Hebrews 9:9-10

9:9 This was a symbol for the time then present, when gifts and sacrifices were offered that could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper. 9:10 They served only for matters of food and drink ¹  and various washings; they are external regulations ²  imposed until the new order came. ³ 

Hebrews 10:1

Concluding Exposition: Old and New Sacrifices Contrasted

10:1 For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship. ⁴ 

Galatians 4:3

4:3 So also we, when we were minors, ⁵  were enslaved under the basic forces ⁶  of the world.

Galatians 4:9

4:9 But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless ⁷  basic forces? ⁸  Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? ⁹ 

Colossians 2:14

2:14 He has destroyed ¹⁰  what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness ¹¹  expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 2:20

2:20 If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits ¹²  of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world?

¹ tn Grk “only for foods and drinks.”

² tc Most witnesses (D¹ Ï) have “various washings, and external regulations” (βαπτισμοῖς καὶ δικαιώμασιν, baptismoi" kai dikaiwmasin), with both nouns in the dative. The translation “washings; they are… regulations” renders βαπτισμοῖς, δικαιώματα (baptismoi", dikaiwmata; found in such important mss as Ì⁴⁶ א* A I P 0278 33 1739 1881 al sa) in which case δικαιώματα is taken as the nominative subject of the participle ἐπικείμενα (epikeimena). It seems far more likely that scribes would conform δικαιώματα to the immediately preceding datives and join it to them by καί than they would to the following nominative participle. Both on external and internal evidence the text is thus secure as reading βαπτισμοῖς, δικαιώματα.

³ tn Grk “until the time of setting things right.”

⁴ tn Grk “those who approach.”

⁵ tn See the note on the word “minor” in 4:1.

⁶ tn Or “basic principles,” “elemental things,” or “elemental spirits.” Some interpreters take this as a reference to supernatural powers who controlled nature and/or human fate.

⁷ tn Or “useless.” See L&N 65.16.

⁸ tn See the note on the phrase “basic forces” in 4:3.

⁹ tn Grk “basic forces, to which you want to be enslaved…” Verse 9 is a single sentence in the Greek text, but has been divided into two in the translation because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence.

¹⁰ tn The participle ἐξαλείψας (exaleiyas) is a temporal adverbial participle of contemporaneous time related to the previous verb συνεζωοποίησεν (sunezwopoihsen), but has been translated as a finite verb because of the complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences. For the meaning “destroy” see BDAG 344-45 s.v. ἐξαλείφω 2.

¹¹ tn On the translation of χειρόγραφον (ceirografon), see BDAG 1083 s.v. which refers to it as “a certificate of indebtedness.”

¹² tn See the note on the phrase “elemental spirits” in 2:8.