ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Colossians 2

Col. 2:1 for those at Laodicea. Laodicea was the nearest city to Colossae, only 9 miles (14.5 km) away (see note on Rev. 3:14–22). There was a close relationship between these churches.

Col. 2:2 The false teachers probably claimed special knowledge of the mysteries of God’s truth. Paul insists that Christ is God’s mystery. All understanding is found in him.

Col. 2:3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Jesus is the ultimate keeper of divine wisdom and spiritual knowledge. Compare Prov. 2:3–6.

Col. 2:4–23 The Dangerous Teaching at Colossae. Paul delivers a series of warnings about the teaching that threatens the Colossian church. In doing so, he also provides important teaching on the Christians’ new identity in Christ. This will help them resist the false teachers’ arguments and live in a way that pleases the Lord.

Col. 2:4 that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. What the teacher(s) are saying sounds right, but it is still false.

Col. 2:5 good order . . . firmness. The Colossians should be like troops ready for battle.

Col. 2:6–7 you received Christ Jesus the Lord. Paul reminds the Colossians of the foundational teaching of Epaphras when they first became Christians. At the heart of this is the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord (1 Cor. 12:3).

Col. 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive. “Takes you captive” translates a Greek word commonly used of stealing a ship’s cargo. philosophy. The Greek for this word suggests the faction’s leaders called their teaching “the philosophy.” Paul is not condemning all traditional Greek philosophical schools (for example, Platonism, Stoicism, Aristotelianism). His remarks are focused on the particular teaching at Colossae. the elemental spirits of the world. Paul likely is referring to demonic spirits.

Col. 2:9 in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. Jesus is God in the flesh (see 1:15–20).

Col. 2:10 you have been filled in him. Believers share in Christ’s power and authority over every rule and authority through their union with him. Here is the letter’s main theme. The divine “fullness” is in Christ (v. 9), and believers are “filled in him.” They have everything they need in Christ. The term head is clearly used here with the sense of “authority over” (see note on 1 Cor. 11:3).

Col. 2:11 In him also you were circumcised. Paul here uses circumcision to picture a spiritual (made without hands) action. He describes it as putting off the body of the flesh. Believers no longer live in the power and under the influence of the flesh (Gal. 5:24). They have been transferred to Christ’s kingdom and live through and in him, under his lordship (Col. 1:13).

Col. 2:12–13 buried with him in baptism . . . also raised with him. . . . made alive together with him. Baptism represents an identification with Christ in his death (compare Rom. 6:4–6). It also symbolizes his resurrection (compare Eph. 2:6). Dying and rising with Christ symbolizes death to the power of sin and Satan as well as strength to live a new life (see Rom. 6:3–11).

Col. 2:14 record of debt. Paul uses this legal term to describe each person’s debt to God because of sin. God himself has mercifully resolved this debt by nailing it to the cross, where Jesus paid the penalty. The image comes from the notices posted on a cross by the Roman authorities. These declared the crime for which the criminal was being executed (see John 19:19–22).

Col. 2:15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities. On the cross, demonic powers were stripped of their power to accuse Christians before God. put them to open shame. This is the same term used in Matt. 1:19 to refer to Joseph’s unwillingness to expose Mary to public shame. The cross publicly reveals the failure of the demonic powers to defeat God’s plan of salvation through Christ (see 1 Cor. 2:6–8).

Col. 2:16 food and drink . . . a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. The false teacher(s) claimed that some Jewish ceremonies were essential for spiritual advancement. On “new moon,” see note on Num. 28:11–15.

Col. 2:17 a shadow of the things to come. The old covenant ceremonies pointed to a future reality that was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ (compare Heb. 10:1). Thus Christians are no longer under the Mosaic covenant (see Rom. 6:14–15; 2 Cor. 3:4–18; Gal. 3:15–4:7).

Col. 2:18 Paul lists a variety of ways the false teachers had tried to disqualify the genuine believers in Colossae. asceticism. Paul probably had in mind fasting and perhaps the rules mentioned in v. 21. worship of angels. Asking angels for help and protection from evil spirits.

Col. 2:19 not holding fast to the Head. The false teacher at Colossae has not maintained contact with Christ. Thus the teacher has become influenced by evil spirits (see v. 8). On the church as a body, see Rom. 12:5–8; 1 Corinthians 12; Eph. 4:4, 12–16.

Col. 2:20 the elemental spirits. See note on v. 8.

Col. 2:21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch.” Specific rules the teacher of the false philosophy insists the Colossians must obey. God does not give these rules; under the new covenant, the food a person eats is not important in his or her spiritual life (see Mark 7:18–19).

Col. 2:23 severity to the body. The fasting and rules that were part of the behavior encouraged by “the philosophy.” It may also have included forms of self-mutilation similar to what was practiced in some of the local cults.