Colossians 2:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

See how he is already hastening and taking care to move on to the teaching, while neither accusing them nor freeing them from blame.

“And Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” If they are in Him, then He came now to earth wisely.

Why, then, do some foolish people accuse us? See how he speaks to people of little knowledge: “in whom are hidden all the treasures.” He knows all things.

“Of knowledge.” Therefore do not think that you already have everything. There is knowledge also from the angels, not only from you.

This means that everything must be asked from Him. He gives wisdom and knowledge.

Thus by the word “treasures” he shows their abundance. By the word “all,” he shows that He knows all. By the word “knowledge,” he shows that He alone knows.

He alone knows all things. If He alone is wise, then He certainly came wisely in the last days, and not long ago, and some foolish men attack this in vain. By saying "treasures," he indicates their multitude. By the word "all," he shows that nothing is unknown to God. By the expression "hidden," he shows that He alone knows, and that wisdom and knowledge must be asked from Him. But notice: even if it seems that he has said something especially great, he said even this, "in Whom are hidden the treasures," in accommodation to the understanding of very simple people. For God is Wisdom itself and Knowledge itself.

In this there is praise of all grace, by which He saves believers. He contains in Himself the deep treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and fills minds with faith, in order to bring them to the eternal contemplation of immutable truth.

What if the Almighty had not brought forth, from a mother’s womb, the man whom He created for reception? What if He had suddenly presented Him to our eyes?

What if He had passed over all the stages of age that separate an infant from a youth, and had neither tasted food nor given Himself to sleep?

Would He not have confirmed the mistaken opinion by which people would not believe that He had truly, in some manner, assumed human nature?

And since He does all things wondrously, would He not have deprived of meaning what He did from mercy?

Can an artist be ignorant of his own work? We read in the Apostle concerning Christ: “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Observe how he speaks: “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” It is not that some are present and others absent. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are present, though hidden.

Therefore this exists in Him, and without deficiency, but it is hidden from us. If the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ, we must inquire in what sense they are hidden.

If we human beings could know the day of judgment from words saying that the future day of judgment will come after two millennia, and thus knew the future, then we would remain careless.

When I considered why the human race had gone so far astray that, alas, the majority followed various opinions about the Son of God, I found something quite astonishing. It was not that the human race erred concerning the Most High, but that it did not draw obedience from Scripture. For what is astonishing if men could not know by worldly reason the mystery of God the Father and of Christ, in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge? Even the angels can know this mystery only through revelation.

The Apostle showed that the mystery of the divine economy is a work common to the Father and the Son. He said that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ, because through Him the purpose of the divine economy will be revealed to all people in the future life. He says all this while healing the disease that had crept in. He teaches that true salvation is granted not by legal observances, but by faith in the Lord. For he added, Col 2:4: "This I say, lest anyone should deceive you with enticing words."

Being dispassionate, He submitted to passions for our sake and became the servant of our salvation. But those who say that He is a slave divide the one Christ into two, exactly as Nestorius did. We say that He is Master and Lord of every creature, the one Christ, one and the same God and man together. He knows all things: "in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

Finally, let him overcome the letter by prudent study of Holy Scripture, and wisely ascend to the Holy Spirit. In Him the fullness of blessings abides, and all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.

If anyone is found worthy to be within these treasures, he will find God Himself inscribed on the tablets of his heart by the grace of the Spirit. With unveiled face (2 Cor 3:18), as in a mirror, he will see the glory of God, having removed the veil of the letter.

See Mt 13:44.

If, according to the Apostle, Jesus Christ dwells in our hearts by faith (Eph 3:17), and in Him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden, then all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in our hearts.

But they are revealed to the heart according to the measure of its purification in each person through the fulfillment of the commandments.

"In Whom," that is, in Christ, "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," says the divinely wise Paul (Col 2:3). The simplest Christian, taught the dogmas of the holy faith, is far wiser than Plato, Aristotle, and the other pagan sages. Which of them understood what the simple Christian has come to know by faith? "None of the rulers of this age knew" (1 Cor 2:8).

"In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and understanding." What the Apostle Paul says against the false teachers of Colossae applies to heretics and false teachers of all times. True wisdom and true knowledge must be sought only in Christ. He alone gives them to those who ask Him, and in the knowledge of Him alone lies the foundation of all knowledge. Meanwhile, error has always defended its independence and always draws its knowledge from the murky springs of human experience and consciousness.

“In Him,” that is, in the knowledge of the mystery of God the Father and of Christ, “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and understanding. This I say, lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive speech. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit” (Col 2:3-5).

According to the course of the argument, the Apostle’s thought is that in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the mystery of our salvation accomplished by Him, are contained all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, that is, the highest and most precious knowledge.

Having earlier mentioned his apostolic labors and struggles, the Apostle now testifies a second time that the progress of the Colossians and their neighbors also lies within the circle of his concern.

All need to know this, especially those who had not seen the Apostle personally. Rejoicing in the Apostle’s endurance, all were to be stirred by his love and example, and each was to help another attain the possible height of perfect understanding and knowledge of God the Father and Christ.

This includes all the mysteries revealed through His redemption and salvation, which constitute the summit of the most precious wisdom and knowledge, not only human but angelic. Even the angels desired to look into this mystery (1 Pet 1:12).

"In whom," that is, in Jesus Christ. As God, He knows all things, like the Father, and "nothing that the Father knows is unknown to Him" (Oecumenius).

"By the word 'treasures' the Apostle shows the multitude and great value. By the word 'all,' he shows that He knows everything. By the word 'hidden,' he shows that He alone knows all" (Saint Chrysostom).

"He alone knows all things. Yet this exclusiveness is understood only in relation to creatures, not in relation to the holy and most blessed Trinity" (Oecumenius).

"The Apostle expresses something especially great here. In Him are all the treasures. He is wisdom itself and knowledge itself" (blessed Theophylact).