Colossians 1:20

Colossians 1:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
• New International Version (NIV)and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
• English Standard Version (ESV)and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
• New King James Version (NKJV)and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

Context of Colossians 1:20

18The church is like Christ's body and he is its head. He is where it all begins. As God's special Son, he was the first person who became alive again after death. As a result, Christ is first and most important in all things. 19God chose to put his nature in Christ completely. He decided that Christ would die on the cross as a sacrifice. In that way, God would bring all things back to himself. Then everything could live in peace with God. That includes everything on the earth and everything in heaven. 21As for you, you were far away from God at one time. You thought bad things and you did bad things. As a result, you were God's enemies. 22But now you have become God's friends. This happened because Christ's human body died on the cross. As a result, God has brought you to himself. As you stand in front of him, you are completely good and clean inside. He sees nothing in you that is bad.

Colossians 1:20 word by word

καὶ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ ἀποκαταλλάξαι τὰ πάντα εἰς αὐτόν, εἰρηνοποιήσας διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτοῦ, δι᾽ αὐτοῦ εἴτε τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς εἴτε τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• having made peaceεἰρηνοποιέωeirēnopoieō · to make peaceG1517
• throughδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
• the bloodαἷμαaima · bloodG129
• of hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• crossσταυρόςstauros · crossG4716
• to reconcileἀποκαταλλάσσωapokatallassō · to reconcileG604
• all thingsπᾶςpas · allG3956
• untoεἰςeis · towardG1519
• whetherεἴτεeite · whetherG1535
• inἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
• earthγῆgē · earth: planetG1093
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• heavenοὐρανόςouranos · heavenG3772

Cross-references for Colossians 1:20

• Colossians 1:21As for you, you were far away from God at one time. You thought bad things and you did bad things. As a result, you were God's enemies.
• Leviticus 6:30They must take the blood of a sin offering into the Tent of Meeting. It is a sacrifice to atone for sin. Nobody should eat any of that offering. The priest must burn it.
• Psalms 85:10God will be faithful to us and he will love us with his faithful love. His justice and his peace will join together, like dear friends.
• Isaiah 9:6Yes, your people are happy! A child has been born for us. We now have a son with the authority to rule. His names will be: Wonderful Advisor, Mighty God, Father for Ever, Ruler who brings Peace.
• Ezekiel 45:17The ruler must provide the animals for the burnt offerings. He must provide the grain for the grain offerings and the wine for the wine offerings. He must provide these things for the holy festivals that I have chosen for Israel's people. Those include feasts for the new moon and for the Sabbath days. He must provide these things for the sin offerings, the grain offerings, the burnt offerings and the friendship offerings. They will cause me to forgive the sins of Israel's people.
• Daniel 9:24God has decided the time of punishment for your people and your holy city. It will continue for 70 weeks. That will finish the punishment for their sins. The people will no longer turn against God. They will have paid the price for their sins. God will cause them to live for ever in a way that is right. God will show that the visions and messages of the prophets are true. The Most Holy Place will belong to God again.
• Micah 5:2But God tells us this: ‘Bethlehem Ephrathah is only a little town, among all the many towns in Judah,’ God says. ‘But I will choose someone who is born there. He will rule Israel for me. Long, long ago, I prepared for him to come.’
• Zechariah 9:9Sing loudly, people in Zion. Shout, people in Jerusalem. Look! Your king comes to you. He will save you because he does everything well. But he is quiet and he is riding on a donkey. He will ride on a young animal. Its mother is a donkey.
• Luke 2:14‘God is great! He lives in the highest place above. He will bless the people on earth who please him. They will have peace in their minds.’
• Acts 10:30Then Cornelius said, ‘Three days ago, I was in my house at this time of the day. It was three o'clock in the afternoon and I was praying to God. Suddenly, a man appeared and he stood in front of me. He was wearing bright clothes that shone.
• Romans 5:1So we see that God has accepted us as right because we believe in him. As a result, we are friends with God, because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us.
• 2 Corinthians 5:19God's message is this: By Christ's death, God was bringing people of the world back to himself, as his friends. He would no longer keep their sins in his thoughts. This is the message that God wants us to tell people.
• Ephesians 2:13You were far away from God. But now, God has brought you near to himself, because you belong to Christ Jesus. That is possible because of Christ's death on the cross as a sacrifice.
• Hebrews 13:20I pray that God will help you. He is the one who gives us peace in our minds. He caused our Lord Jesus Christ to become alive again after death. God forgives us because of the blood of Jesus' death on the cross. That is God's new agreement with his people that will be true for ever. Jesus is our great shepherd. He takes care of us like his sheep.
• 1 John 4:9This is how God showed that he loves us: He sent his only Son to come and live in the world. He did that so that we could have true life with God because of his Son.
• 2 Corinthians 5:18All this is what God does for us. Because of what Christ has done, God has brought us back to himself, as his friends. Now he wants us to bring other people to be his friends too. That is the job that he has given to us.

Commentaries on Colossians 1:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20And, having made peace through the blood of his cross - Peace between God and man; for man being in a sinful state, and there being no peace to the wicked, it required a reconciliation to be made to restore peace between heaven and earth; but peace could not be made without an atonement for sin, and the consequence shows that the blood of Christ shed on the cross was necessary to make this atonement. To reconcile all things unto himself - The enmity was…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20And having made peace - Margin, “making.” The Greek will bear either. The meaning is, that by his atonement he produces reconciliation between those who were alienated from each other; see the notes at Ephesians 2:14. It does not mean here that he had actually effected peace by his death, but that he had laid the foundation for it; he had done that which would secure it. By the blood of his cross - By his blood shed on the cross. That blood, making…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-23Verses 15-23 Christ in his human nature, is the visible discovery of the invisible God, and he that hath seen Him hath seen the Father. Let us adore these mysteries in humble faith, and behold the glory of the Lord in Christ Jesus. He was born or begotten before all the creation, before any creature was made; which is the Scripture way of representing eternity, and by which the eternity of God is represented to us. All things being created by Him, were…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20Through Jesus Christ, God has made peace with everything. He has restored his control over all creation, in the spiritual places and on earth.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. The Greek order is, "And through Him (Christ) to reconcile again completely (see on Ep 2:16) all things (Greek, 'the whole universe of things') unto Himself (unto God the Father, 2Co 5:19), having made peace (God the Father having made peace) through the blood of His (Christ's) cross," that is, shed by Christ on the cross: the price and pledge of our reconciliation with God. The Scripture phrase, "God reconciles man to Himself," implies that He takes…Read the comment

Topics related to Colossians 1:20

• Atonement
• Blood
• Cross
• Jesus, the Christ
• Peace
• Propitiation
• Reconciliation
• Redemption
• Salvation

In the dictionaries

• Consist
• Darkness
• Dominion
• Ephesians, Epistle to
• Fill
• Mightily
• Philippians, Epistle to
• Reconcile
• Redemption
• Throne

Commentaries on Colossians 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings