This train of thought is introduced by: “for in him the entire fulness
of deity dwells bodily” (ὅτι
ἐν αὐτῷ κατοικεῖ πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς θεότητος σωματικῶς). This sentence is clearly an explanatory
repetition of 1:19: “for in him all the fulness was pleased to dwell” (ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ εὐδόκησεν πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα κατοικῆσαι). In both verses the term “fulness” (πλήρωμα) is reinforced by “entire, all” (πᾶν). However, the genitive “of deity” (τῆς θεότητος) more exactly determines “fulness” in
this verse. The term “deity” (θεότης) should be distinguished from “divine nature” (θειότης). The term “divine nature” (θειότης) describes the character of God,
divinity. The term “deity” (θεότης) describes the quality of being divine. Since the words “fulness” and
“to be filled” (πληροῦσθαι)
are stressed so emphatically, they must have been key concepts in the
“philosophy.” Where is the fulness to be found? And how does man attain and
participate in it so that he is suffused by divine power? Col answers these
questions with the polemical assertion: The entire fulness of deity dwells in
Christ. Therefore, only that person can be filled who belongs to this Lord—only
he who is in him, who has died with him, and has been raised to new life “with
Christ” (σὺν Χριστῷ). Under no circumstances whatsoever can
entrance to the “fulness” be attained by submissive worship of the “elements of
the universe” and fearful observance of their “regulations” (δόγματα). (Eduward Lohse, Colossians
and Philemon: A Commentary on the Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon [trans.
William R. Poehlmann and Robert J. Karris; Hermeneia—a Critical and Historical
Commentary on the Bible; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971], 99-100)
In n. 45 from
above:
The word “deity,” which is only used here in the NT, is frequently
attested in Hellenistic literature. Cf., e.g., Plutarch, Def. orac. 10 (p. 415b, c): “Even so from men into heroes and from
heroes into demigods better souls obtain their transmutation. But from the
demigods a few souls still, in the long reach of time, because of supreme
excellence, come, after being purified, to share completely in deity” (οὕτως ἐκ μὲν ἀνθρώπων εἰς ἥρωας, ἐκ δὲ ἡρώων εἰς δαίμονας αἱ βελτίονες ψυχαὶ τὴν μεταβολὴν λαμβάνουσιν. ἐκ δὲ δαιμόνων ὀλίγαι μὲν ἔτι χρόνῳ πολλῷ διʼ ἀρετῆς καθαρθεῖσαι παντάπασι θεότητος μετέσχον [Loeb modified]). Further evidence may be
found in Ethelbert Stauffer, TDNT 3,
119, and Bauer, s.v.
