ῥιζόω

From the study of Ephesians 3:17

Range of meaning

Active: to cause to take root, to plant firmly. Passive: to be rooted, to take root. Figuratively: to be firmly established or fixed.

Against the English

"Rooted" is an accurate rendering. What English can lose is the Greek perfect tense: the roots have already been sent down and the plant is now established. YLT's "having been rooted" keeps this.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the New Testament it appears only here and in Col 2:7 ("rooted and built up in him"). In the LXX, Wisdom says of Israel, "I took root (ἐρρίζωσα) among an honoured people" (Sir 24:12). Isa 40:24 uses it of rulers whose stock has barely "taken root in the earth" before God blows them away. The image of God's people as his planting is old (Isa 60:21; 61:3; Jer 24:6). The Dead Sea Scrolls community called itself "an everlasting planting, a holy house for Israel" (1QS VIII, 5), combining plant and temple images just as this verse does.

From the study of Colossians 2:7

Range of meaning

To cause to take root, to plant firmly; passive: to be rooted, to be firmly fixed. Used literally of plants and figuratively of anything made stable and deep-set.

Against the English

English 'rooted' is accurate. What English usually loses is the tense: this is a perfect participle ('having been rooted, and remaining so'), while the next two participles are present ('being built', 'being made firm'). Most versions flatten all three into a list; NASB's 'having been firmly rooted and now being built up' keeps the contrast.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the NT only here and Eph 3:17 ('rooted and grounded in love'), again paired with a building word. In Sirach 24:12 (LXX), Wisdom says 'I took root among an honoured people', which is suggestive in a letter that calls Christ the one in whom 'all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden' (2:3). The pairing of planting and building goes back to the prophets: God will 'build and plant' his people (Jer 1:10; 24:6 LXX); Paul himself tells the Corinthians 'you are God's field, God's building' (1 Cor 3:9).