so as to weigh them down, and they see nothing of what God has promised. They must, therefore, arm themselves with an admirable patience, that what Isaiah says may be accomplished,
In hope and in silence shall be your strength. (290) (Isa 30:15.)
It is preferable to connect with this sentence the clause, with joy. For although the other reading is more commonly to be met with in the Latin versions, this is more in accordance with the Greek manuscripts, and, unquestionably, patience is not sustained otherwise than by alacrity of mind, and will never be maintained with fortitude by any one that is not satisfied with his condition.
(290) Lowth’s rendering of the passage is similar: “In silence, and in pious confidence, shall be your strength.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
11. strengthen with all power, according to the might of his glory, unto all patience and longsuffering with joy;
Translation and Paraphrase
11. (and) being strengthened by all (the) strength (from God), according to his glorious manifested power, (until you attain) all endurance (in your own life) and patience (toward others) with joyfulness.
Notes
1.
An essential part of walking worthily of the Lord lies in our being strengthened by the Lords strength, literally being made powerful by all power. Other scriptures also stress this point. Eph. 1:18-19; Eph. 3:16.
2.
The degree of power available unto us is indicated by saying that the power is according to the might of his glory, or according to his glorious might. The might available unto us is therefore as unlimited as God is unlimited.
3.
The strengthening of God is to bring us unto all patience and longsuffering. Patience (Gr. hupomone) means the ability to endure and bear up and remain faithful under every assault. Longsuffering (Gr. makrothumia) refers to our ability to keep a forgiving, hopeful attitude toward people, to avoid hastily retaliating a wrong.
4.
Our longsuffering is to be with joyfulness, rather than with Stoic submissiveness.
5.
Col. 1:11 raises the question as to how Gods power is to be released to work in our lives. How do we get hold of Gods power, and experience the strengthening that He gives? The world and much of the church too is crying for the answer to this question. People want to see a display of divine power rather than to hear a sermon. This explains in part the appeal of many Pentecostal religions. They loudly claim that they have found the secret of loosing Gods power suddenly into peoples lives, and this is appealing.
However the matter is usually neither simple nor quick. Observe that even when we are empowered with all power we still must have patience and longsuffering. We shall always be faced by opponents, critics, and doubters. Tribulation is never taken from us in this life (Act. 14:22). God never seems to be in a hurry from our point of view of time. He may take centuries to fulfill His objectives (though sometimes He does things so quickly that we are astounded). To us it may appear that Gods longsuffering means either that He has no power or does not care to use it. Both of these ideas are totally false. Again, our own sins (even our marital incompatibility! 1Pe. 3:7) may keep Gods power from working within us. (Isa. 59:1-2). God did tremendous things through Abraham, Jacob, and David. But think of the years God took to do the great things through their lives and think of the trouble these men had. God always works in such a way that his people must have faith in him at every stage for the future. Gods use of his power in our lives does not instantly solve all mysteries, remove all obstacles, and leave us triumphant and crowned. The best approach to gaining the strength from God seems to be: (1) Believe in Gods promises always; (2) Work as if everything depended on you; (3) Pray as if everything depended on God; (4) Leave the results to God.
Study and Review
29.
With what are Christians strengthened? (Col. 1:11)
30.
Unto what two things are we to be strengthened?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(11) His glorious power.Properly, the strength of His glory, His glory being His manifestation of Himself in love to man. (Comp. Eph. 3:16, According to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His spirit in the inner man.) On this use of the glory of God, frequent in these Epistles, see Eph. 1:6; Eph. 1:12; Eph. 1:14, and Notes there. The prayer, however, in the Ephesian Epistle looks to knowledge of the love of Christ as its object; the prayer here to power of endurance of trial and suffering.
Patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.(1) Patience is here endurance, rather than what we usually call patience. It is spoken of by St. James (Jas. 1:3) as the result of the bracing effect of trial, and is illustrated by the typical example of Job (Jas. 5:11). Now a glance at the Book of Job will show that, while in respect of physical trial he is resignation itself (Job. 1:21; Job. 2:10), yet that under the spiritual trial, which is the great subject of the book, he is the reverse of what is commonly called patient. He endures and conquers, but it is not without vehement passion and spiritual struggles, occasionally verging on a repining and rebellion, of which he bitterly repents (Job. 41:6). (2) To this patience, therefore, here as elsewhere (2Ti. 3:10), St. Paul adds longsufferinga word generally connected (as in 1Co. 13:4) with the temper of gentleness and love, and coming much nearer to the description of our ordinary idea of a patient temper, which, in its calm sweetness and gentleness, hardly feels to the utmost such spiritual trials as vexed the righteous soul of Job. Of such longsuffering our Lords bearing of the insults of the Condemnation and the cruelties of the Passion, when He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, is the perfect type. (3) Yet even then St. Paul is not content without joyfulness, in obedience to the command of our Master (Mat. 5:12), fulfilled in Himself on the cross (Heb. 12:2). The ground of such joy, so often shown in Christian martyrdom, is given by St. Peter (1Pe. 4:13), Rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christs sufferings, that when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. Of that joy St. Paul himself was a bright example in his present captivity. (See Php. 1:18-19; Php. 2:17-18.) The words therefore form a climax. Patience struggles and endures; long-suffering endures without a struggle; joyfulness endures and glories in suffering.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Strengthened Another element of the walk worthy of the Lord, has respect to the spirit with which all persecutions and tribulations should be met. More than a merely human strength is requisite for a proper endurance of trials, injuries, and wrongs, in order that the soul shall be kept in purity and peace, without resentment or disturbance of its rest in Christ, and also for that longsuffering which is forbearance toward opposers, gainsayers, persecutors, and those who injure us, as well as for the active duties of religion.
All might Every form of strength. A divine invigoration of every faculty of the soul is asked for. For the grandest human power has its bounds, beyond which it is but absolute weakness. Over against it is set the almightiness of God, whose infiniteness is the only degree of strength which he can give his trusting child. Suffering with joyfulness Triumph in the fire, of which the glorious company of martyrs are witnesses, thus becomes a possibility.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Strengthened with all power according to the might of his glory (His glorious might) unto all patience and longsuffering with joy.’
The third prayer was that they might experience the mighty strength which would enable them to walk successfully in this way. That they might be strengthened with ‘all power’, that is with all the power that has its source in ‘the might of His glory’. Thus as they considered His present glory and authority, and His almighty power revealed in that glory, they should know that it revealed something of the power on which they could draw, and this would enable them to walk worthily of the Lord. How? By displaying patient endurance and longsuffering, and being joyful in their doing of it.
Note how Paul recognises that all the power of the God of glory will be needed to keep them patiently enduring and to enable them to be longsuffering and considerate for others. Man is good at being inconsiderate. He loves to display his ability and self-importance, he loves to strut the stage and have his own way, or in some cases simply to have his own way quietly but firmly. He has no difficulty in doing that. He needs no strengthening to do it. It is natural to him. But this is not the way of Christ. The way of Christ is joyful ‘patient endurance and longsuffering’, bearing with others, putting up with their weaknesses, and seeking to help them while at the same time being careful not to be caught in the same trap, and having joy in doing so. It includes joy in the face of persecution when it comes. And this kind of life requires the full power of God.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Col 1:11 is co-ordinate with the foregoing .
. .] is instrumental, as in Col 1:9 (Eph 6:10 ; 2Ti 2:1 ); hence not designating that, in the acquiring of which the invigoration is supposed to consist (Hofmann), but: by means of every (moral) power (by its bestowal on God’s part) becoming empowered . (Lobeck, ad Phryn . p. 605) does not occur in Greek authors, and is only found here and at Heb 11:34 , Lachm. in the N. T.; in the LXX. at Ecc 10:10 ; Dan 9:27 ; Ps. 67:31; in Aquila; Job 36:9 ; Psa 64:4 . Paul elsewhere uses .
. .] according to the might of His majesty; with this divine might (see as to on Eph 1:19 ), through the powerful influence of which that strengthening is to be imparted to them, it is also to be correspondent and thereby its eminent strength and efficacy are characterized ( in Eph 1:19 has another sense). Comp. 2Th 2:9 ; Phi 3:21 . And . . . is not His glorious power (Luther, Castalio, Beza, and others; also Flatt and Bhr), against which should have been a sufficient warning; but is the appropriate attribute of the divine majesty (of the glorious nature of God). Comp. Eph 3:16 ; Sir 18:5 . The therefore is not the glory of God (Bhmer), but the latter has the former, and the is not to be referred to a single aspect of the divine greatness (Grotius: power; Huther: love ), but to its glorious whole . Comp. on Rom 6:4 .
. . .] in respect to every endurance (in affliction, persecution, temptation, and the like, comp. Rom 5:3 ; 2Co 1:6 ; 2Co 6:4 ; Jas 1:3 f.; Luk 8:15 ; Rom 2:7 , et al .) and long-suffering (towards the offenders and persecutors), that is, so as to be able to exercise these virtues in every way by means of that divine strengthening. The distinction of Chrysostom: , , is arbitrary. See, on the contrary, for instance, Heb 12:2-3 . Others understand it variously; but it is to be observed, that expresses the more general idea of endurance, and that , the opposite of which is (Eur. Andr . 729; Jas 1:19 ) and (Artem. iv. 69), always refers in the N. T. to the relation of patient tolerance towards offenders. Comp. Col 3:12 ; Gal 5:22 ; Rom 2:4 ; Eph 4:2 ; also Heb 6:12 ; Jas 5:10 .
] is joined with . . . by Theodoret, Luther, Beza, Castalio, Calvin, Grotius, Calovius, Bengel, Heinrichs, and many others, including Olshausen, Bhr, Steiger, de Wette, Baumgarten-Crusius, Dalmer, so that the true, joyful patience (comp. Col 1:24 ) is denoted. But the symmetry of the passage (see on Col 1:10 ), in which the two previous participles are also preceded by a prepositional definition, points so naturally to the connection with what follows (Syr., Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Erasmus, Estius, and others, including Lachmann, Tischendorf, Bhmer, Huther, Ewald, Ellicott, Bleek, Hofmann), that it cannot be abandoned without arbitrariness. Even in that case, indeed, the thought of joyful patience, which is certainly apostolic (Rom 5:3 ; 1Pe 1:6 ; Rom 12:12 ; comp. Mat 5:12 ), is not lost, when the intercession rises from patience to joyful thanksgiving . Observe also the deliberate juxtaposition of .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.” (Col 1:11 .)
So at once the soul is lifted up from its own dependence, and from all its collateral relations, to the very fount and origin of strength, to the very almightiness of God himself. We draw our strength from heaven. If we have any strength of intellect, it is nothing in itself, unless it be sustained day by day by special communications from God. The battle is not won by might, nor is the race won by swiftness; the whole scheme and outcome of life must be immediately connected with the might of God; then all goodness will come to fruition, and all evil will be withered as by an infinite blight. The “glorious power” of God is the strength of God’s glory. God’s glory is his manifestation of himself in love to man. In his letter to the Ephesians the Apostle uses the expression, “According to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.” But even the fact of being strengthened with all might according to the glorious power of God, or the strength of his glory, does not relieve saintly experience from its more chastening and humbling aspects. All the strength that was derived from God was to be expended in patience and longsuffering. One would suppose that a direct and abundant communication of Divine grace would lift the soul above all trials, and, indeed, release the soul from any further spiritual probation; but, to our amazement, we find that the very omnipotence of God is to be turned into human patience and human longsuffering, as if almightiness itself must be weakened in human experience, in order to achieve the fulness of its own purpose. Nor is the Apostle content that patience and longsuffering should express the soul’s communion with God. Patience and longsuffering may be silent, simply resigned, quietly submissive and expectant; it may be very triumphant, not to resent or not to use the language of reproach; but far beyond this the Apostle’s desire extends; he will have the patience and the longsuffering of the saints expressed in “joyfulness.” Here again the Apostle touches the very line of the teaching of Christ. Jesus said to his suffering ones, “Rejoice and be exceeding glad.” Another Apostle says, “Rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” Is the Apostle in this exhortation simply rhetorical or sentimental? Is he describing an ideal state of experience, the kind of emotion which ought to be possible to those who live in the very raptures of piety? On the contrary, he is simply wishing the Colossians to realise what he himself had experienced in processes of chastening. He says that he had learned in whatsoever state he was therein to be content; that, indeed, may be regarded as a passive experience; but in another instance he declares that he rejoices exceedingly in tribulations also. Throughout this prayer, therefore, the Apostle has never gone beyond the line of his own personal experience. He has done nothing to magnify that experience in the estimation of the Colossians, but those who are acquainted with the history of Paul know that every line of this noble aspiration has been lived in his own tragical experience.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
Ver. 11. And longsuffering with joyfulness ] The joy of the Lord is the strength of the soul, Neh 8:10 , as true gold comforts and strengthens the heart, that alchemy doth not. At the death of Francis Gamba, a Lombard, that suffered martyrdom, the friars brought in their hands a cross for him to behold, to keep him from desperation at the feeling of the fire. But his mind, he said, was so replenished with joy and comfort in Christ, that he needed neither their cross nor them.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
11 .] (corresponding to . . . above) in (not instrumental (Mey.), but betokening the element : all these, , are subjective, not objective. The instrument of this strength comes in below) all (departments of every kind of) strength being strengthened according to (in pursuance of, as might be expected from, reff.) the power of His glory (beware of the hendiadys, ‘his glorious power,’ into which E. V. has fallen here: the attribute of His glorious majesty here brought out is its (see Eph 1:19 , note), the power which it has thus to strengthen. In the very similar expression Eph 3:16 , it was the , the exuberant abundance of the same, from which as an inexhaustible treasure our strength is to come) to (so as to produce in you, so that ye may attain to) all patient endurance (not only in tribulations, but generally in the life of the Spirit. Endurance is the result of the union of outward and inward strength) and long-suffering (not only towards your enemies or persecutors, but also in the conflict with error, which is more in question in this Epistle. Chrys.’s distinction, , though in the main correct, must not be closely pressed: see (Mey.) Heb 12:2-3 ) with joy (Mey. argues that these words must be joined, as Chr., (c., Thl., Est., al., with ., because in the other clauses the participles were preceded by these prepositional qualifications. But this can hardly be pressed, in the frequent disregard of such close parallelism by our Apostle, and seeing that . does in fact take up again , which if attached to it is flat and unmeaning: and as De Wette says, by joining . to ., we lose the essential idea of joyful endurance, and the beautiful train of thought, that joyfulness in suffering expresses itself in thankfulness to God. And so Luth., B.-Crus., Olsh., Eadie, al.), giving thanks to the Father (the connexion is not, as Chr., Thl., Calov., Calv., al., with , the subject being we , Paul and Timothy, but with the last words (see above), and the subjects are ‘ you ,’ , viz. of our Lord Jesus Christ: see reff.) who made (historical by His gift of the Spirit through His Son) us (Christians) capable (not, ‘ worthy ,’ as Est. after the Vulg.) for the share (participation) of the inheritance of the saints in the light (it is much disputed with what is to be joined. Mey., after Chr., c., Thl., &c., regards it as instrumental as the means of the which has been mentioned. But this seems unnatural, both in sense, and in the position of the words, in which it stands too far from . to be its qualifying clause. It connects much more naturally with , or perhaps better still with the whole, . ., giving as the region in which the inheritance of the saints, and consequently our share in it, is situated. This seems supported by the usage of in Act 8:21 , cf. also , ib. Act 26:18 . And so Thdrt., al., De W., Eadie, al. Grot., al., would take with : against this the omission of the article is not decisive: but it does not seem so natural, as giving too great prominence to as the of the inheritance, and not enough to the inheritance itself. The question as to whether he is speaking of a present inheritance, or the future glory of heaven, seems best answered by Chrys., . . . The inheritance is begun here, and the meet-ness conferred, in gradual sanctification: but completed hereafter. We are here: cf. Rom 13:12-13 ; 1Th 5:5 ; Eph 5:8 ; 1Pe 2:9 al.):
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Col 1:11 . : “with all power,” being instrumental. . The equipment with power is proportioned not simply to the recipient’s need, but to the Divine supply. God’s glory is His manifested nature, here as manifested in might. . This equipment with Divine power is not, as we might have expected, said to be given with a view to deeds of great spiritual heroism, but for the practice of passive virtues, since this often puts the greater strain on the Christian’s strength. . is endurance, steadfastness in face of trials, temptations and persecutions; . is forbearance, the patience of spirit which will not retaliate. “The one is opposed to cowardice or despondency , the other to wrath or revenge ” (Lightf.). There seems to be no reference in ., as Alford supposes, to their attitude in conflict with error. : not to be taken (as by Mey., Ell., Hofm., Weiss, Abb.) with ., which would be tautological and throw a false emphasis on these words, but with . . . It forms a very necessary addition, for the peculiar danger of the exercise of those qualities is that it tends to produce a certain gloominess or sourness of disposition. The remedy is that the Christian should be so filled with joy that he is able to meet all his trials with a buoyant sense of mastery.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Colossians
‘ALL POWER’
Col 1:11 R.V..
There is a wonderful rush and fervour in the prayers of Paul. No parts of his letters are so lofty, so impassioned, so full of his soul, as when he rises from speaking of God to men to speaking to God for men. We have him here setting forth his loving desires for the Colossian Christians in a prayer of remarkable fulness and sweep. Broadly taken, it is for their perfecting in religious and moral excellence, and it is very instructive to note the idea of what a good man is which is put forth here.
The main petition is for wisdom and spiritual understanding applied chiefly, as is to be carefully noted, to the knowledge of God’s will . The thought is that what it most imports us to know is the Will of God, a knowledge not of merely speculative points in the mysteries of the divine nature, but of that Will which it concerns us to know because it is our life to do it. The next element in Paul’s desires, as set forth in the ideal here, is a worthy walk, a practical life, or course of conduct which is worthy of Jesus Christ, and in every respect pleases Him. The highest purpose of knowledge is a good life. The surest foundation for a good life is a full and clear knowledge of the Will of God.
Then follow a series of clauses which seem to expand the idea of the worthy walk and to be co-ordinate or perhaps slightly causal, and to express the continuous condition of the soul which is walking worthily. Let us endeavour to gather from these words some hints as to what it is God’s purpose that we should become.
I. The many-sided strength which may be ours.
The form of the word ‘strengthened’ here would be more fully represented by ‘being strengthened,’ and suggests an unintermitted process of bestowal and reception of God’s might rendered necessary by our continuous human weakness, and by the tear and wear of life. As in the physical life there must be constant renewal because there is constant waste, and as every bodily action involves destruction of tissue so that living is a continual dying, so is it in the mental and still more in the spiritual life. Just as there must be a perpetual oxygenation of blood in the lungs, so there must be an uninterrupted renewal of spiritual strength for the highest life. It is demanded by the conditions of our human weakness. It is no less rendered necessary by the nature of the divine strength imparted, which is ever communicating itself, and like the ocean cannot but pour so much of its fulness as can be received into every creek and crack on its shore.
The Apostle not merely emphasises the continuousness of this communicated strength, but its many-sided variety, by designating it ‘all power.’ In this whole context that word ‘all’ seems to have a charm for him. We read in this prayer of ‘ all spiritual wisdom,’ of ‘walking worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing,’ of ‘fruit in every good work,’ and now of ‘ all power,’ and lastly of ‘ all patience and longsuffering.’ These are not instances of being obsessed with a word, but each of them has its own appropriate force, and here the comprehensive completeness of the strength available for our many-sided weakness is marvellously revealed. There is ‘infinite riches in a narrow room.’ All power means every kind of power, be it bodily or mental, for all variety of circumstances, and, Protean, to take the shape of all exigencies. Most of us are strong only at points, and weak in others. In all human experience there is a vulnerable spot on the heel. The most glorious image, though it has a head of gold, ends in feet, ‘part of iron and part of clay.’
And if this ideal of many-sided power stands in contrast with the limitations of human strength, how does it rebuke and condemn the very partial manifestations of a very narrow and one-sided power which we who profess to have received it set forth! We have access to a source which can fill our whole nature, can flower into all gracious forms, can cope with all our exigencies, and make us all-round men, complete in Jesus Christ, and, having this, what do we make of it, what do we show for it? Does not God say to us, ‘Ye are not straitened in me, ye are straitened in yourselves; I beseech you be ye enlarged.’
The conditions on our part requisite for possessing ‘all might’ are plain enough. The earlier portion of the prayer plainly points to them. The knowledge of God’s Will and the ‘walk worthy of the Lord’ are the means whereby the power which is ever eager to make its dwelling in us, can reach its end. If we keep the channel unchoked, no doubt ‘the river of the water of life which proceedeth from the throne of God and the Lamb’ will rejoice to fill it to the brim with its flashing waters. If we do not wrench away ourselves from contact with Him, He will ‘strengthen us with all might.’ If we keep near Him we may have calm confidence that power will be ours that shall equal our need and outstrip our desires.
II. The measure of the strength.
It is ‘according to the power of His glory.’ The Authorised Version but poorly represents the fulness of the Apostle’s thought, which is more adequately and accurately expressed in the Revised Version. ‘His glory’ is the flashing brightness of the divine self-manifestation, and in that Light resides the strength which is the standard or measure of the gift to us. The tremendous force of the sunbeam which still falls so gently on a sleeper’s face as not to disturb the closed eyes is but a parable of the strength which characterises the divine glory. And wonderful and condemnatory as the thought is, that power is the unlimited limit of the possibilities of our possession. His gifts are proportioned to His resources. While He is rich, can I be poor? The only real limit to His bestowal is His own fulness. Of course, at each moment, our capacity of receiving is for the time being the practical limit of our possession, but that capacity varies indefinitely, and may be, and should be, indefinitely and continuously increasing. It is an elastic boundary, and hence we may go on making our own as much as we will, and progressively more and more, of God’s strength. He gives it all, but there is a tragical difference between the full cup put into our hands and the few drops carried to our lips. The key of the treasure-chamber is in our possession, and on each of us His gracious face smiles the permission which His gracious lips utter in words, ‘Be it unto thee even as thou wilt.’ If we are conscious of defect, if our weakness is beaten by the assaults of temptation, or crushed by sorrows that ride it down in a fierce attack, the fault is our own. We have, if we choose to make it our own and to use it as ours, more than enough to make us ‘more than conquerors’ over all sins and all sorrows.
But when we contrast what we have by God’s gift and what we have in our personal experience and use in our daily life, the contrast may well bring shame, even though the contrast brings to us hope to lighten the shame. The average experience of present-day Christians reminds one of the great tanks that may be seen in India, that have been suffered to go to ruin, and so an elaborate system of irrigation comes to nothing, and the great river that should have been drawn off into them runs past them, all but unused. Repair them and keep the sluices open, and all will blossom again.
III. The great purpose of this strength.
‘Patience and longsuffering with joyfulness’ seems at first but a poor result of such a force, but it comes from a heart that was under no illusions as to the facts of human life, and it finds a response in us all. It may be difficult to discriminate ‘patience’ from ‘longsuffering,’ but the general notion here is that one of the highest uses for which divine strength is given to us, is to make us able to meet the antagonism of evil without its shaking our souls. He who patiently endures without despondency or the desire to ‘recompense evil for evil,’ and to whom by faith even ‘the night is light about him,’ is far on the way to perfection. God is always near us, but never nearer than when our hearts are heavy and our way rough and dark. Our sorrows make rents through which His strength flows. We can see more of heaven when the leaves are off the trees. It is a law of the Divine dealings that His strength is ‘made perfect in weakness.’ God leads us in to a darkened room to show us His wonders.
That strength is to be manifested by us in ‘patience and longsuffering,’ both of which are to have blended with them a real though apparently antagonistic joy. True and profound grief is not opposed to such patience, but the excess of it, the hopeless and hysterical outbursts certainly are. We are all like the figures in some old Greek temples which stand upright with their burdens on their heads. God’s strength is given that we may bear ours calmly, and upright like these fair forms that hold up the heavy architecture as if it were a feather, or like women with water-jars on their heads, which only make their carriage more graceful and their step more firm.
How different the patience which God gives by His own imparted strength, from the sullen submission or hysterical abandonment to sorrow, or the angry rebellion characterising Godless grief! Many of us think that we can get on very well in prosperity and fine weather without Him. We had better ask ourselves what we are going to do when the storm comes, which comes to all some time or other.
The word here rendered ‘patience’ is more properly ‘perseverance.’ It is not merely a passive but an active virtue. We do not receive that great gift of divine strength to bear only, but also to work, and such work is one of the best ways of bearing and one of the best helps to doing so. So in our sorrows and trials let us feel that God’s strength is not all given us to be expended in our own consolation, but also to be used in our plain duties. These remain as imperative though our hearts are beating like hammers, and there is no more unwise and cowardly surrender to trouble than to fling away our tools and fold our hands idly on our laps.
But Paul lays a harder duty on us even in promising a great gift to us, when he puts before us an ideal of joy mingling with patience and longsuffering. The command would be an impossible one if there were not the assurance that we should be ‘strengthened with all might.’ We plainly need an infusion of diviner strength than our own, if that strange marriage of joy and sorrow should take place, and they should at once occupy our hearts. Yet if His strength be ours we shall be strong to submit and acquiesce, strong to look deep enough to see His will as the foundation of all and as ever busy for our good, strong to hope, strong to discern the love at work, strong to trust the Father even when He chastens. And all this will make it possible to have the paradox practically realised in our own experience, ‘As sorrowful yet always rejoicing.’ One has seen potassium burning underwater. Our joy may burn under waves of sorrow. Let us bring our weakness to Jesus Christ and grasp Him as did the sinking Peter. He will breathe His own grace into us, and speak to our feeble and perchance sorrowful hearts, as He had done long before Paul’s words to the Colossians, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee, and my strength is made perfect in weakness.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Strengthened. Greek. dunamoo. Only here. Compare App-172.
with. App-104.
might. App-172.
according to. App-104.,
His glorious power, Literally the might (App-172.) of His glory. See Eph 1:19.
with. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
11.] (corresponding to … above) in (not instrumental (Mey.), but betokening the element: all these, , are subjective, not objective. The instrument of this strength comes in below) all (departments of every kind of) strength being strengthened according to (in pursuance of, as might be expected from, reff.) the power of His glory (beware of the hendiadys, his glorious power, into which E. V. has fallen here: the attribute of His glorious majesty here brought out is its (see Eph 1:19, note), the power which it has thus to strengthen. In the very similar expression Eph 3:16, it was the , the exuberant abundance of the same, from which as an inexhaustible treasure our strength is to come) to (so as to produce in you, so that ye may attain to) all patient endurance (not only in tribulations, but generally in the life of the Spirit. Endurance is the result of the union of outward and inward strength) and long-suffering (not only towards your enemies or persecutors, but also in the conflict with error, which is more in question in this Epistle. Chrys.s distinction, , though in the main correct, must not be closely pressed: see (Mey.) Heb 12:2-3) with joy (Mey. argues that these words must be joined, as Chr., (c., Thl., Est., al., with ., because in the other clauses the participles were preceded by these prepositional qualifications. But this can hardly be pressed, in the frequent disregard of such close parallelism by our Apostle, and seeing that . does in fact take up again , which if attached to it is flat and unmeaning: and as De Wette says, by joining . to ., we lose the essential idea of joyful endurance,-and the beautiful train of thought, that joyfulness in suffering expresses itself in thankfulness to God. And so Luth., B.-Crus., Olsh., Eadie, al.), giving thanks to the Father (the connexion is not, as Chr., Thl., Calov., Calv., al., with , the subject being we, Paul and Timothy,-but with the last words (see above), and the subjects are you,- , viz. of our Lord Jesus Christ: see reff.) who made (historical-by His gift of the Spirit through His Son) us (Christians) capable (not, worthy, as Est. after the Vulg.) for the share (participation) of the inheritance of the saints in the light (it is much disputed with what is to be joined. Mey., after Chr., c., Thl., &c., regards it as instrumental-as the means of the which has been mentioned. But this seems unnatural, both in sense, and in the position of the words, in which it stands too far from . to be its qualifying clause. It connects much more naturally with , or perhaps better still with the whole, . ., giving as the region in which the inheritance of the saints, and consequently our share in it, is situated. This seems supported by the usage of in Act 8:21, -cf. also , ib. Act 26:18. And so Thdrt., al., De W., Eadie, al.-Grot., al., would take with : against this the omission of the article is not decisive: but it does not seem so natural, as giving too great prominence to as the of the inheritance, and not enough to the inheritance itself. The question as to whether he is speaking of a present inheritance, or the future glory of heaven, seems best answered by Chrys., . . . The inheritance is begun here, and the meet-ness conferred, in gradual sanctification: but completed hereafter. We are here: cf. Rom 13:12-13; 1Th 5:5; Eph 5:8; 1Pe 2:9 al.):
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Col 1:11. , with might) Eph 1:19; Eph 3:16; Eph 6:10.-, the power of His glory [Engl. Vers. His glorious power]) Rom 6:4.-, long-suffering) Eph 4:2.- , with joy) Col 1:24.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Col 1:11
Col 1:11
strengthened with all power,-As one learns more of the truth and walks more faithfully in it, he is strengthened by the might of God. This strength from God comes through knowing and doing the will of God. Jesus said: If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (Joh 14:23). For the Father and Son to abide with him is to make him strong.
according to the might of his glory,-This strikes one as unusual, but elsewhere says: Our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory. (2Co 4:17).
unto all patience and long-suffering with joy;-The strength that God gives by his glorious power is strength to be patient, to suffer long with joyfulness. The one made strong by God is able to withstand temptations and trials and sufferings with patience and joyfulness. [The ground of such joy is given by the apostle in these words: Insomuch as ye are partakers of Christs sufferings, rejoice; that at the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice with exceeding joy. (1Pe 4:13). This enabled the Christians to meet all their trials with a buoyant sense of mastery. Paul and Silas illustrated this at Philippi when, after having been beaten and thrust into prison, they sang praises unto God. (Act 16:22-25). The possession of such power would render the Colossians impregnable against the follies and sinfulness of the false teachers.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Strengthened: Isa 45:24, 2Co 12:9, Eph 3:16, Eph 6:10, Phi 4:13
his: Exo 15:6, Psa 63:2, Act 1:8, 2Co 4:7, Jud 1:25
unto: Pro 24:10, Act 5:41, Rom 2:7, Rom 5:3-5, 2Co 6:4-6, 2Co 12:9, 2Co 12:10, Eph 4:2, 1Th 3:3, 1Th 3:4, 2Ti 2:1-3, Heb 10:34-38, Heb 11:34-38, Heb 12:1, Heb 12:2, Jam 1:2-4, Jam 5:7, Jam 5:8, 2Pe 1:6, Rev 14:12
Reciprocal: Gen 49:24 – his bow Deu 11:8 – that ye may Deu 33:25 – and as thy 2Sa 22:40 – girded 1Ch 29:12 – give strength Psa 18:1 – my Psa 27:14 – and Psa 31:24 – shall Psa 37:39 – strength Psa 68:35 – he that giveth Psa 86:16 – give Psa 138:3 – strengthenedst Pro 24:5 – increaseth strength Isa 40:29 – General Isa 55:12 – ye shall Dan 10:18 – he Hab 3:19 – my strength Joh 5:19 – and Rom 6:4 – by the Rom 8:25 – with patience Rom 12:12 – patient Rom 14:17 – peace 1Co 13:4 – suffereth 1Co 16:13 – be 2Co 6:6 – knowledge Eph 5:20 – thanks 2Ti 1:8 – according Heb 10:36 – ye have Jam 1:3 – patience 1Jo 2:14 – because ye are Rev 2:3 – hast patience Rev 13:10 – Here
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
(Col 1:11.) The first clause, though its purpose is designated by the following , has a close connection with the preceding. It describes that peculiar spiritual condition in which believers bring forth fruit, and grow, and thus walk worthy of Christ. The power is not indigenous; the fertility is not the outburst of innate and essential vitality. It comes from imparted strength-the might of God lodged within us. As His own nature is for ever outworking in ceaseless acts of beneficence, so His strength, lodged in a believer, loses not its original and distinctive energy.
. This verb occurs only here in the New Testament, though it is found in the Septuagint as the representative of two Hebrew verbs, Psa 68:29; Ecc 10:10. Neither does it occur in the classical, though it is used by the ecclesiastical writers. The common form in the New Testament is . The use of the correlate noun and participle intensifies the meaning. The apostle refers to the impartation of the Divine strength to believers. Fallen humanity is feeble, but rises under this gift into prowess and majesty. The semblance of moral omnipotence is communicated to it, and it easily surmounts frailty, pain, sorrow, and death, for the apostle a fourth time employs . Php 4:13. And the measure of this gift is-
-according to the might of His glory, that is, the might which is characteristic of His glory. Retaining with Meyer and others the full force of the syntax, we cannot, with Luther, Junker, Beza, Storr, Flatt, Bhr, and Davenant, resolve the idiom thus-His glorious or highest might; nor can we with Bhmer make the clause mean-that might which is His glory; nor can we with Grotius and Valpy identify with the of Eph 1:19; nor, finally, can we with Thomas Aquinas and Peter Lombard understand by His glory His Son Christ Jesus. The glory of God possesses a peculiar might, and that might is not love simply, as Huther imagines. [Eph 1:19.] If we survey the glory of God in creation, the immensity of its architectural power overwhelms us; or in providence, its exhaustless and versatile energy perplexes us; or in redemption, its moral achievements delight and amaze us. If the spiritual strength given to believers be after the measure of the might of this glory, with what courage and ability shall they be armed? Will they not, with so much of God in them, realize the God-like in spiritual heroism, so as to resist evil, overcome temptation, banish fear, surmount difficulties, embrace opportunities of well-doing, obtain victory over death, and prove that they are able to rise above everything before which unaided humanity sinks and succumbs. Strengthened-
-in order to all patience and long-suffering. These two nouns have been variously distinguished. The early definition of Chrysostom is fanciful- , -Long-suffering is exercised toward those whom we can punish, patience toward those whom we are unable to punish, wherefore he adds, patience is never ascribed to God, but long-suffering often. Others refer the first noun to feeling under what God sends; and the second, to feeling under what man inflicts. A third class understand by the one term the state of temper under difficulties; and, by the other, mental calmness under suffering. But, not to notice other varieties of opinion, we incline to give the words a more extended signification than to resignation, or quietness under injury. Both of them and their correspondent verbs are used not simply in reference to the pressure of present evil, but also to the prospect of coming deliverance, and as adjuncts or qualities of faith, or the life of faith. The following examples may suffice:-Bring forth fruit, , Luk 8:15; Possess ye your souls, ., Luk 21:19; Well-doing, ., Rom 2:7; Let us run the race, ., Heb 12:1; or again, Heb 10:36, Ye have need of patience. The word in such places denotes that tenacity of spirit which still holds on, and perseveres, and waits God’s time for reward or dismissal. There is similar usage also of the second noun. Its verb is used to denote the same exercise of mind, Mat 18:26; Mat 18:29, Heb 6:15, Jam 5:7-8; and the substantive in Heb 6:12, 2Ti 4:2. There is no reference in this epistle either to persecution or to coming calamity. But believers in the present state are not perfect, they have not arrived at the ultimate goal. Impatience would lead to defection, and fretfulness to apostasy. There is rest set before them, but they have not reached it; hopes held out, but their fruition has not come. It is more trying to virtue to bear than to act: or, as a-Lapide says, fortia agere Romanum est, aiebat Scaevola, sed fortia pati Christianum est. Now, Christians are apt to faint under such discouragements, to lose heart and despond. Therefore do they need patience and long-mindedness; and because these graces dwell not in their unassisted nature, the apostle prays that the strength of God be for this purpose imparted to them. Even in their beneficent fruitfulness there may be a long and trying process ere the result be witnessed. In the midst of apparent anomaly and contradiction, with so much to distress and disappoint, so much to try and provoke, so much to tempt a prayer for the immediate substitution of sight for faith, there is surely great necessity for perseverance and unruffled equanimity; and because temper fails under such irritation, as it did with Moses and Elisha, and there are dark and inconsistent questionings and surmises, as if He were slack concerning His promise, a higher power is vouchsafed, even the strength of Him whose patience and long-suffering transcend all measurement and description. And thus all patience and long-suffering are possessed, and for a fifth time, in the fulness of his heart, the apostle writes . As the Colossian church was pestered with insidious errorists, whose speculations might occasionally perplex and confound them, immobility was the more requisite for them; and such, therefore, is the apostle’s supplication in common with the sentiment of the prophet-In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.& r dquo;
-with joy. A large number of expositors join these words to the following participle-. Of this opinion are Chrysostom, OEcumenius, and Theophylact, Estius, Bhmer, Huther, and Meyer, the Syriac version, and the editors Lachmann and Tischendorf. But we do not see any propriety in such a connection, for the participle carries the idea of joy along with it. The preposition, moreover, indicates a connection with the preceding nouns, or shows the concomitant of this imparted power; and therefore, with Luther, Grotius, Zanchius, Hyperius, Gomarus, De Wette, Bhr, Baumgarten-Crusius, Junker, Steiger, and Olshausen, we keep the words as they stand in the Received Text. This joy characterizes, or rather accompanies, as the preposition implies, the graces of patience and long-suffering. That peculiar position which necessitates the exercise of patience and long-suffering should not induce despondency, or cast a gloom over the heart as if it were inevitable fate, to be sullenly submitted to, but rather should there be joy that this Divine power is communicated, and that the mind is upborne in triumph, and enabled to hope and wait in quiet expectation. And there are abundant reasons of joy.
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Col 1:11. When used as distinguishing terms, might means strength or ability, and power means dominion or authority to use that ability. All authority in heaven and earth was given to Christ (Mat 28:18), and He gives his disciples the right to operate under that power; this is what will strengthen them in the service. The special meaning of patience in this passage is endurance or perseverance, and longsuffering refers to the un-resentful attitude of one’s mind while under difficulties.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Col 1:11. Strengthened with (lit., in) all strength. The noun is usually rendered power, but to do so here destroys the verbal correspondence which is found in the Greek. With all strength; by means of every form of strength imparted by God (Meyer). Some take in as pointing to the element in which the strengthening occurs, giving to strength a subjective sense. But the former view seems preferable.
According to the might of his glory; not, glorious power (E. V.). The word rendered might occurs in Eph 1:19, referring to power which manifests itself; here it is that might, which is the peculiar characteristic of His glory (Ellicott), and this is the measure (according to) of the strengthening which underlies a walk worthy of the Lord,
unto all patience and longsuffering. Toward these graces, in every form, the strengthening leads. Patience (patient endurance) endures meekly what cannot be changed; longsoffering bears with what might be avenged. Other distinctions have been made, but this is most satisfactory. To endure this, Divine strength is needed, especially to endure with joy, a characteristic of Christian patience; comp. Rom 5:3 -In such trials the Christian is glad, and certain of the victory of his cause, of his reward with God both in his own heart and in heaven (Braune). From early times, however, some have connected this phrase with the next verse, mainly on the ground of the parallelism of the structure of the clauses (in Greek). But the preposition with occurs here, instead of in (as in the other cases), pointing to an accompaniment,which would scarcely take the first place in a clause.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
In the former verses, prayer was offered up to God by St. Paul, to enable the Colossians to do his will, his whole will, acceptably; in this verse he pleads with God, to strengthen them with an almighty power to bear afflictions, the sharpest and longest afflictions, patiently and joyfully: Strengthened with all might, unto all patience with joyfulness.
Learn hence, 1. That the cross of Christ, or sufferings for Christ are unavoidable, but unsupportable; though they will shock an ordinary patience and constancy of mind, yet might, all might, power, glorious power, which is here prayed for us, and elsewhere promised to us, can and will enable us to stand under them! Glorious power will be victorious power.
Learn, 2. That patience, much patience, very much patience, yea, all patience is needful, nay, absolutely and indispensibly necessary, to enbale a Christian to bear some trials, and to glorify God in an afflicted condition. All patience, I say, is necessary in order to the cheerful bearing of afflictions, that is, patience at all times, patience under all crosses, patience, if possible, without any mixture of impatience; patience that may give a man the possession of himself, and quiet the whole man, the tongue, the hand, and the heart. Such measures and degrees of patience as will keep the heart from sinking, the tongue from complaining, the hend from revenging.
Lord! grant, that whenever any of thine are called forth to suffer either for thee, or for thine, they may be strengthened with all might, according to thy glorious power, unto all patience and long- suffering with joyfulness.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
ARGUMENT 3
GODS DYNAMITE
11. Being dynamited with all dynamite according to the power of his glory. Paul, in Rom 1:6, defines gospel the
dynamite of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Hence, this power (Greek, dynamite) is the only gospel. The trouble with the pulpit nowadays is the absence of the dynamite, which alone can blow sin out of the soul, and the devil out of the Church. Dynamite is like powder, but infinitely more so. The preachers are afraid to handle it, lest it blow their Churches all to pieces. They need not be afraid, for it can not blow out anything but sin, which is bound to come out, or the devil will get them. Some are willing to take the dynamite of conviction for sinners, and regeneration for penitents, but not willing to take the dynamite of sanctification for Christians. Shall we not walk in the footprints of Paul, and go for the entire bill of fare, and get the people dynamited with all dynamite? God forbid that we should leave out any of heavens dynamite! In so doing, we take an awful risk. Let us receive the dynamite of conviction, regeneration, and sanctification, and henceforth be true to our commission, do our utmost to get our people all dynamited with all dynamite.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 11
With all might; with all spiritual strength.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
“Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;”
We don’t want to speak of patience and longsuffering do we? We tend to ignore that sort of thing until we have to confront it.
We are strengthened unto all patience – not by our own power, but by HIS!
Longsuffering – what do you think this is? I used to think that trials were only for a time and then we would be “THERE” and not have any more trials – not quite how it works.
Longsuffering is bad enough, but we are to do it with joyfulness! That is hard at times. I can suffer with the best of them, but I like everyone around to know I’m suffering.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
1:11 {3} Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with {g} joyfulness;
(3) The gift of continuance is not from us, but it proceeds from the power of God, which he freely gives us.
(g) It must not be unwilling, and as it were drawn out of us by force, but proceed from a merry and joyful mind.