Colossians 1:12
New International Version
and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

New Living Translation
always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.

English Standard Version
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Berean Standard Bible
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Berean Literal Bible
giving thanks to the Father, the One having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in light,

King James Bible
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

New King James Version
giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

New American Standard Bible
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

NASB 1995
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

NASB 1977
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Legacy Standard Bible
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Amplified Bible
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints (God’s people) in the Light.

Christian Standard Bible
giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.

American Standard Version
giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
I thank God The Father, who made us worthy for a part of the inheritance of the Saints in the light;

Contemporary English Version
I pray that you will be grateful to God for letting you have part in what he has promised his people in the kingdom of light.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light:

English Revised Version
giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
You will also thank the Father, who has made you able to share the light, which is what God's people inherit.

International Standard Version
and might thank the Father, who has enabled us to share in the saints' inheritance in the light.

Literal Standard Version
Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us for the participation of the inheritance of the holy ones in the light,

Majority Standard Bible
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

New American Bible
giving thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light.

NET Bible
giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the saints' inheritance in the light.

New Revised Standard Version
giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

New Heart English Bible
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light;

Webster's Bible Translation
Giving thanks to the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

Weymouth New Testament
and give thanks to the Father who has made us fit to receive our share of the inheritance of God's people in Light.

World English Bible
giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,

Young's Literal Translation
Giving thanks to the Father who did make us meet for the participation of the inheritance of the saints in the light,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Thanksgiving and Prayer
11being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son,…

Cross References
Acts 20:32
And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

Acts 26:18
to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.'

2 Corinthians 11:14
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

Ephesians 1:18
I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,

Ephesians 2:18
For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Ephesians 5:8
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,

Ephesians 5:11
Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.


Treasury of Scripture

Giving thanks to the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

Giving.

Colossians 3:15,17
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful…

1 Chronicles 29:20
And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the LORD your God. And all the congregation blessed the LORD God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the LORD, and the king.

Psalm 79:13
So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.

the Father.

Colossians 2:2
That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;

John 4:23
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

made.

1 Kings 6:7
And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.

Proverbs 16:1
The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Romans 8:29,30
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren…

partakers.

Romans 11:17
And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

Romans 15:27
It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.

1 Corinthians 9:23
And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

inheritance.

Matthew 25:34
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Acts 20:32
And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

Acts 26:18
To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

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Fit God's Inheritance Kingdom Light Meet Part Partakers Participation Portion Praise Qualified Receive Saints Share Sharing Thanks
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Fit God's Inheritance Kingdom Light Meet Part Partakers Participation Portion Praise Qualified Receive Saints Share Sharing Thanks
Colossians 1
1. After salutation Paul thanks God for the Colossians' faith;
7. confirms the doctrine of Epaphras;
9. prays further for their increase in grace;
14. describes the supremacy of Christ;
21. encourages them to receive Jesus Christ, and commends his own ministry.














(12) Giving thanks unto the Father.--These words naturally follow the words "with joyfulness," with which, indeed, they may be grammatically connected. But the "thankfulness" here is, as the context shows, the thankfulness of humility, sensible that from the Father's love we have received all, and can but receive.

Which hath made us meet.--The same word is used in 2Corinthians 3:6, "who hath made us able ministers of the new covenant," and corresponds to the word "sufficient" in St. Paul's previous question (2Corinthians 2:16), "Who is sufficient for these things?" The reference is clearly to God's foreknowledge and call (as in Romans 8:29-30), in virtue of which "we are more than conquerors," and "cannot be separated from His love in Jesus Christ our Lord."

To be partakers of the inheritance of the saints.--Literally, for the part (appointed to us) of the lot of the saints. (Comp. Ephesians 1:11, where, however, the sense is slightly different). The "lot" (like the Old Testament type of the share in the land of Canaan," the lot of their inheritance") is the place assigned to the saints primarily by the grace of God. It may have, as in the case of the type, to be fought for; but it is won not by our own arm, but by "God's hand and His arm, and the light of His countenance, because He has a favour unto us" (Psalm 44:3). Hence, in accordance with St. Paul's usual teaching (especially emphatic in this and the Ephesian Epistle), the whole stress is laid on God's grace, giving us our lot, and "making us meet" to accept it. . . .

Verse 12. - Giving thanks to the Father, who made us (or, you) meet for our (or, your) share in the lot (or, portion) of the saints in the light (vers. 3-5; Acts 20:32; Acts 26:18; Titus 3:7; Ephesians 1:5, 11-14; Galatians 3:29; Romans 8:15-17). The reading "us" is very doubtful. Westcott and Hort, with Tischendorf, prefer "you," as in the two oldest manuscripts: for the transition from first to second person, comp. Colossians 2:13, 14 (vers. 9-12). In the same strain the apostle gave thanks on their account (ver. 5). Thanksgiving" is prominent in this letter (Colossians 2:7; Colossians 3:15, 17; Colossians 4:2), as "joy" in Philippians. The title "the Father" frequently stands alone in St. John's Gospel, coming from the lips of the Son, but St. Paul employs it thus only here and in Ephesians 3:14, R.V.; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6 (comp. 1 John 3:1); see note on ver. 2. Those "give thanks to the Father" who gratefully acknowledge him in "the spirit of adoption" as their Father through Christ (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:1-7; Ephesians 1:5). And the Father makes us meet for the inheritance when he enables us to call him "Father" - "If children, then heirs." "To make meet" (ἱκανόω, the verb found besides only in 2 Corinthians 3:5, 6 in the New Testament, "to make sufficient," R.V.) is "to make competent," "to qualify" for sonic position or work. This meetness, already conferred on the Colossians, consists in their forgiveness (ver. 14) and adoption (Ephesians 1:5-7), which qualify and entitle them to receive the blessings of Christ's kingdom (ver. 13; Romans 5:1, 2; Galatians 3:26-29; Ephesians 2:5, 6; Titus 3:7), and which anticipate and form the basis of that worthiness of character and fitness of condition in which they are finally to be presented "perfect in Christ" (vers. 10, 22, 28; 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24); "not qui dignos fecit (Vulgate), but qui idoneos fecit" (Ellicott). "Called and (made us meet)" is one of the few characteristic readings of the great Vatican Manuscript, which Westcott and Herr reject (see their 'Introduction,' § 320, and Lightfoot's 'Detached Notes,' p. 251). "The lot of the saints" is that entire wealth of blessedness laid up for the people of God (Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 2:12; Ephesians 3:6; Ephesians 4:4-7), in which each has his due share or part (Meyer, Ellicott, Lightfoot, less suitably: "parcel of (consisting in) the lot"); comp. ver. 28; Ephesians 4:7. Κλῆρος ("lot," Acts 8:21; Acts 26:18), scarcely distinguishable from the more usual κληρονομία ("inheritance," Colossians 3:24; Ephesians 1:14, etc.; Acts 20:32; Hebrews 9:15; 1 Peter 1:4), is used in the Old Testament (LXX) of the sacred land as "divided by lot," and as "the lot" assigned to Israel (Numbers 34:13; Deuteronomy 4:21, etc.), also of Jehovah himself as "the lot" of the landless Levites (Deuteronomy 10:9), and of Israel in turn as "the lot" of Jehovah (Deuteronomy 4:20). It is the divinely allocated possession of the people of God in his kingdom. It belongs to them as "saints" (ver. 2; Ephesians 2:19; Acts 20:32; Acts 26:18; Psalm 15; Numbers 35:34; Jeremiah 2:7); and it lies "in the light," in "the kingdom of the Son of God's love" (ver. 13) that is filled with the light of the knowledge of God proceeding from Christ (2 Corinthians 4:1-6; John 1:4; John 8:12), light here manifest "in part" and in conflict with Satanic darkness (ver. 13; Ephesians 5:8-14; Ephesians 6:11, 12; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8; Romans 13:11-13; John 1:5), hereafter the full possession of God's saints (Colossians 3:4; 1 Corinthians 13:12; Romans 13:12; John 12:36; Revelation 21:23-25; Isaiah 60:19, 20). Vers. 13 and 14 proceed to show how this qualification has been gained.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
giving thanks
εὐχαριστοῦντες (eucharistountes)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 2168: From eucharistos; to be grateful, i.e. to express gratitude; specially, to say grace at a meal.

to the
τῷ (tō)
Article - Dative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Father,
Πατρὶ (Patri)
Noun - Dative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3962: Father, (Heavenly) Father, ancestor, elder, senior. Apparently a primary word; a 'father'.

who
τῷ (tō)
Article - Dative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

has qualified
ἱκανώσαντι (hikanōsanti)
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Dative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2427: To make sufficient, render fit, qualify. From hikanos; to enable, i.e. Qualify.

you
ὑμᾶς (hymas)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

to share
μερίδα (merida)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3310: Feminine of meros; a portion, i.e. Province, share or participation.

in the
τοῦ (tou)
Article - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

inheritance
κλήρου (klērou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2819: (a) a lot, (b) a portion assigned; hence: a portion of the people of God assigned to one's care, a congregation.

of the
τῶν (tōn)
Article - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

saints
ἁγίων (hagiōn)
Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 40: Set apart by (or for) God, holy, sacred. From hagos; sacred.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

the
τῷ (tō)
Article - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

light.
φωτί (phōti)
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 5457: Light, a source of light, radiance. From an obsolete phao; luminousness.


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NT Letters: Colossians 1:12 Giving thanks to the Father who made (Coloss. Col Co)
Colossians 1:11
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