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How αὐτῷ Works in Colossians 2:13
A focused form insight on Dative Singular Masculine in Colossians 2:13.
Colossians 2:13 - BSB
When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses,
The Question
How does αὐτῷ function in Colossians 2:13?
Short Answer
αὐτῷ is a Dative Singular Masculine in Colossians 2:13. The form reinforces that the life-giving action is shared with a prior referent, which in context is Christ, without adding extra meaning beyond that association.
What the Form Is Doing
αὐτῷ appears in Colossians 2:13 as a Dative Singular Masculine. It functions as the referential object of the accompaniment phrase, pointing to Christ as the one with whom God made the readers alive.
In Colossians 2:13, the dative singular masculine works inside the immediate phrase or clause. It functions as the referential object of the accompaniment phrase, pointing to Christ as the one with whom God made the readers alive. The form supports the verse's wording without carrying the whole interpretation by itself.
Why It Matters for Interpretation
The form reinforces that the life-giving action is shared with a prior referent, which in context is Christ, without adding extra meaning beyond that association.
The dative pronoun belongs to the with-him phrase that explains being made alive together with Christ.
Translation Effect
The form directly supports with him in the accompaniment phrase.
The form guide should support the public Bible reading, not replace it with a private rendering.
What It Does Not Prove
Do not derive a separate doctrine from masculine gender, and do not treat the pronoun form as overriding the clause's clear reference and flow.
Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
Do not make grammatical gender into a theological gender claim.
Evidence from the Form Guide
The witness reads αὐτῷ in the clause συνεζωοποίησε σὺν αὐτῷ, so the form is embedded in an explicit companionship phrase.
In teaching or translation, this pronoun can be rendered as with him or with him also, depending on how the surrounding clause is expressed in English.
What It Does Not Prove
- Do not derive a separate doctrine from masculine gender, and do not treat the pronoun form as overriding the clause's clear reference and flow.
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Do not make grammatical gender into a theological gender claim.
- Do not assume the case alone settles every syntactic question when the local clause already supplies the needed sense.