in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.
Parallel Translations
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in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.
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in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
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In whom are hid all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to Colossians 2:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Corinthians 1:24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God;
- 1 Corinthians 1:30 Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:
- Romans 11:33 Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
- 1 Corinthians 2:6-8 We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown, yet a wisdom not of this world nor of the rulers of this world who are coming to nothing. But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds for our glory, which none of the rulers of this world has known. For had they known it, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory.
- 2 Timothy 3:15-17 From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
- Ephesians 3:9-10 and to make all men see what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ, to the intent that now through the assembly the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places,
- Colossians 1:9 For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
- Matthew 10:26 Therefore don’t be afraid of them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed; and hidden that will not be known.
- Ephesians 1:8 which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
- Proverbs 2:4 if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:
- Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
- Job 28:21 Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky.
- Revelation 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.
- Colossians 1:19 For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him,
- Colossians 3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
- Isaiah 11:2 Yahweh’s Spirit will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 3. In whom are all the treasures. The expression…
3. In whom are all the treasures. The expression in quo (in whom, or in which) may either have a reference collectively to everything he has said as to the acknowledgment of the mystery, or it may relate simply to what came immediately before, namely, Christ. While there is not much difference between the one or the other, I rather prefer the latter view, and it is the one that is more generally received. The meaning, therefore, is, that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in Christ — by which he means, that we are perfect in wisdom if we truly know Christ, so that it is madness to wish to know anything besides Him. For since the Father has manifested himself wholly in Him, that man wishes to be wise apart from God, who is not contented with Christ alone. Should any one choose to interpret it as referring to the mystery, the meaning will be, that all the wisdom of the pious is included in the gospel, by means of which God is revealed to us in his Son.
He says, however, that the treasures are hidden, because they are not seen glittering with great splendor, but do rather, as it were, lie hid under the contemptible abasement and simplicity of the cross. For the preaching of the cross is always foolishness to the world, as we found stated in Corinthians. (1 Corinthians 1:18.) I do not reckon that there is any great difference between wisdom and understanding in this passage, for the employment of two different terms serves only to give additional strength, as though he had said, that no knowledge, erudition, learning, wisdom, can be found elsewhere.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain There is no true wisdom without Christ.
There is no true wisdom without Christ.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 3 In whom are hid all the treasures of…
3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Ver. 3. In whom are hid] What so great a matter is it then if we be obscured, and our good parts not so noticed? Usque adeone scire tuum nihil est? (Pers.) Christ was content his treasures should be hidden. In maxima sui mole se minimum ostendunt stellae.
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All the treasures of wisdom] Out of Christ then there is no true wisdom or solid comfort to be found. "The depth saith, It is not in me, and the sea saith, It is not with me," Job 28:14. The world’s wizards cannot help us to it, Jer 8:9. Nescio quomodo imbecillior est medicina quam morbus, saith Cicero concerning all philosophical comforts: The medicine is too weak for the disease. And as for wisdom, that of the flesh serves the worldling (as the ostrich’s wings) to make him outrun others upon earth and in earthly things, but helps him never a whit toward heaven. Since the fall, every man hath principium laesum, his brain pin cracked (as to heavenly things), neither can he recover but by getting into Christ.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain In whom: this may relate eitter to the Divine…
In whom: this may relate eitter to the Divine mystery, wherein are in abundance all necessary doctrines to consolation and salvation stored up, respecting the foregoing verse; compare 1Co 2:7; Eph 3:3,4; in opposition to the vain show of wisdom seducers did boast of; or, (as the most ancient and modern take it), to Christ, the immediate antecedent: in whom, ( as we render it), i.e. in Christ, considered either:
1. As the object, which being rightly known, we may have all wisdom and perfect knowledge to salvation: he speaks not here of all that Christ knoweth, he reveals not all that in the gospel to us, but what we must know of him that we may be saved. Or:
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2. As the subject, because all the treasures of wisdom in order to salvation, are not only known and found out in Christ, but also are hid, do dwell and abide in him as the fountain, what he can give to us for our consolation and perfection.
It had been little pertinent for Paul to have said that all these deep things of God {1Co 2:10} were known to our Lord; but that they are found in him, do dwell in him, are all stored up, displayed, and set forth in him, to be seen through the veil, that is to say his flesh, Heb 10:20, or the infirmity of his cross. The series of the apostle’s discourse, comparing Col 2:8,9, shows it to be thus understood of Christ as the subject and fountain of all saving wisdom, in opposition to the comments of human wisdom which the false doctors did boast of. Continuing the metaphor, he shows from what fund the treasures of saving knowledge may be drawn: by treasures intimating the excellency and abundance thereof; there was some store in the tabernacle of Moses, but very small compared to the abundance certainly to be found in Christ, all else of no worth to the excellency of the knowledge of Christ for consolation, Col 2:2; Phi 3:8; things to be believed and practised are, by way of eminency, Christian wisdom and knowledge. The treasures of which, how and when hid, is to be well considered, because in our translation, and in almost all others, the Greek word we render hid is by trajection put next to the relative whom, whereas it is indeed in the original the last word in the verse, and seems to be expressive rather of what was hid before Christ than what is hid in him. For, as a learned man saith, hidden treasures, as such, seem to be like hidden music, of no regard; or like the hidden talent, Luk 19:20. It not being so easy to think that the apostle in this Epistle teaches, that the secrets which had lain hid from the wise men of the world in the ages past, now were made bare, brought into light, and made known even to babes by Christ, Col 1:26,27, with Luk 10:21; and having just before, Col 2:2, spoken of the understanding and acknowledgment of the mystery of the Father and the Son, what should the riches of glory to the knowledge of the mystery be, but the treasures of wisdom now revealed, heretofore hid, of which continuedly a little after he says that all the fulness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily, i.e. personally, not in a shadow, as it were hid in a cloud, but in flesh that may be really seen and touched? So that it shonld seem best to retain hid as it is placed in the Greek, to this sense; q.d. In Christ are, and dwell in the greatest fulness, all the treasures of wisdom, hid under the law, which are therefore called a mystery, secret, or hidden thing from ages and generations, Col 1:26,27, now made manifest to his saints, they are now not hid in Christ, but made known amongst the Gentiles as God willed. Not then hidden riches, i.e. treasures of wisdom and knowledge of this mystery as of hid treasure, but out of Christ, and before Christ amongst the Jews: for Christ himself is that mystery Col 4:3, not hid after his appearance, but manifested, and manifesting the Father, Joh 1:18. However, if any will rather choose to read, as if in Christ were at present hid all treasures, it is to be understood, stored up, not exposed to the view of every eye, being as in a rich cabinet, not to keep them from being known to men, but rather to make them more precious and desirable. For Christ came when sent of his Father to spread this heavenly wealth. He is the Sun of righteousness, Joh 1:9; the unbelieving must thank themselves if, where he is truly preached, he be hid to them, and his arm be revealed but to a few, Isa 53:1; 2Co 4:3,4; it is their own blinding that they do not savingly discern what is displayed in Christ. Wherefore both may be true in divers respects:
1. Consider the thing in itself, objectively; so treasures of wisdom are evidently laid up in Jesus Christ, and manifested upon his appearance, 1Ti 3:16; Tit 2:11. But:
2. With respect to the eyes and perceptions of men, subjectively, as naturally obscured and corrupted by sin; so natural men, or mere animal men, perceive not in Christ the riches of wisdom and knowledge which are in him as our Mediator, when they look upon him as having no beauty or comeliness for which they should desire him, Isa 53:2; he, as crucified, being to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Gentiles foolishness, when he is to those of them who are called, the power of God, and the wisdom of God, 1Co 1:23,24. The Lutherans’ inference hence, that omnisciency agrees to Christ’s human nature, is altogether inconsequent; both (as before) because the apostle’s business here is not to acquaint us what Christ himself knoweth, but what is to be known by us, which may be found treasured up in him.
Treasures here in him not being considered absolutely, but comparatively to all the knowledge of men and angels. Yet, from a supposal of an infinite knowledge in Christ, who is God-man in one person, it followeth not that the soul of his human nature knoweth all things.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain That is, in Jesus Christ, and in his gospel,…
That is, in Jesus Christ, and in his gospel, are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, laid up as in a store-house, and from thence are they only to be expected and derived. The knowledge of Christ and his gospel is an extensive and comprehensive knowledge, a rich and enriching knowledge; the chiefest gain is loss, and the richest treasure is dung, when Christ’s riches are displayed; and after all that we have or can attain unto, of the knowledge of Christ, his works is unsearchable, no finite understanding can reach the depth thereof; for in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom…
In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. This may be understood either of the mystery of the Gospel, which contains the rich mines and hidden treasures of all divine truths; so called, because of the richness and intrinsic value and excellency of them; and because of their variety and abundance, being the unsearchable riches of Christ: or of Christ himself; and not so much of his personal wisdom, either as God, being the all-wise God, the wisdom of God, an omniscient Being, that knows all persons and things whatever, within the whole circle of wisdom and knowledge; or as man, whose wisdom and knowledge, though created, was very large and abundant; or as Mediator, on whom the spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and of knowledge, rests; but of that fulness of truth as well as grace, which dwells in him as in its subject and fountain; by whom it comes, and from whom it is derived unto us; and our highest wisdom and knowledge lies in knowing him, whom to know is life eternal; and the excellency of whose knowledge surpasses everything else; it is the greatest riches, and most valuable treasure; nor is there anything worth knowing but what is in Christ, all is laid up in him: and being said to be "hid" in him, shows the excellency of the wisdom and knowledge that is in him only valuable things being hid, or compared to hid treasure; that this cannot be had without knowing him; that it is imperfect in the present state, and is not yet fully and clearly revealed; and therefore should be inquired after, and searched for, and Christ should be applied unto for it: , "treasures of wisdom", is a phrase used by the Targumist (q),
(q) Jonathan ben Uzziel in Exod. xl. 4.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. In whom are hid] Or rather in…
Verse 3. In whom are hid] Or rather in which; referring to the mystery mentioned above. In this glorious scheme of Christianity all the treasures-the abundance and excellency, of wisdom and knowledge are contained. No scheme of salvation, or Divine knowledge, ever equalled in its depth and excellency the Gospel plan. A scheme which the wisdom of God alone could devise, and which his power and infinite mercy alone could accomplish.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain In whom - Margin, “wherein.” The more correct translation…
In whom - Margin, “wherein.” The more correct translation is “in whom.” The reference is doubtless to Christ, as his name is the immediate antecedent, and as what is affirmed here properly appertains to him.
Are hid - Like treasures that are concealed or garnered up. It does not mean that none of those “treasures” had been developed; but that, so to speak, Christ, as Mediator, was the great treasure-house where were to be found all the wisdom and knowledge needful for people.
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All the treasures - It is common to compare any thing valuable with “treasures” of silver or gold. The idea here is, that in reference to the wisdom and knowledge needful for us, Christ is what abundant treasures are in reference to the supply of our wants.
Wisdom - The wisdom needful for our salvation. Notes, 1Co 1:24.
And knowledge - The knowledge which is requisite to guide us in the way to life. Christ is able to instruct us in all that it is desirable for us to know, so that it is not necessary for us to apply to philosophy, or to the teachings of human beings.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Translate in the Greek order, "In whom (not as…
Translate in the Greek order, "In whom (not as ALFORD, 'in which') mystery; Christ is Himself the 'mystery' (Col 2:2; Ti1 3:16), and to Christ the relative refers) are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden." The "all" here, answers to "all" in Col 2:2; as "treasures" answer to the "riches"; it is from the treasures that the riches (Col 2:2) are derived. "Are" is the predicate of the sentence; all the treasures ARE in Him; hidden is predicated of the state or manner in which they are in Him. Like a mine of unknown and inexhaustible wealth, the treasures of wisdom are all in Him hidden, but not in order to remain so; they only need to be explored for you to attain "unto the riches" in them (Col 2:2); but until you, Colossians, press after attaining the full knowledge (see on Col 2:2) of them, they remain "hidden." Compare the parable, Mat 13:44, "treasure hid." This sense suits the scope of the apostle, and sets aside ALFORD'S objection that "the treasures are not hidden, but revealed." "Hidden" plainly answers to "mystery" (Col 2:2), which is designed by God, if we be faithful to our privileges, not to remain hidden, but to be revealed (compare Co1 2:7-8). Still as the mine is unfathomable, there will, through eternity, be always fresh treasures in Him to be drawn forth from their hidden state.
wisdom--general, and as to experimental and practical truth; whence comes "understanding" (Col 2:2).
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knowledge--special and intellectual, in regard to doctrinal truth; whence comes "the full knowledge" (Col 2:2).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. In whom—Christ, the revealer of God and the…
3. In whom—Christ, the revealer of God and the truths relating to him. They are in him, hid, until revealed. The great questions of human thought of all the ages centre here, and only in Christ is their solution possible.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. in whom] Christ, the Secret of God, is…
3. in whom] Christ, the Secret of God, is now characterized as such; the Secret is—Christ as the Treasury of wisdom and knowledge.
are hid &c.] Better, regarding the order of the Greek, in whom are all the treasures, &c., hidden (there). The thought that they are “hidden” is emphasized.—See below, note on “wisdom &c.”
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all] So that He is absolutely sufficient, and supposed supplies from elsewhere are a delusion. So “all riches” just above; and Col_1:19.
the treasures] A rich (and frequent) plural.
wisdom and knowledge] Words recurring together Rom_11:33; 1Co_12:8. In such a passage they are scarcely perhaps to be minutely distinguished[82] (as they must be in 1 Corinthians 12); they blend into the one idea of the resources of the Divine Mind. For surely here, as in Romans 11 (a near parallel), it is the wisdom and knowledge of God which are in view; a point not noticed by Ellicott, Alford, or Lightfoot. (There is doubtless a reflected reference here to human speculation, exercised upon the treasures of Divine thought.)
[82] Where wisdom (sophia) and knowledge (gnôsis) have to be distinguished, the essential difference appears to be that sophia is a moral-mental term, gnôsis a term purely mental, or rather one which fixes attention on the cognition of truth simply as such. Conceivably, the man of “knowledge” may stop with a mere sight of truth; the man of “wisdom” reflects upon it, receives it, in a way affecting character and action. The words “wise.” “wisdom”, in the Greek, are thus “never in Scripture ascribed to other than God or good men, except in an ironical sense” (Trench, N.T. Synonyms, 2nd Series).
The treasures of this Divine “wisdom and knowledge” are in Christ “hiddenly” (Ellicott), inasmuch as they are (a) to be found in Him alone, (b) to be found therefore only by entrance into Him, (c) never, even so, to be “found out unto perfection.”—The Greek word, as Lightfoot shews, is in all likelihood borrowed from the heretical vocabulary, and transfigured. The embryo “Gnostic” of St Paul’s days probably, as his successors certainly, gloried in an alleged possession of inner, esoteric, secrets of being and of knowing, treasured in books thence called apocryphal (secret, hidden); a word identical with the Greek adjective here (apocruphoi). (So that, in the Fathers, by “apocryphal” books are not meant the Jewish religious books we commonly call so, but the “secret” literature of the heretical sects.)
Christ is thus the glorious “Apocrypha” (if we may dare to say so) of the Christian; our “esoteric wisdom” is only an ever-deepening insight into Him revealed.—“Jesus Christ is a great Book. He who can indeed study Him in the word of God will know all he ought to know. Humility opens this Divine Book, faith reads in it, love learns from it” (Quesnel).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) In whom are hid all the treasures.—The order…
(3) In whom are hid all the treasures.—The order of the original is curious: “in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, as hidden treasures.” The word “hidden” (apocryphi) is an almost technical word for secret teaching given only to the initiated; used originally as a term of honour (as the participle of the kindred verb is used in 1Co_2:7-8, “the wisdom of God in mystery, even the hidden wisdom . . . which none of the princes of this world knew”), afterwards, from the character of these “apocryphal” books, coming to signify spurious and heretical. St. Paul evidently takes up here a word, used by the pretenders to a special and abstruse knowledge, and applies it to the “heavenly things” which He alone knows “who is in heaven” (Joh_3:12-13). From our full comprehension they are hidden; if ever we know them, it will not be till “we know even as we are known.” But the previous words show that we can have full practical apprehension of them by our knowledge of Christ, who knows them—a knowledge begun in faith, and perfected chiefly in love.
Wisdom and knowledge.—Comp. Rom_11:33 and 1Co_12:8 (“the word of wisdom” . . . “the word of knowledge”). On the true sense of “wisdom” and its relation to other less perfect gifts, as “prudence,” “intelligence,” “knowledge,” see Note on Eph_1:8. “Knowledge” is clearly the development of wisdom in spiritual perception, as “intelligence” in testing and harmonising such perception, and “prudence” in making them, so tested, the guide of life. The word “knowledge” (gnosis) was the word which, certainly afterwards, probably even then, was the watchword of “Gnosticism”—the unbridled and fantastic spirit of metaphysical and religious speculation then beginning to infest all Christian thought. It can hardly be accidental that St. Paul here, as elsewhere, subordinates it to the higher gift of wisdom.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain In whom (or, which) are all the treasures of…
In whom (or, which) are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden(ly) (Eph_1:8, 9 3:8; Rom_11:33; 1Co_1:5, 1Co_1:6, 30 2:7; 2Co_4:3) Bengel, Meyer, Alford, and others make the relative pronoun neuter, referring to "mystery;" but "Christ," the nearer antecedent, is preferable (vers. 9, 10; Col_1:16, Col_1:17, Col_1:19) In him the apostle finds what false teachers sought elsewhere, a satisfaction for the intellect as well as for the hearttreasures of wisdom and knowledge to enrich the understanding, and unsearchable mysteries to exercise the speculative reason. "Hidden" is, therefore, a secondary predicate: in whom are these treasures, as hidden treasures" (Ellicott, Lightfoot). (For a similar emphasis of position, compare "made complete," ver. 10, and "seated," (Col_3:1) Meyer and Alford, with the Vulgate, make "hidden" an attributive: "in whom are hidden treasures." Chrysostom and leading versions make it primary predicate: "in whom are hidden," etc., against the order of the words. This word also belongs to the dialect of the mystic theosophists (see note, (Col_1:27: comp. (1Co_2:6-16; Isa_45:3; Pro_2:1-11) (On "wisdom," see note, (Col_1:9) Knowledge (gnwsiv, not ejpignwsiv, ver. 2; (Col_1:9 Col_3:10; for this phrase is more comprehensive) is the more objective and purely intellectual side of wisdom (comp. Rom_11:33)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 3. In whom. In Christ all the treasures, etc.,…
3. In whom. In Christ all the treasures, etc., are hidden, and mysteries until revealed. The gospel reveals them and those in Christ know them.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:3 Paul builds on 1:15-20: Christ alone is sufficient…
2:3 Paul builds on 1:15-20: Christ alone is sufficient for our spiritual understanding.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.