Now Paul switches to the first person singular, as contrasted with the plural in verse 28 (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, however, understands the plural in verse 28 as epistolary and translates by first singular).

To get this done may be expressed as “in order to accomplish this task” or “in order to cause all this to happen.”

I toil and struggle: the first verb denotes hard work; the second one, in Greek a participle modifying the main verb, indicates trouble or pain or effort (both verbs used together also in 1 Tim 4.10): New English Bible “toiling strenuously,” Jerusalem Bible “I struggle wearily on” (which sounds like a complaint). This verb agōnizomai describes a fight (John 18.36) or, more often, an athletic contest (1 Cor 9.25, 1 Tim 6.12, 2 Tim 4.7; see the cognate noun in Heb 12.1). It is used here generally in the sense of “struggle”.

Since the two verbs toil and struggle primarily reinforce one another, they may be quite satisfactorily rendered by a single verb with an attributive, as in the case of the New English Bible “toiling strenuously.” For example, one may say “I work very hard indeed” or “I work as hard as I can.”

Using the mighty strength which Christ supplies and which is at work represents the Greek “according to his energy which is powerfully working.” By the use of the noun energeia (only 8 times in the NT, in Eph, Phil, Col, 2 Thes), the middle participle of the cognate verb (energeō), and the prepositional phrase “in power,” Paul emphasizes the greatness and might of Christ’s power at work in him. Revised Standard Version “inspires” is ambiguous and could be misunderstood.

The phrase mighty strength must not be translated in such a way as to suggest physical strength. It may be more appropriate in some languages to say “using the great power that Christ supplies,” or “… makes possible,” or “… has caused me to have.” Rather than saying “using the mighty strength,” it may be better to say “I can do this because of the great strength.” On the other hand, it may be necessary to restructure this statement rather extensively and to say “I can do all this because Christ makes it possible for me” or “… makes me able to do it.” In this way the expression of power is closely related to the hard work or toil mentioned in the first part of verse 29.

In some languages, it may be quite impossible to talk about “mighty strength … at work in me.” A person may use strength in working but certainly “strength” does not work. Which is at work in me may, therefore, be expressed as “which shows up as I work” or “which is manifest in what I do.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .