NOTES for Col 1:16
Speaking of the earthly and the heavenly, created by the Word that became incarnate in Jesus Christ, Paul lists "thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers." What does he mean? Later Christian tradition looks at these names as names of "angelic ranks," that is, as names of certain mysterious levels of the angelic hierarchy. But this understanding of the apostle's words is connected with the development of that area of theology called angelology. Medieval theologians loved to reason about the structure of the angelic world, though their experience of contact with this world hardly surpassed what is reflected in the Bible. The authors of the biblical books, however, do not speak very much about angels.
It is different with the authors of gnostic texts, which sometimes resemble later theosophical writings. They spoke much and readily about angels and the angelic world, but in the overwhelming majority of cases their colorful and lengthy descriptions were the fruit of their own mystical and poetic imagination. Gnostic theosophy, however, was by no means close to Paul: after all, he had received a fully traditional rabbinic education from a teacher who was by no means inclined toward gnostic fantasies. And one should hardly look in Paul's letters for any "teaching" about the angelic hierarchy.
But this does not mean at all that the apostle was alien to any mention of the realities of the spiritual world. Listing "the heavenly and the earthly," he speaks of them as well. True, they have nothing to do with any "angelic hierarchy" or any gnostic constructions. By "thrones" Paul most likely has in mind that Throne of glory so vividly described in chapter 6 of the Book of Isaiah, although it is by no means mentioned only there. In the Book of Daniel there is a colorful description of how the Messiah, called in the text of the book the "Son of Man," is brought to this Throne (Dan. 7:13-14).
If we also recall that the rabbinic tradition of the Gospel era speaks of the Throne of glory as created before the creation of the world, Paul's words about "thrones" fit well into the context not only of Holy Scripture, but also of the Tradition of his age. The same can be said of "principalities," though here one has to speak more of Greek philosophy than of rabbinic tradition. By "principalities," or more precisely by what the corresponding Greek word translated this way denotes, are meant the primary causes and moving forces of the universe that make it what it is, both as a whole and in its particulars. As is evident, Paul, acquainted not only with rabbinic tradition but also with Greek philosophy, interpreted both in the light of the new Christian revelation he had received.
As for "dominions" and "powers," here the matter is most likely not heavenly, but earthly. Both words refer to realities connected with earthly authority and earthly states: in the first case the matter may concern both authority and the territory over which that authority extends, while in the second it concerns rather the source of authority that establishes a certain state order where this authority extends, such being the meaning of the corresponding Greek words. As is evident, Paul correlates the Throne of glory with earthly thrones, and the cosmic first causes and principalities with the sources of earthly power, thereby illustrating his words about the incarnate Word by whom all things were created.