Colossians 3:2

3:2 Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth,

Colossians 1:16

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ¹  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

Colossians 1:20

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ²  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Colossians 3:5

3:5 So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: ³  sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, ⁴  evil desire, and greed which is idolatry.

Colossians 1:17

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ⁵  in him.

Colossians 3:21

3:21 Fathers, ⁶  do not provoke ⁷  your children, so they will not become disheartened.

Colossians 2:22

2:22 These are all destined to perish with use, founded as they are ⁸  on human commands and teachings. ⁹ 

Colossians 3:8

3:8 But now, put off all such things ¹⁰  as anger, rage, malice, slander, abusive language from your mouth.

Colossians 3:20

3:20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord.

Colossians 4:7

Personal Greetings and Instructions

4:7 Tychicus, a dear brother, faithful minister, and fellow slave ¹¹  in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. ¹² 

Colossians 4:9

4:9 I sent him ¹³  with Onesimus, the faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. ¹⁴  They will tell ¹⁵  you about everything here.

Colossians 2:13

2:13 And even though you were dead in your ¹⁶  transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless ¹⁷  made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions.

Colossians 3:1

Exhortations to Seek the Things Above

3:1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Colossians 4:8

4:8 I sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are doing ¹⁸  and that he may encourage your hearts.

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 ¹⁹  through an empty, deceitful philosophy ²⁰  that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits ²¹  of the world, and not according to Christ.

[1:16]  ¹ tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.

[1:20]  ¹ tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally important witnesses have it (Ì⁴⁶ א A C D¹ Ψ 048^vid 33 Ï). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as original. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In short, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original.

[3:5]  ¹ tn Grk “the members which are on the earth.” See BDAG 628 s.v. μέλος 1, “put to death whatever in you is worldly.”

[3:5]  ² tn Or “lust.”

[1:17]  ¹ tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.

[3:21]  ¹ tn Or perhaps “Parents.” The plural οἱ πατέρες (Joi patere", “fathers”) can be used to refer to both the male and female parent (BDAG 786 s.v. πατήρ 1.a).

[3:21]  ² tn Or “do not cause your children to become resentful” (L&N 88.168). BDAG 391 s.v. ἐρεθίζω states, “to cause someone to react in a way that suggests acceptance of a challenge, arouse, provoke mostly in bad sense irritate, embitter.”

[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.”

[3:8]  ¹ tn The Greek article with τὰ πάντα (ta panta) is anaphoric, referring to the previous list of vices, and has been translated here as “all such things.”

[4:7]  ¹ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:7]  ² tn Grk “all things according to me.”

[4:9]  ¹ tn The Greek sentence continues v. 9 with the phrase “with Onesimus,” but this is awkward in English, so the verb “I sent” was inserted and a new sentence started at the beginning of v. 9 in the translation.

[4:9]  ² tn Grk “is of you.”

[4:9]  ³ tn Grk “will make known to you.” This has been simplified in the translation to “will tell.”

[2:13]  ¹ tn The article τοῖς (tois) with παραπτώμασιν (paraptwmasin) is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[2:13]  ² tn The word “nevertheless,” though not in the Greek text, was supplied in the translation to bring out the force of the concessive participle ὄντας (ontas).

[4:8]  ¹ tn Grk “the things concerning us.”

[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).