Colossians 1:26

1:26 that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints.

Colossians 4:13

4:13 For I can testify that he has worked hard ¹  for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Colossians 1:14

1:14 in whom we have redemption, ²  the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 2:17

2:17 these are only ³  the shadow of the things to come, but the reality ⁴  is Christ! ⁵ 

Colossians 1:12

1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share ⁶  in the saints’ ⁷  inheritance in the light.

Colossians 2:20

2:20 If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits ⁸  of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world?

Colossians 2:22

2:22 These are all destined to perish with use, founded as they are ⁹  on human commands and teachings. ¹⁰ 

Colossians 4:18

4:18 I, Paul, write this greeting by my own hand. ¹¹  Remember my chains. ¹²  Grace be with you. ¹³ 

Colossians 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ¹⁴  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ¹⁵ 

Colossians 2:18

2:18 Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths ¹⁶  about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind. ¹⁷ 

Colossians 1:18

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ¹⁸  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ¹⁹ 

Colossians 1:24

1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body – for the sake of his body, the church – what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.

Colossians 2:8

2:8 Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you ²⁰  through an empty, deceitful philosophy ²¹  that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits ²²  of the world, and not according to Christ.

Colossians 2:19

2:19 He has not held fast ²³  to the head from whom the whole body, supported ²⁴  and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God. ²⁵ 

[4:13]  ¹ tn Grk “pain.” This word appears only three times in the NT outside of this verse (Rev 16:10, 11; 21:4) where the translation “pain” makes sense. For the present verse it has been translated “worked hard.” See BDAG 852 s.v. πόνος 1.

[1:14]  ¹ tc διὰ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ (dia tou {aimato" autou, “through his blood”) is read at this juncture by several minuscule mss (614 630 1505 2464 al) as well as a few, mostly secondary, versional and patristic witnesses. But the reading was prompted by the parallel in Eph 1:7 where the wording is solid. If these words had been in the original of Colossians, why would scribes omit them here but not in Eph 1:7? Further, the testimony on behalf of the shorter reading is quite overwhelming: {א A B C D F G Ψ 075 0150 6 33 1739 1881 Ï latt co as well as several other versions and fathers}. The conviction that “through his blood” is not authentic in Col 1:14 is as strong as the conviction that these words are authentic in Eph 1:7.

[2:17]  ¹ tn The word “only,” though not in the Greek text, is supplied in the English translation to bring out the force of the Greek phrase.

[2:17]  ² tn Grk “but the body of Christ.” The term body here, when used in contrast to shadow (σκιά, skia) indicates the opposite meaning, i.e., the reality or substance itself.

[2:17]  ³ tn The genitive τοῦ Χριστοῦ (tou Cristou) is appositional and translated as such: “the reality is Christ.”

[1:12]  ¹ tn BDAG 473 s.v. ἱκανόω states, “τινὰ εἴς τι someone for someth. Col 1:12.” The point of the text is that God has qualified the saints for a “share” or “portion” in the inheritance of the saints.

[1:12]  ² tn Grk “the inheritance of the saints.” The genitive noun τῶν ἁγίων (twn Jagiwn) is a possessive genitive: “the saints’ inheritance.”

[2:20]  ¹ tn See the note on the phrase “elemental spirits” in 2:8.

[2:22]  ¹ tn The expression “founded as they are” brings out the force of the Greek preposition κατά (kata).

[2:22]  ² tn Grk “The commands and teachings of men.”

[4:18]  ¹ tn Grk “the greeting by my hand, of Paul.”

[4:18]  ² tn Or “my imprisonment.”

[4:18]  ³ tc Most witnesses, including a few important ones (א² D Ψ 075 0278 Ï lat sy), conclude this letter with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”). Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, the external evidence for the omission is quite compelling (א* A B C F G 048 6 33 81 1739* 1881 sa). The strongly preferred reading is therefore the omission of ἀμήν.

[2:1]  ¹ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ² tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”

[2:18]  ¹ tn For the various views on the translation of ἐμβατεύων (embateuwn), see BDAG 321 s.v. ἐμβατεύω 4. The idea in this context seems to be that the individual in question loves to talk on and on about his spiritual experiences, but in reality they are only coming out of his own sinful flesh.

[2:18]  ² tn Grk “by the mind of his flesh.” In the translation above, σαρκός (sarkos) is taken as an attributive genitive. The phrase could also be translated “by his sinful thoughts,” since it appears that Paul is using σάρξ (sarx, “flesh”) here in a morally negative way.

[1:18]  ¹ tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.

[1:18]  ² tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

[2:8]  ¹ tn The Greek construction here is somewhat difficult and can be literally rendered “Be careful, lest someone shall be the one who takes you captive.”

[2:8]  ² tn The Greek reads τῆς φιλοσοφίας καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης (th" filosofia" kai kenh" apath"). The two nouns φιλοσοφίας and κενῆς are joined by one article and probably form a hendiadys. Thus the second noun was taken as modifying the first, as the translation shows.

[2:8]  ³ tn The phrase κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου (kata ta stoiceia tou kosmou) is difficult to translate because of problems surrounding the precise meaning of στοιχεῖα in this context. Originally it referred to the letters of the alphabet, with the idea at its root of “things in a row”; see C. Vaughn, “Colossians,” EBC 11:198. M. J. Harris (Colossians and Philemon [EGGNT], 93) outlines three probable options: (1) the material elements which comprise the physical world; (2) the elementary teachings of the world (so NEB, NASB, NIV); (3) the elemental spirits of the world (so NEB, RSV). The first option is highly unlikely because Paul is not concerned here with the physical elements, e.g., carbon or nitrogen. The last two options are both possible. Though the Gnostic-like heresy at Colossae would undoubtedly have been regarded by Paul as an “elementary teaching” at best, because the idea of “spirits” played such a role in Gnostic thought, he may very well have had in mind elemental spirits that operated in the world or controlled the world (i.e., under God’s authority and permission).

[2:19]  ¹ tn The Greek participle κρατῶν (kratwn) was translated as a finite verb to avoid an unusually long and pedantic sentence structure in English.

[2:19]  ² tn See BDAG 387 s.v. ἐπιχορηγέω 3.

[2:19]  ³ tn The genitive τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) has been translated as a genitive of source, “from God.”