Galatians 5:11

5:11 Now, brothers and sisters, ¹  if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? ²  In that case the offense of the cross ³  has been removed. ⁴ 

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 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁵  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 2:15-16

2:15 Disarming ⁶  the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross. ⁷ 

2:16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days –

Colossians 2:2

2:2 My goal is that ⁸  their hearts, having been knit together ⁹  in love, may be encouraged, and that ¹⁰  they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ¹¹ 

Colossians 2:10

2:10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

[5:11]  ¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[5:11]  ² sn That is, if Paul still teaches observance of the Mosaic law (preaches circumcision), why is he still being persecuted by his opponents, who insist that Gentile converts to Christianity must observe the Mosaic law?

[5:11]  ³ sn The offense of the cross refers to the offense to Jews caused by preaching Christ crucified.

[5:11]  ⁴ tn Or “nullified.”

[1:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[2:15]  ⁶ tn See BDAG 100 s.v. ἀπεκδύομαι 2.

[2:15]  ⁷ 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).

[2:2]  ⁸ tn Verse two begins a subordinate ἵνα (Jina) clause which was divided up into two sentences for the sake of clarity in English. Thus the phrase “My goal is that” is an attempt to reflect in the translation the purpose expressed through the ἵνα clauses.

[2:2]  ⁹ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβιβάζω 1.b reads “unite, knit together.” Some commentators take the verb as a reference to instruction, “instructed in love.” See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 93.

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn The phrase “and that” translates the first εἰς (eis) clause of v. 2 and reflects the second goal of Paul’s striving and struggle for the Colossians – the first is “encouragement” and the second is “full assurance.”

[2:2]  ¹¹ tc There are at least a dozen variants here, almost surely generated by the unusual wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ (tou qeou, Cristou, “of God, Christ”; so Ì⁴⁶ B Hil). Scribes would be prone to conform this to more common Pauline expressions such as “of God, who is in Christ” (33), “of God, the Father of Christ” (א* A C 048^vid 1175 bo), and “of the God and Father of Christ” (א² Ψ 075 0278 365 1505 pc). Even though the external support for the wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ is hardly overwhelming, it clearly best explains the rise of the other readings and should thus be regarded as authentic.