Colossians 2

¹For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen my face in the flesh, ²so that their hearts may be encouraged, as they are knit together in love, and they may come into all the riches of fully assured understanding, into knowledge of God's mystery, Christ. ³In him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. ⁴I say this so that no one may mislead you with persuasive talk. ⁵For even though I am absent in the flesh, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your orderly conduct and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

⁶So, just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, ⁷rooted and being built up in him, being established in faith as you were taught, overflowing with thanksgiving.

⁸Watch out that no one carries you off as plunder through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹For in him the entire fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰and you have been filled in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. ¹¹In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by hands, in the stripping off of the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ. ¹²You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. ¹³And you, dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh—God made you alive together with him, forgiving us all our trespasses. ¹⁴He wiped out the record of debt with its decrees that stood against us and opposed us. He has removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵Stripping the rulers and authorities, he exposed them publicly, leading them in triumph through the cross.

¹⁶So let no one judge you over eating or drinking, or in the matter of a festival, a new moon, or Sabbaths. ¹⁷These are a shadow of what is coming, but the body belongs to Christ. ¹⁸Let no one disqualify you, delighting in humility and the worship of angels, dwelling on what he has seen, groundlessly puffed up by his fleshly mind, ¹⁹and not holding fast to the head. From him the entire body, supplied and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with the growth God gives.

²⁰If you died with Christ to the elements of the world, why do you submit to decrees as though you were living in the world: ²¹“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch”? ²²These things are all destined to perish as they are used up; these decrees follow human commands and teachings. ²³Such things do have a reputation for wisdom in self-chosen worship, humility, and unsparing treatment of the body, but they have no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Translation notes 7

2:1–3 — Face and mystery. Seeing his face “in the flesh” means meeting him in person. The base's compressed “God's mystery, Christ” identifies Christ as the mystery. Other Greek readings expand the expression to mention God as Father and Christ separately.

2:6–8 — Walking and captivity. “Walk” describes conduct; roots and building are further images. The warning concerns a philosophy characterized by empty deceit, not an explicit ban on all reasoning. “Elements of the world,” repeated at verse 20, can refer to elementary principles or to cosmic powers; the surrounding references to rulers and angels give the latter interpretation weight.

2:9–12 — Fullness and circumcision. “Filled” preserves the connection with “fullness.” “Circumcision of Christ” can mean circumcision brought about by Christ; another interpretation connects it with his death, in which believers participate. “Body of flesh” is not replaced with “sinful nature.” “In which” in verse 12 most naturally refers to baptism; “in whom,” referring to Christ, is also possible.

2:13–15 — Debt and triumph. “God” supplies the understood subject. The text shifts from “you” to “us” at forgiveness. The debt record is canceled and nailed to the cross. “Stripping” is commonly understood as disarming the powers; another interpretation is stripping them off himself. The last phrase can mean “in him,” referring to Christ, instead of “through the cross.” The triumph is pictured as a public display of defeated captives.

2:17 — Shadow and body. “Body” carries the contrast with a shadow: the solid reality belongs to Christ. It also keeps the word that recurs in the surrounding verses.

2:18–19 — Humility, angels, and visions. “Humility” here belongs to the criticized religious practice, whereas it is commended in 3:12. “Worship of angels” is taken as worship directed to angels; participation in the angels' worship is another interpretation. The base says “what he has seen”; a textual alternative adds “not.” “Dwelling on” may instead mean taking his stand on the experience or entering into it. The verse gives too little information to reconstruct a particular ritual confidently.

2:20–23 — Rules and the flesh. The quoted prohibitions belong to the practices being criticized. Verse 22 concerns things consumed in use, not the disappearance of the rules themselves. The last clause of verse 23 is especially difficult: another substantial interpretation is that the practices have no value and actually serve to gratify the flesh. “Against” in the reading expresses a provisional interpretation of the relation between the phrases.