πάσῃ (pase) in Colossians 3:16: Adjective Dative Singular Feminine
πάσῃ (pase) in Colossians 3:16
Textual Witness
The witness reads πάσῃ with the phrase ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ in Colossians 3:16, so the form stands inside the wisdom phrase that shapes the clause.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form strengthens the sense that the community's teaching is to be marked by full, varied, and fitting wisdom, while leaving the exact practical shape to the larger clause and passage.
How To Communicate It
In translation and explanation, it can be rendered with phrases like in all wisdom or in every kind of wisdom, depending on the broader flow of the sentence.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Feminine gender here is agreement with the noun σοφίᾳ, not a theological statement about gender.
- The adjective signals scope or quality of wisdom, but the surrounding clause determines how that wisdom functions.
What Does The Label Mean?
Adjective: the word describes or qualifies a noun, here expressing breadth or totality rather than naming a thing by itself.
Dative: the form commonly works in a dative relation, often marking the sphere, respect, or manner of the linked expression in this clause.
Singular: the form is singular here, and it matches the singular noun it qualifies in the immediate phrase.
Feminine: the form is feminine because it agrees with a feminine noun in context, and this grammatical class does not itself make a theological gender claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
σοφίᾳ
It is linked with the prepositional phrase ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ, so the adjective works with the noun to describe the kind or fullness of wisdom in view.
It qualifies wisdom by indicating comprehensiveness or every kind of wisdom, supporting the idea that the teaching is to be rich and fully informed.
It does not introduce a new subject, and it does not by itself specify a separate object or action apart from the noun it modifies.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The dative adjective qualifies wisdom in a verse about the word of Christ dwelling richly in the community.
Dative adjective modifying σοφίᾳ. marks the wisdom as full, comprehensive, or every-fitting kind in context. Attached to ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ. Governed by the wisdom phrase that frames teaching and admonishing. The form describes the manner of instruction; the participles and clause show how that wisdom functions.
What kind of wisdom should shape the teaching and admonishing? The adjective marks the wisdom as full or comprehensive in the phrase.
Direct: The form directly supports wording such as in all wisdom or with every kind of wisdom.
All wisdom should not be turned into an abstract claim about every possible wisdom source. Feminine gender agrees with σοφίᾳ and is not a gendered theological claim.
All wisdom is treated as unlimited outside the clause: The adjective describes the wisdom governing this teaching context, not an unbounded category apart from the passage.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads πάσῃ with the phrase ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ in Colossians 3:16, so the form stands inside the wisdom phrase that shapes the clause.
The lemma πᾶς regularly carries the sense of all, every, or the whole, and here that range fits an adjectival modifier of σοφίᾳ.
Because the phrase sits after πλουσίως and before the teaching and admonishing participles, the grammar supports the manner of the ministry: it is to be carried out in complete or all-wise fashion.
The verse presents the word of Christ as dwelling richly among the community, with instruction and mutual admonition framed by a wisdom that is comprehensive rather than narrow.
Within the passage, this fits the call to a communal life shaped by Christ's word, where worship, teaching, and counsel are governed by wisdom and grace.
For readers and teachers, the form helps communicate that the instruction is meant to be thoroughly wise, not casual, partial, or limited to one narrow kind of insight.
Do not derive a claim that the adjective alone defines all possible wisdoms in an abstract sense, or that it changes the noun into a different concept.