God’s Word Translation
Colossians 2:20
20If you have died with Christ to the world’s way of doing things, why do you let others tell you how to live? It’s as though you were still under the world’s influence.
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
18Let no one who delights in ⌞false⌟ humility and the worship of angels tell you that you don’t deserve a prize. Such a person, whose sinful mind fills him with arrogance, gives endless details of the visions he has seen. 19He doesn’t hold on to ⌞Christ,⌟ the head. Christ makes the whole body grow as God wants it to, through support and unity given by the joints and ligaments. If you have died with Christ to the world’s way of doing things, why do you let others tell you how to live? It’s as though you were still under the world’s influence. 21People will tell you, “Don’t handle this! Don’t taste or touch that!” 22All of these things deal with objects that are only used up anyway.
Read all of Colossians 2Colossians 2:20 word by word
Εἰ ἀπεθάνετε σὺν Χριστῷ ἀπὸ τῶν στοιχείων τοῦ κόσμου, τί ὡς ζῶντες ἐν κόσμῳ δογματίζεσθε;Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Whereforeοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
- ifεἰei · ifG1487
- ye be deadἀποθνήσκωapothnēskō · to dieG599
- withσύνsun · withG4862
- Christὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547
- fromἀπόapo · away fromG575
- the rudimentsστοιχεῖονstoicheion · principleG4747
- of the worldκόσμοςkosmos · worldG2889
- whyτίςtis · which?G5101
- as thoughὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
- livingζάωzaō · to liveG2198
- inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
- are ye subject to ordinancesδογματίζωdogmatizō · to decreeG1379
Cross-references for Colossians 2:20
- Colossians 3:3You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
- Romans 6:2That’s unthinkable! As far as sin is concerned, we have died. So how can we still live under sin’s influence?
- Romans 7:4In the same way, brothers and sisters, you have died to the laws in Moses’ Teachings through Christ’s body. You belong to someone else, the one who was brought back to life. As a result, we can do what God wants.
- Galatians 2:19When I tried to obey the laws in the Scriptures, those laws killed me. As a result, I live in a relationship with God. I have been crucified with Christ.
- Galatians 6:14But it’s unthinkable that I could ever brag about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. By his cross my relationship to the world and its relationship to me have been crucified.
- 1 Peter 4:1Since Christ has suffered physically, take the same attitude that he had. (A person who has suffered physically no longer sins.)
- Colossians 2:8Be careful not to let anyone rob you ⌞of this faith⌟ through a shallow and misleading philosophy. Such a person follows human traditions and the world’s way of doing things rather than following Christ.
- Ephesians 2:15He brought an end to the commandments and demands found in Moses’ Teachings so that he could take Jewish and non-Jewish people and create one new humanity in himself. So he made peace.
- John 15:19If you had anything in common with the world, the world would love you as one of its own. But you don’t have anything in common with the world. I chose you from the world, and that’s why the world hates you.
- John 17:14I have given them your message. But the world has hated them because they don’t belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.
- 2 Corinthians 10:3Of course we are human, but we don’t fight like humans.
- James 4:4You unfaithful people! Don’t you know that love for this ⌞evil⌟ world is hatred toward God? Whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God.
- 1 John 5:19We know that we are from God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
- Colossians 2:14He did this by erasing the charges that were brought against us by the written laws God had established. He took the charges away by nailing them to the cross.
- Galatians 4:3It was the same way with us. When we were children, we were slaves to the principles of this world.
- Hebrews 13:9Don’t get carried away by all kinds of unfamiliar teachings. Gaining inner strength from God’s kindness is good for us. This strength does not come from following rules about food, rules that don’t help those who follow 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
In the dictionaries
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
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