In Colossians 2:2, Paul expresses his desire that his readers become wealthy through “the full assurance of understanding”. The NASV reads:

“. . . that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself,”

Here is the KJV rendering:

“. . . 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;"

With regards to the last part of the verse (following “true knowledge”, or “acknowledgement”), there are no fewer than nine variants in the known Greek manuscripts. The Greek New Testament (GNT) text uses τοῦ μυστηρίου τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ  (“the mystery of God, Christ”). The principle sources for this variant are the fourth-century Vaticanus and the early (about 200) papyrus 𝖕46. The Textus Receptus (TR) text uses  τοῦ μυστηρίου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ χριστοῦ, (“the mystery of God and of the Father, and of Christ.”) This variant comes from the numerous Byzantine manuscripts from the tenth and eleventh centuries. Other variants include one that simply says τοῦ μυστηρίου τοῦ θεοῦ (“the mystery of God”). Another says τοῦ μυστηρίου τοῦ χριστοῦ (“the mystery of Christ”). One says τοῦ μυστηρίου τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅ ἐστιν Χριστός (“the mystery of God, which is Christ”). One variant seems to contain a trinitarian element; It says τοῦ μυστηρίου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πνεύματος καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ (“the mystery of God and the Spirit and of Christ”).

The Greek word μυστήριον (translated “mystery”) refers to a hidden truth. The mystery revealed in this verse is Christ. Verse three says “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (KJV) The “whom” is obviously Christ. “Wealth” or “riches” comes from πλοῦτος. “Treasures” (vs 3) comes from θησαυροὶ. Both words are used in all major manuscripts. It was Paul’s desire that the church at Colosse would have this kind of wealth through understanding the mystery which is Christ.

Concerning the variants, some stray away significantly from the original. Words were obviously added, deleted, or changed during transmission. Because of that, questions arise concerning when, why, and possibly where, those changes were made.

The changes were probably made for one of a number of reasons. The list is long. Some would insist that changes were made deliberately in order to obscure the identity of the “mystery” (Christ) and in so doing leave doubts about extremely important doctrine(s). Such a person should consider a passage in the previous chapter (Col. 1:25-27). There, Paul explains the purpose of his ministry, which is to reveal τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης τοῦ μυστηρίου τούτου (“the riches of the glory of this mystery”) which is Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν, ἡ ἐλπὶς τῆς δόξης (“Christ in you, the hope of glory”). With regards to this passage, there are no variants whatsoever in the major manuscripts. Without doubt, the text matches the original, word for word. An ancient copyist or editor with malicious intent would have missed a golden opportunity by tampering with Col. 2:2 while leaving the previous passage untouched.

Manuscripts