Ephesians 1:21

1:21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Ephesians 3:10

3:10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that ¹  through the church the multifaceted wisdom ²  of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms.

Romans 8:38

8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, ³  nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers,

Colossians 2:15

2:15 Disarming ⁴  the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross. ⁵ 

Colossians 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ⁶  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ⁷ 

Colossians 3:22

3:22 Slaves, ⁸  obey your earthly ⁹  masters in every respect, not only when they are watching – like those who are strictly people-pleasers – but with a sincere heart, fearing the Lord.

¹ tn Grk “that.” Verse 10 is a subordinate clause to the verb “enlighten” in v. 9.

² tn Or “manifold wisdom,” “wisdom in its rich variety.”

³ tn BDAG 138 s.v. ἀρχή 6 takes this term as a reference to angelic or transcendent powers (as opposed to merely human rulers). To clarify this, the adjective “heavenly” has been supplied in the translation. Some interpreters see this as a reference to fallen angels or demonic powers, and this view is reflected in some recent translations (NIV, NLT).

⁴ tn See BDAG 100 s.v. ἀπεκδύομαι 2.

⁵ tn The antecedent of the Greek pronoun αὐτῷ (autw) could either be “Christ” or the “cross.” There are several reasons for choosing “the cross” as the antecedent for αὐτῷ in verse 15: (1) The nearest antecedent is τῷ σταυρῷ (tw staurw) in v. 14; (2) the idea of ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησία (edeigmatisen en parrhsia, “made a public disgrace”) seems to be more in keeping with the idea of the cross; (3) a reference to Christ seems to miss the irony involved in the idea of triumph – the whole point is that where one would expect defeat, there came the victory; (4) if Christ is the subject of the participles in v. 15 then almost certainly the cross is the referent for αὐτῷ. Thus the best solution is to see αὐτῷ as a reference to the cross and the preposition ἐν (en) indicating “means” (i.e., by means of the cross) or possibly (though less likely) location (on the cross).

⁶ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

⁷ tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”

⁸ tn On this word here and in 4:1, see the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

⁹ tn The prepositional phrase κατὰ σάρκα (kata sarka) does not necessarily qualify the masters as earthly or human (as opposed to the Master in heaven, the Lord), but could also refer to the sphere in which “the service-relation holds true.” See BDAG 577 s.v. κύριος 1.b.