independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)
The salutation 1:1–2
1
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy the brother,independent — the senders — a verbless superscription; apostleship by God's will, Timothy joined as brother
2
to the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:phrase modifier — dative of address — the recipients: in Colossae by geography, in Christ by identity
grace to you and peace from God our Father.independent — the greeting — from the Father alone, without the usual 'and the Lord Jesus Christ'
The thanksgiving — one sentence to Epaphras 1:3–8
vv. 3–5 — the report: faith and love, springing from hope
3
We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,independent — the sentence's one main verb — plural, with Timothy
always praying for you,participial — the setting — the thanks voiced within constant prayer
4
having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the loveparticipial — causal — the report (through Epaphras) that prompts the thanks
that you have for all the saints,relative — on τὴν ἀγάπην — love with the whole church in its scope
5
because of the hope laid up for you in the heavens,cause — διά + accusative — grounds the faith–love pair: hope, the triad's third member, is the root of the other two
which you heard of before in the word of the truth of the gospel,relative — on τὴν ἐλπίδα — προακούω: heard already, before the errorists arrived
vv. 6–8 — the gospel's career: worldwide and at Colossae, through Epaphras
6
which has come to you,participial — attributive — πάρειμι: the gospel arrived and stays
just as in all the world it is bearing fruit and growing,comparative — the quiet polemic — universal and fruitful (Gen 1:28 language), against a local novelty
as it also does among you,comparative — the comparison turned home — verbless: supply the periphrasis
from the day you heard and came to know the grace of God in truth,relative — temporal relative — fruitfulness dated to conversion; ἐπιγινώσκω, true knowledge against the errorists' kind
7
just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant,comparative — the knowing was a learning — Epaphras's instruction legitimated
who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,relative — the commendation — Christ's faithful διάκονος, deputized for them (ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν)
8
who also made clear to us your love in the Spirit.participial — substantival participle, coordinate with the ὅς-clause — the report returned; the letter's only mention of the Spirit
The prayer — filled, to walk worthily; thanks to the Father who transferred us 1:9–14
vv. 9–11 — the petition: knowledge for the sake of the walk
9
For this reason we also,independent — the subject suspended over its verb — thanksgiving turns to petition
from the day we heard,relative — temporal relative — Paul's 'day' answering theirs (v. 6)
do not cease praying for you and askingindependent — the main verb — litotes for constant prayer; the complementary participles fold petition inside prayer
that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,purpose — the petition's content — πληρόω, the fullness keyword (v. 19; 2:9–10); God does the filling
10
so as to walk worthily of the Lord, fully pleasing him,purpose — purpose infinitive — the knowledge is for walking; four participles of manner follow at one depth
bearing fruit in every good workparticipial — manner 1 of 4 — the gospel's verbs (v. 6) become theirs
and growing in the knowledge of God,participial — manner 2 — growth by the knowledge just prayed for
11
being strengthened with all power according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and patience with joy,participial — manner 3 — glorious power spent on unglamorous endurance, and that with joy
vv. 12–14 — thanksgiving to the Father: qualified, rescued, transferred
12
giving thanks to the Father,participial — manner 4 — the walk circles back into thanksgiving (v. 3)
who has qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,participial — attributive — ἱκανόω: made fit for the allotted portion; exodus-and-inheritance language
13
who rescued us from the authority of darknessrelative — on τῷ πατρί, coordinate with the participle — ῥύομαι: snatched from the dark jurisdiction
and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of his love,relative — coordinate finite in the ὅς-clause — μεθίστημι, a people resettled; 'Son of his love,' a Semitic genitive: the beloved Son
14
in whom we have the redemption, the forgiveness of sins;relative — on τοῦ υἱοῦ — redemption defined as forgiveness (cf. Eph 1:7); the hinge into the hymn
The Christ-hymn — the supremacy of the Son 1:15–20
vv. 15–17 — first strophe: the firstborn over all creation
15
who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation,relative — the hymn opens on ὅς (cf. Php 2:6; 1 Tim 3:16) — antecedent τοῦ υἱοῦ (v. 13); πρωτότοκος of rank, not of origin
16
because in him all things were created,cause — the ground of the primacy — ἐν αὐτῷ: creation happened in him, so he cannot be one of its items
in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible —phrase modifier — the sweep of τὰ πάντα — two axes, place and visibility, no remainder
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities —phrase modifier — the invisible itemized — a verbless εἴτε-list: the very powers the errorists revere, catalogued as creatures
all things have been created through him and for him.cause — the ground resumed — perfect ἔκτισται: he is agent (δι' αὐτοῦ) and goal (εἰς αὐτόν) of a creation that stands created
17
and he himself is before all things,independent — emphatic αὐτός — priority in time and in rank
and in him all things hold together,independent — συνέστηκεν — the perfect of cosmic coherence: he sustains what was made in him
vv. 18–20 — second strophe: the firstborn from the dead
18
And he himself is the head of the body, the church;independent — the pivot to redemption — the cosmos-wide claims narrow onto the σῶμα, glossed as the church
he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,relative — the second ὅς — ἀρχή of the new creation; πρωτότοκος again, now out of the grave
so that in everything he might be preeminent,purpose — the hymn's goal-line — πρωτεύων: first in creation, first from the dead, first in everything
19
because in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,cause — the second strophe's ground — πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα as subject: God in all his fullness (2:9) chose this dwelling
20
and through him to reconcile all things to himself,content — second complement infinitive of εὐδόκησεν — the fullness pleased both to dwell and to reconcile the same τὰ πάντα
having made peace through the blood of his cross —participial — means — εἰρηνοποιέω: the cosmic peace was made at a Roman execution; the hymn's feet on Golgotha
through him, whether the things on earth or the things in the heavens.phrase modifier — the scope resumed — δι' αὐτοῦ repeated (bracketed in the editions); earth and heaven, strophe 1's pair reversed
The reconciliation applied — and you 1:21–23
21
And you —independent — the object suspended (Eph 2:1-style) until ἀποκατήλλαξεν (v. 22) — the cosmic hymn lands on the Colossians
who once were alienated and hostile in mind, in your evil deeds,participial — the former state — ποτε: estranged, hostile in mind, evil in deed
22
but now he has reconciled you in the body of his flesh through death,independent — the νυνὶ δέ resumption — read as active (God reconciled); ἐν τῷ σώματι τῆς σαρκός: a real fleshly death, against angel-minded spiritualizing
in order to present you holy and blameless and beyond reproach before him,purpose — purpose infinitive — the presentation, sacrificial and forensic at once (cf. v. 28)
23
if indeed you continue in the faith, founded and firm,conditional — backward εἴ γε — anchored on the presentation above (so unlike a forward protasis it takes an anchor); confidence with an edge, not doubt
and not shifting from the hope of the gospelparticipial — the negative side of continuing — μετακινέω: not dislodged from the hope of v. 5
that you heard,relative — their own history the argument — the hearing of vv. 5–6 again
which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven,participial — attributive — the universal proclamation, echoing v. 6 and πάσης κτίσεως (v. 15)
of which I, Paul, became a minister.relative — the tail that opens the next section — Paul steps forward by name, a διάκονος like Epaphras (v. 7)
Paul's ministry of the mystery 1:24–29
vv. 24–25 — the sufferings and the stewardship
24
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you,independent — Νῦν — the diakonia in the present tense: joy located inside the sufferings
and in my flesh I fill up what is lacking of Christ's afflictionsindependent — the famous crux — what is 'lacking' is the apostolic share of the Messiah's afflictions still to be borne for the church, a deficit in Paul's flesh, not in the atonement
for the sake of his body,phrase modifier — the beneficiary — the sufferings are churchward, not meritorious
which is the church,relative — the body glossed — as in v. 18, σῶμα fixed to its ecclesial referent
25
of which I became a ministerrelative — v. 23's clause re-struck with a new genitive — minister of the gospel, now of the church
according to the stewardship of God that was given to me for you,phrase modifier — the norm — οἰκονομία: an entrusted administration, reaching even unvisited Colossae (εἰς ὑμᾶς)
to fulfill the word of God,purpose — the stewardship's aim — πληρόω again: the word brought to its full course
vv. 26–27 — the mystery: hidden, now revealed — Christ in you
26
the mystery hidden from the ages and from the generations —phrase modifier — apposition — the word of God is the μυστήριον, long hidden from ages and generations alike
but now it has been revealed to his saints,independent — anacoluthon — the participial construction breaks into a finite verb: the hidden/revealed schema's triumphant νῦν δέ
27
to whom God willed to make knownrelative — on τοῖς ἁγίοις — the disclosure rests on God's free ἠθέλησεν
what is the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,content — indirect question, verbless — the mystery's wealth measured precisely among the nations
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.relative — the mystery named — Christ in (and among) you Gentiles; the hope of v. 5 now a person
vv. 28–29 — the proclamation: everyone, mature in Christ
28
whom we proclaim,relative — on Χριστός — from creed to task: the mystery is a person proclaimed
admonishing everyoneparticipial — manner — νουθετέω, warning; the first πάντα ἄνθρωπον of three
and teaching everyone in all wisdom,participial — manner — teaching every person in all wisdom: no inner circle of initiates
so that we may present everyone mature in Christ;purpose — the goal — παρίστημι again (v. 22): every person presented τέλειος, the maturity the errorists reserved for the few
29
for which I also toil,relative — εἰς ὅ — on the aim just named; κοπιάω, labor to the point of weariness
striving according to his workingparticipial — manner — the athlete's ἀγών, measured by Christ's energy rather than Paul's
that works powerfully in me.participial — attributive — the ἐνεργ- pair: the chapter closes with divine power at work inside the toiling minister
Analysis. Colossians 1 is Ephesians 1's close cousin, and the page shows the same relentless handing-forward. The thanksgiving (vv. 3–8) is one sentence that never returns to the margin: from Εὐχαριστοῦμεν it steps down through teal participles into the coral relatives of the hope and the gospel — παρόντος, two magenta καθώς lines, the 'from the day' relative — until it lands nine levels deep on Epaphras, the man who carried the message both ways. The prayer (vv. 9–14) pivots on οὐ παυόμεθα and its amber ἵνα: the purpose infinitive περιπατῆσαι carries its four manner participles (καρποφοροῦντες, αὐξανόμενοι, δυναμούμενοι, εὐχαριστοῦντες) at a single depth — one walk, four gaits — and the last of them, thanksgiving to the Father, opens the ὅς-chain of rescue and transfer that flows into the hymn. The hymn (vv. 15–20) is set as two strophes, each opened by a coral ὅς and grounded by a red ὅτι: firstborn over creation (with the verbless dashed sweep of τὰ πάντα and the εἴτε-list of the very powers the errorists revere), then firstborn from the dead, where the fullness pleased to dwell and to reconcile, the εἰρηνοποιήσας participle putting the hymn's feet on the cross. Verses 21–23 replay Eph 2:1's shape: the dashed suspended object καὶ ὑμᾶς hangs until the flush-left νυνὶ δὲ ἀποκατήλλαξεν resumes it, and the olive εἴ γε is a backward-leaning condition, anchored (unlike a forward protasis) on the presentation it qualifies. The close (vv. 24–29) chains fifteen levels deep, from Νῦν χαίρω to the power at work in the toiler. Cruxes the layout takes a side on: διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα (v. 5) grounds the faith and love, not the thanksgiving; πρωτότοκος (v. 15) is rank over creation, not first creature — the ὅτι of v. 16 grounds it; πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα (v. 19) is subject — God in all his fullness — with ἀποκαταλλάξαι a second complement of εὐδόκησεν; ἀποκατήλλαξεν (v. 22) is read active with God as subject; and ἀνταναπληρῶ (v. 24) fills up the still-outstanding apostolic share of the Messiah's afflictions borne for the church — a deficit in Paul's flesh, not in the atonement. Each dependent line sits directly beneath the dotted-underlined word it hangs from, one column deeper than its parent, however far the sentence runs.