Colossians 2:21

Colossians 2:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)(Touch not; taste not; handle not;
• English Standard Version (ESV)"Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch"
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,”
• New Living Translation (NLT)“Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”?

Context of Colossians 2:21

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. 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: “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. 23Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Colossians 2:21 word by word

μὴ ἅψῃ μηδὲ γεύσῃ μηδὲ θίγῃς·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Touchἅπτωhaptomai · to touchG680
• notμήmē · notG3361
• tasteγεύωgeuomai · to tasteG1089
• notμηδέmēde · norG3366
• handleθιγγάνωthigganō · to touchG2345

Cross-references for Colossians 2:21

• Genesis 3:3but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”
• Isaiah 52:11Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the articles of the Lord’s house.
• 2 Corinthians 6:17Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
• 1 Timothy 4:3They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.

Commentaries on Colossians 2:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21Touch not; taste not; handle not - These are forms of expression very frequent among the Jews. In Maccoth, fol. xxi. 1: "If they say to a Nazarite, Don't drink, don't drink; and he, notwithstanding, drinks; he is guilty. If they say, Don't shave, don't shave; and he shaves, notwithstanding; he is guilty. If they say, Don't put on these clothes, don't put on these clothes; and he, notwithstanding, puts on heterogeneous garments; he is guilty." See more in…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Tough not; taste not; handle not - These words seem intended as a specimen of the kind of ordinances which the apostle refers to, or an imitation of the language of the Jewish teachers in regard to various kinds of food and drink. “Why are ye subject to ordinances of various kinds, such as this - Touch not, taste not, handle not?” That is, such as prohibit you from even touching certain kinds of food, or tasting certain kinds of drink, or handling certain…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. 16-23Paul rejects the false teachers and their demands, explaining that their ideas come from human teachings (see 2:8). They advocated various rules of conduct that had no basis in Christ.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. Compare Col 2:16, "meat ... drink." He gives instances of the "ordinances" (Col 2:20) in the words of their imposers. There is an ascending climax of superstitious prohibitions. The first Greek word (hapse) is distinguished from the third (thiges), in that the former means close contact and retention: the latter, momentary contact (compare 1Co 7:1; Joh 20:17, Greek, "Hold me not"; cling not to me"). Translate, "Handle not, neither taste, nor even…Read the comment

Topics related to Colossians 2:21

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

In the dictionaries

• Complete
• Conflict
• Subject
• Treasure
• Trespass
• Apocryphal Gospels
• Apostolic Age
• Astrology
• Colossians, Epistle to the
• Fable

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