Colossians 2:20

Colossians 2:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
• New International Version (NIV)Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:
• English Standard Version (ESV)If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—
• New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—

Context of Colossians 2:20

18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual mind. 19He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow. If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations: 21“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”? 22These will all perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.

Colossians 2:20 word by word

Εἰ ἀπεθάνετε σὺν Χριστῷ ἀπὸ τῶν στοιχείων τοῦ κόσμου, τί ὡς ζῶντες ἐν κόσμῳ δογματίζεσθε;Read the interlinear

• Ifεἰei · ifG1487
• you have diedἀποθνήσκωapothnēskō · to dieG599
• withσύνsun · withG4862
• ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547
• toἀπόapo · away fromG575
• theὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• spiritual forcesστοιχεῖονstoicheion · principleG4747
• worldκόσμοςkosmos · worldG2889
• whyτίςtis · which?G5101
• as thoughὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
• you still belongedζάωzaō · to liveG2198
• toἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• do you submit to its regulationsδογματίζωdogmatizō · to decreeG1379

Cross-references for Colossians 2:20

• Colossians 3:3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
• Romans 6:2Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?
• Romans 7:4Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
• Galatians 2:19For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God.
• Galatians 6:14But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
• 1 Peter 4:1Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves with the same resolve, because anyone who has suffered in his body is done with sin.
• Colossians 2:8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.
• Ephesians 2:15by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees. He did this to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace
• John 15:19If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.
• John 17:14I have given them Your word and the world has hated them. For they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
• 2 Corinthians 10:3For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh.
• James 4:4You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
• 1 John 5:19We know that we are of God, and that the whole world is under the power of the evil one.
• Colossians 2:14having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!
• Galatians 4:3So also, when we were children, we were enslaved under the basic principles of the world.
• Hebrews 13:9Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods of no value to those devoted to them.

Commentaries on Colossians 2:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20If ye be dead with Christ - See the notes on Romans 6:3, Romans 6:5; (note). From the rudiments of the world - Ye have renounced all hope of salvation from the observance of Jewish rites and ceremonies, which were only rudiments, first elements, or the alphabet, out of which the whole science of Christianity was composed. We have often seen that the world and this world signify the Jewish dispensation, or the rites, ceremonies, and services performed…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Wherefore - In view of all that has been said. If it be true that you are really dead to the world, why do you act as if you still lived under the principles of the world? If ye be dead with Christ - If you are dead to the world in virtue of his death. The apostle here, as elsewhere, speaks of a very close union with Christ. We died with him; that is, such was the efficacy of his death, and such is our union with him, that we became dead also to the…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-23Verses 18-23 It looked like humility to apply to angels, as if men were conscious of their unworthiness to speak directly to God. But it is not warrantable; it is taking that honour which is due to Christ only, and giving it to a creature. There really was pride in this seeming humility. Those who worship angels, disclaim Christ, who is the only Mediator between God and man. It is an insult to Christ, who is the Head of the church, to use any intercessors…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20you have died with Christ: When Christ died on the cross, he defeated the spiritual powers (2:15). By sharing in his death, he frees us from the evil spiritual powers of the world (see 2:8).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. Wherefore--The oldest manuscripts omit "Wherefore." if ye be dead--Greek, "if ye died (so as to be freed) from," &c. (compare Ro 6:2; 7:2, 3; Ga 2:19). rudiments of the world--(Col 2:8). Carnal, outward, worldly, legal ordinances. as though living--as though you were not dead to the world like your crucified Lord, into whose death ye were buried (Ga 6:14; 1Pe 4:1, 2). are ye subject to ordinances--By do ye submit to be made subject to ordinances?…Read the comment

Topics related to Colossians 2:20

• Asceticism
• Commandments
• Death
• Doctrines
• Law
• Ordinance
• Works

In the dictionaries

• Christ
• Christ, Messiah
• Complete
• Conflict
• Elements
• Subject
• Treasure
• Trespass
• Apostolic Age
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Commentaries on Colossians 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings