Colossians 2:14

Colossians 2:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
• New International Version (NIV)having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
• English Standard Version (ESV)by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
• New King James Version (NKJV)having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Context of Colossians 2:14

12When they baptized you, it was like God buried you with Christ. And God also raised you to a new life with Christ. You believed that God has great power to do that. You believed that God raised Jesus to life after he died. Because you believed, God raised you to have a new life. 13At one time, you were dead in your spirits, because of the wrong things that you did. God had not cut off your old nature. You did not belong to his people. But now God has caused you to become alive with Christ. He has forgiven us for all the wrong things that we have done. We are guilty of many wrong things that are against God's laws. But Christ died on the cross on our behalf. He paid the debt of our sins. It is like he has destroyed the list of all the debts that we should pay to God. 15On the cross, Christ took away the power of the bad spirits that have authority to rule people. He showed clearly that he himself has won against them. Now everyone can see that those bad spirits have no power. 16Some people may tell you that it is wrong for you to eat or to drink certain things. Or they make rules about special festival days, about new moons, or about the Jewish days for rest. Do not agree with people like that.

Colossians 2:14 word by word

ἐξαλείψας τὸ καθ᾽ ἡμῶν χειρόγραφον τοῖς δόγμασιν ὃ ἦν ὑπεναντίον ἡμῖν, καὶ αὐτὸ ἦρκεν ἐκ τοῦ μέσου προσηλώσας αὐτὸ τῷ σταυρῷ·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Blotting outἐξαλείφωexaleiphō · to blot outG1813
• the handwritingχειρόγραφοςcheirographon · writen recordG5498
• of ordinancesδόγμαdogma · decreeG1378
• thatὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• wasεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• againstκατάkata · according toG2596
• usἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• contraryὑπεναντίοςhupenantios · opposedG5227
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• tookαἴρωairō · to take upG142
• itαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• out ofἐκek ex · out fromG1537
• the wayμέσοςmesos · midstG3319
• nailingπροσηλόωprosēloō · to nailG4338
• to his crossσταυρόςstauros · crossG4716

Cross-references for Colossians 2:14

• Numbers 5:23The priest must write the curses on special paper. Then he must wash the words off the paper into the bitter water.
• Nehemiah 4:5Do not forgive their sins. Do not say that they are not guilty. They have insulted us when we are trying to build.’
• Psalms 51:1Please forgive me, God, because of your faithful love. Because you are so kind, please clean away my sins.
• Isaiah 43:25But I am the one who removes your sins when you do not obey me. I, the Lord, do that, because of who I am. I do not hold your sins in my mind.
• Isaiah 44:22I have removed the guilt of your sins, like the wind blows away a cloud. When you turned against me, I have quickly forgiven you. Return to me now, because I have rescued you.’
• Acts 3:19So you must stop doing wrong things. Change how you live and turn to God. Then God will forgive you for all the wrong things that you have done.
• Colossians 2:20Remember that your old nature has died with Christ. So the powerful spirits that rule this world no longer have any authority over you. You do not need to serve them, because you do not belong to this world now. You do not need to obey their rules.
• Esther 3:12On the 13th day of the first month, Haman asked the king's secretaries to come to him. They wrote Haman's commands in letters to the king's rulers and officers in every region. They wrote the letters in the languages that people spoke in the different regions. Haman used the authority of King Xerxes and he marked the letters with the king's special ring.
• Esther 8:8Now you must use my authority to write another law. Write a law that you think will save your people. Then mark the letters with my special ring. Any letter that has my name and the mark of my ring on it has the king's authority. Nobody can ever change it.’
• Daniel 5:7The king called for his enchanters, his wise men and his diviners to come. When they arrived, the king said to them, ‘Who can read these words? Who can tell me what they mean? Whoever can do that, I will make him great. I will put valuable purple clothes on him and he will have a gold chain around his neck. I will make him the third ruler in the kingdom.’
• Luke 1:6Zechariah and Elizabeth obeyed God's commands and rules. God saw that they were righteous people. They did not do wrong things.
• Galatians 4:1I will say it like this. Think about a son who will one day receive what belongs to his father. While he is still a child, he is like a slave in the family. That is true, even though all his father's things really belong to him.
• Ephesians 2:14It is Christ himself who has brought peace between Jews and Gentiles. He has brought those two groups together, to be one group. He has destroyed the things that made them separate. As a result, they are no longer enemies.
• Hebrews 7:18So the old law about priests no longer has authority. It was weak and it could not help people.
• Hebrews 8:13We see that God was speaking about a new agreement. That shows that he has caused the first agreement to become old. And anything that is becoming old like that will soon finish.
• Hebrews 9:9This is like a picture that means something for us today. It teaches us about the gifts and sacrifices that people offered to God, to worship him. When someone gave those things to God, it could not make him clean again in his mind.

Commentaries on Colossians 2:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances - By the hand-writing of ordinances the apostle most evidently means the ceremonial law: this was against them, for they were bound to fulfill it; and it was contrary to them, as condemning them for their neglect and transgression of it. This law God himself has blotted out. Blotting out the hand-writing is probably an allusion to Numbers 5:23, where the curses written in the book, in the case of the woman…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14Blotting out the handwriting - The word rendered handwriting means something written by the hand, a manuscript; and here, probably, the writings of the Mosaic law, or the law appointing many ordinances or observances in religion. The allusion is probably to a written contract, in which we bind ourselves to do any work, or to make a payment, and which remains in force against us until the bond is cancelled. That might be done, either by blotting out the…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-17Verses 8-17 There is a philosophy which rightly exercises our reasonable faculties; a study of the works of God, which leads us to the knowledge of God, and confirms our faith in him. But there is a philosophy which is vain and deceitful; and while it pleases men's fancies, hinders their faith: such are curious speculations about things above us, or no concern to us. Those who walk in the way of the world, are turned from following Christ. We have in Him…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14the decrees that stood against us: The Greek phrase suggests a signed acknowledgment of debt. We cannot pay what we owe, so it stands against us. The law of God requires obedience that people cannot give. But God has forgiven our debt through the work of Christ (2:13).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. Blotting out--Greek, "Having wiped out"; coincident in time with "having forgiven you" (Col 2:13); hereby having cancelled the law's indictment against you. The law (including especially the moral law, wherein lay the chief difficulty in obeying) is abrogated to the believer, as far as it was a compulsory, accusing code, and as far as "righteousness" (justification) and "life" were sought for by it. It can only produce outward works, not inward…Read the comment

Topics related to Colossians 2:14

• Contracts
• Cross
• Jesus, the Christ
• Justification
• Law
• Ordinance
• Types

In the dictionaries

• Blot
• Complete
• Conflict
• Handwriting
• Nail
• Subject
• Treasure
• Trespass
• Apostolic Age
• Astrology

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