Fathers

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What the Fathers say

Colossians 1:1

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

"Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God." It were well also to say, what from considering this Epistle we have found to be its occasion and subject. What then is it? They used to approach God through angels; they held many Jewish and Grecian observances. These things then he is correcting. Wherefore in the very outset he says, "Through the will of God." So here again he hath used the expression "through." "And Timothy the brother," he saith; of course then he too was an Apostle, and probably also known to them. …

Homily on Colossians 1 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

Immediately and from the very beginning he imperceptibly refutes their way of thinking. For he is an apostle not of angels, but of Jesus Christ, and the will of God is that he is an apostle of that Christ, and not of angels. So if I am an apostle "by the will of God," then it is clear that I preach the truth. What then? That through the Son we have been brought to God, that we have been freed from Jewish and Greek observances. And notice, the preposition "by" (δια) is placed before the word θεός, which signified God the Father. …

Commentary on Colossians ↗

Western Saints

Thomas Aquinas

This letter is divided into its greeting and its message (1:3). First, the persons sending the letter are mentioned; then, the ones to whom it is sent (1:2); and thirdly, the good things desired for the latter (1:2b). As to the first, the principal sender is mentioned; and secondly, his companion. …

Commentary on Colossians ↗