New International Version
Colossians 2:20
20Since 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:
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,
- 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—
- New Living Translation (NLT)You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as,
Context of Colossians 2:20
18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. 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: 21“Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.
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 3:3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
- Romans 6:2By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
- Romans 7:4So, my brothers and sisters, 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 for God.
- Galatians 2:19“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.
- Galatians 6:14May 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 also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.
- Colossians 2:8See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
- Ephesians 2:15by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace,
- John 15:19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
- John 17:14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.
- 2 Corinthians 10:3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
- James 4:4You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
- 1 John 5:19We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
- Colossians 2:14having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
- Galatians 4:3So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world.
- Hebrews 13:9Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so.
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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