The verse begins with the prepositional phrase en hō, Revised Standard Version “in whom.” But this can be translated as the neuter, “in which” (so Jerusalem Bible), referring to the word secret (verse 2).

Inasmuch as the meaning of the verse is that Christ makes God’s secret known, Good News Translation has He is the key that opens for the Greek “in whom are hidden” (see Revised Standard Version). The apostle’s argument is that Christ is the revelation of God’s purpose, and so implicit in the text is that the hidden treasures of God’s wisdom and knowledge are now revealed in Christ. But most translators have, simply, “hidden in Christ.” Goodspeed has “are to be found,” Weymouth “are stored up, hidden from view,” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “in him is contained everything that mankind can ever know about God.” The verse emphasizes (1) Christ’s sufficiency, that is, all of God’s wisdom and knowledge are revealed by him; and (2) Christ’s uniqueness, that is, in him and nowhere else, are the treasures of wisdom and knowledge to be found. So Phillips “in him, and in him alone….”

It is most likely that “the wisdom and knowledge” are God’s (so Moule, see New English Bible), and not just in general.

It is frequently necessary in translating to eliminate certain figurative expressions which cannot be carried over from one language to another. In this instance, however, a non-figurative expression is translated by a figurative one, namely, the key that opens. Though this idiom is quite acceptable in English, it would be difficult to translate literally into a number of other languages, especially since the treasure in this instance is not a literal object but a truth about God as revealed through Jesus Christ. An equivalent expression in some languages may be “he is the one who reveals the hidden treasures” or “… causes to be known the hidden treasures.” It may, however, be necessary to characterize the wisdom and knowledge as being hidden treasures, but only as a postposed qualification of the wisdom and knowledge, for what Christ really reveals is God’s wisdom and knowledge. Therefore, one may translate “he is the one who makes known God’s wisdom and knowledge which is like a treasure which has been hidden.” By changing the metaphor hidden treasures to a simile by the use of “like,” one may often make clearer what is the relationship between wisdom and knowledge and treasures.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

“The word of Christ” (Revised Standard Version) is the Christian message, the gospel; it is the message about Christ. This is the only occurrence of this phrase in the NT. Some manuscripts have the more usual “the word of God” (as in 1.25) or “the word of the Lord.” Since this message is about Christ and not a message which Christ himself uttered, it would be better even in English to use a phrase “the message about Christ.”

Live translates the Greek “be at home” (enoikeō: of the Holy Spirit, Rom 8.11, 2 Tim 1.14; of faith, 2 Tim 1.5; of sin, Rom 7.17; see also oikeō en, of the Holy Spirit, Rom 8.9, 11; 1 Cor 3.16). The meaning of the command is that the Christian message must be an integral and permanent living force in them, not just an outward performance or routine activities. It may be rather difficult in some languages to speak of “a message living in someone’s heart.” However, a rendering such as “a message finding a place in a person’s heart” may be acceptable or “a message may speak to someone’s heart.”

In all its richness is a metaphor for all the resources and blessings which are to be found in the Christian message. The phrase in all its richness may characterize either the message or the way in which the message must live in the believer. The meaning is essentially the same in either case. In the first instance, one may speak of the “the wonderful message” and in the second instance, “must live in a wonderful way.”

In your hearts represents one meaning of the Greek “in you” (Revised Standard Version) but the phrase could mean “among you,” that is, in the fellowship of the Church. If the second interpretation is accepted, one may translate “must live in you” as “must influence how you live with one another” or “must determine how you behave toward one another.”

What follows in the Greek text may be variously understood: (1) the three participles “teaching … admonishing … singing” may be understood as circumstantial, expressing the circumstances in which the command of the main verb is carried out; or they may be taken as imperatives, as so often occurs in the NT. (2) With all wisdom may go either with the preceding “living” or with the following “teaching and admonishing”; most prefer the latter (for the former, see King James Version Twentieth Century New Testament Goodspeed Moffatt). (3) Psalms, hymns, and sacred songs may go with what precedes, that is, with the verbs “instructing and admonishing,” by means of psalms, etc. (so Lightfoot, King James Version Moffatt Goodspeed Twentieth Century New Testament ver WEYver*); or they may go with the following participle “singing” (Revised Standard Version Good News Translation and most other modern translations).

Instruct: the verb noutheteō means “warn, admonish, instruct”; see “warn” in 1.28; here it could mean “warn.” In view of the usefulness in distinguishing between teach and instruct, it may be best here to translate “teach one another and warn one another.” A more positive rendering of instruct may be expressed figuratively as “show the right road to one another.”

The phrase with all wisdom may be rendered as means, for example, “by using all wisdom” or “by being wise in every way.”

As commentators point out, it is impossible precisely to differentiate between the three terms that follow (all three also in Eph 5.19): psalms are OT psalms, used also by Christians in their corporate worship; hymns could be specifically Christian compositions in honor of Jesus as Lord and Savior; and “spiritual songs” (Revised Standard Version) could be spontaneous outbursts of inspired singing, prompted by the Spirit (compare Barclay).

Psalms may be referred to as “songs of the Scriptures,” and hymns could be designated as “songs about Jesus.” Similarly, “spiritual songs” could be translated as “songs from God’s Spirit” or “songs caused by the Spirit.”

With thanksgiving translates the Greek “in grace.” The understanding of this phrase is made difficult by the textual problem of whether or not the definite article (“in the grace”) belongs to the text. (UBS Greek NT gives hardly any help by including it within brackets.) It could be (1) “with thanksgiving” as Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version take it (compare Abbott, Lohse; see New English Bible Translator’s New Testament Jerusalem Bible New American Bible etc.); or (2) “by the grace (of God)” (Lightfoot); or (3) “with beauty” (Beare).

It may be difficult in some languages to speak of “singing to God with thanksgiving.” “Sing” and “give thanks” are different, though closely related, activities. It may be possible to treat them as coordinate, for example, “sing to God and be thankful,” but it may also be more natural to express the singing as dependent on the thanksgiving, for example, “when you sing to God, be thankful.”

In your hearts may be associated with thanksgiving (as Revised Standard Version Good News Translation and others do; Barclay has “heartfelt”), or with the third participle “singing,” in which case it could be taken to mean “singing with all your hearts,” fervently, enthusiastically (so Bible en français courant Barclay Phillips New American Bible Goodspeed). It is hardly likely that Paul meant that the singing was to be silent, and not vocal. Though it seems quite natural in English to speak of being “thankful in your hearts” or “singing with all your heart,” it may seem quite strange in some languages to associate “heart” with either thanksgiving or singing. For example, one may wish to speak of “being thankful in your thoughts” or “have your mind say thanks to God,” while “singing with all your heart” would be expressed as “singing with strength” or “with great happiness.”

Instead of to God, some later manuscripts, influenced by the parallel in Eph 5.19, have “to the Lord” (King James Version).

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The phrase for this reason should not refer specifically to the love which the believers in Colossae had manifested, but to all of their experience in Christian faith. It may, therefore, be necessary in some cases to use a transitional expression which will be more inclusive, for example, “because of all this,” or “because of all you have experienced,” or “because of all that has happened to you.”

We have always prayed represents the Greek “we never stop praying,” which is not to be taken literally, of course. In the place of we have always prayed, one may more appropriately translate this in some instances as “we continued to pray.”

Ever since we heard about you may be rendered as “beginning the first day we heard about you and even until now” or “we began praying for you when we first heard about you and we still do.”

We ask God to fill you represents the passive “asking that you be filled”; the active is used in order to make God explicit, as the one who does the filling. Other ways may be sought to express the idea of “fill”: compare Translator’s New Testament “you may be completely certain”; Barclay “have complete insight”; New English Bible “you may receive from him … for full insight.”

To fill you with the knowledge is essentially a causative expression and, therefore, may be best rendered in some languages as “to cause you to have knowledge” or “to cause you to experience.” In those instances, in which languages require direct discourse, one may say, “We ask God, Cause the believers in Colossae to know….”

Knowledge is here the compound noun, related to the verb “to know” in verse 7. As commentators point out, this is not merely intellectual perception, but living relationship.

His will is, in this context, God’s design, purpose, plan, intention for his people. The knowledge of his will is really “to experience what God wants for you.” This may be expressed as “to experience what God wants you to do,” but more likely as “to experience what God wants you to experience.”

Wisdom and understanding: the word “wisdom” (sophia) is used often in NT, and in Colossians it appears further in 1.28; 2.3, 23; 3.16; 4.5; “understanding” (sunesis) appears once more in (Colossians 2.2), and in 5 other places in the NT: Mark 12.33, Luke 2.47, 1 Cor 1.19 (from Isa 29.14), Eph 3.4, 2 Tim 2.7. No sharp difference in meaning is to be sought between the two words: they are joined together for emphasis to denote complete apprehension, knowledge, of God’s will.

The relation of “all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Revised Standard Version) to the preceding the knowledge of his will, as expressed by the preposition “in” (Revised Standard Version), is perhaps one of means; it is by means of all spiritual wisdom and understanding that the Colossians will have the knowledge of God’s will. Since wisdom and understanding are essentially the means by which the believers in Colossae would experience God’s will, this relationship may be expressed as a causative, “being wise and having understanding will cause you to know God’s will.”

That his Spirit gives translates the Greek adjective “spiritual.” Many translate “all spiritual wisdom and understanding,” which may better represent the intention of the text. Only Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and Bible en français courant do as Good News Translation has done, making it an explicit reference to God’s Spirit as the source of wisdom and understanding (so Abbott, Peake). Or it can also be taken to mean “wisdom and understanding about spiritual matters.” But it may be said that with Paul such “spiritual” knowledge is ultimately from (the Spirit of) God. Since the relationship of the Spirit of God to wisdom and understanding is perhaps best interpreted as causative, one may say “which God’s Spirit causes you to have.” This causative relationship may, therefore, be combined with the previous as “God’s Spirit causes you to be wise and have understanding and this causes you to know God’s will.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Perhaps the best way to display the various ways in which this verse has been interpreted is to set them forth in a schematic arrangement, before considering the specific words. The subject of the verbs may be (A) God or (B) Christ. The participle apekdusamenos may be taken as (1) active or (2) middle. Its object (a) may be “rulers and authorities” or (b) it may have no object.

A.1.a: “God disarmed the powers”: Peake, Abbott, Lohse, Beare; Revised Standard Version Goodspeed Phillips New American Bible New International Version Jerusalem Bible Bible en français courant Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch Traduction œcuménique de la Bible.
A.2.a: “God divested himself of the powers”: Twentieth Century New Testament New English Bible. (Moffatt has a variant on this: “God cut away the angelic Rulers and Powers from us.”)
B.1.a: “Christ disarmed the powers”: TEV mg Biblia Dios Habla Hoy Barclay.
B.2.a: “Christ freed himself from the powers”: Lightfoot, Moule; Good News Translation Translator’s New Testament.
B.2.b: in this interpretation, the participle apekdusamenos is understood absolutely, and the accusative phrase “the rulers and authorities” is taken as the object of the following finite verb “he made an example of them.” In this case the implied object of “Christ stripped away (from himself)” is “his body,” an interpretation favored by the Latin Fathers (apud Lightfoot).

And at the end of the verse the prepositional phrase en autō may be taken as meaning “in Christ” or “in the cross.” Most take it to mean “in the cross,” either with God as the subject of the preceding verbs (Abbott, Peake; RSV mg Twentieth Century New Testament Translator’s New Testament Jerusalem Bible New English Bible New International Version Moffatt Barclay Traduction œcuménique de la Bible Bible en français courant; and, by implication, Phillips Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), or with Christ as the subject (Lightfoot, Moule; Weymouth Good News Translation Translator’s New Testament Biblia Dios Habla Hoy Barclay). Some who take God as the subject take en autō to be “in Christ”: Lohse, Beare; Revised Standard Version Goodspeed New American Bible. Vulgate takes en autō to be reflexive (en hautō), “in himself.”

Faced with such a bewildering variety of possibilities, the translator must decide which seems most probable, assary to introduce all of the alternative possibilities.

Freed himself (Good News Translation) or “disarmed” (Revised Standard Version): the verb apekduomai (only here and in 3.9; the cognate noun apekdusis only in 2.11) means “to strip off, divest, take off (like clothing).” If taken as a middle it means “he stripped himself”; if as an active, “he stripped the rulers and authorities.” The form is middle, but many understand it to have an active force (see Bl-D, #316; A&G; Lohse, Beare).

If one follows the Good News Translation interpretation freed himself, it is possible to say “caused himself to no longer be under the power of.” If, however, one interprets the verb in an active sense, then one may say “he took away the power of the rulers and authorities” or “he caused the rulers and authorities to no longer have power.”

Commentators are agreed that “the rulers and authorities” are spiritual, supernatural, powers—so Good News Translation the spiritual rulers and authorities. As in other contexts, it may be useful to translate spiritual by “spirits” and then to reproduce rulers and authorities by verbs indicating activities, for example, “spirits that rule and govern.”

Made a … spectacle of them translates the verb which appears only here and in Matt 1.19 (compare the noun deigma in Jude 7). Public (Revised Standard Version Good News Translation and others) can be understood as “boldly” (so Lightfoot, Abbott, Moule); the noun parrēsia usually means “confidence, boldness.”

He made a public spectacle of them may be translated as “he caused everyone to see,” or “he showed them off to everyone,” or “what happened to them he made very conspicuous,” or “he caused them to walk along behind him, so that everyone would see.”

Leading them as captives in his victory procession translates the Greek verb thriambeuō, found only here and in 2 Cor 2.14. It refers to the well-known triumphal procession of a victorious general, leading captive rulers in chains at his chariot wheels. Compare Jerusalem Bible “paraded them in public, behind him in his triumphal procession,” New English Bible “led then as captives in his triumphal procession.”

By leading them as captives may be expressed as “by having them tied up and walking along behind him” or “by making them march behind him with hands tied.”

In his victory procession may be expressed as “as he rides along showing that he has been victorious” or “showing that he has conquered these powers” or “… these spirits.” But in view of the figurative usage involved in this passage, again it may be necessary to mark the expression as a simile, for example, “as though marching in triumph.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

For similar injunctions to be persistent in prayer see Rom 12.12, Eph 6.18, Phil 4.6, 1 Thes 5.17. Be persistent in prayer may be rendered as “continue to pray,” but more often than not a more satisfactory equivalent is “do not stop praying.”

Besides being persistent, they are to keep alert. It is difficult to know precisely what this means; it does not seem probable that it is meant literally, “keep awake” (Jerusalem Bible), but rather metaphorically, “with mind awake” as New English Bible puts it, or else, as Beare suggests, “being watchful against temptation.” Keep alert as you pray may possibly be expressed as “pay attention to what you are saying to God.”

Once more giving thanks to God is stressed as an integral part of all Christian prayer.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Here Paul describes their present status with a sharp contrastive phrase: but now, followed by the verb “to reconcile” (see verse 20). The textual evidence is divided over whether the verb is active indicative third singular “he (God) reconciled (you),” or a passive participle “you having been reconciled,” or a passive second plural indicative “you have been reconciled.” The hardest reading is the participle; as the United Bible Societies Textual Commentary says, the majority of the Committee considered “a passive participle to be totally unsuitable in the context.” The 2nd edition of the UBS Greek New Testament had the passive indicative in the text, but in the 3rd edition the text has the active indicative “he has reconciled.” For the translation, the textual problem does not present a very great difficulty; and in most cases, it will be preferable to represent the meaning by using the verb in the active voice, not the passive. The subject of the verb is probably to be taken as God, who is spoken of as the actor in the work of reconciliation, with Christ as the agent through whom God effects the reconciliation, that is, God has made you his friends. However, New American Bible Goodspeed Moffatt make Christ the subject of the verb.

The process of reconciliation is often expressed in figurative language, even as it is in the English figure of speech God has made you his friends. In other languages, the process of reconciliation may be described as “he has tied you together again,” or “he has brought you together to snap fingers” (in certain parts of Africa snapping fingers together is equivalent to shaking hands), or “he has caused you to cut your differences.”

By means of the physical death of his Son represents what is literally “by the body of his flesh through the death,” which quite clearly means what Good News Translation says. The reference is to the death of Christ, not of God, and a translation must make that explicit. The phrase “the body of flesh” appears again in 2.11; as Moule points out, it may be that this phrase stresses not only the physical body of Christ (as contrasted with the Church as his spiritual body, verse 18) but the reality of his physical death. Translator’s New Testament translates “through his Son, who lived and died,” Barclay, more felicitously, “by the incarnation and death of his Son,” New English Bible “by Christ’s death in his body of flesh and blood,” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “But because his Son died as a human being, God has accepted you as his friends.”

In a number of languages, there are problems involved in making clear the distinction between means and cause. If one translates by means of the physical death of his Son as “because his Son really died,” this might suggest only a reason which prompted God to do something, not the means by which God effected a particular result. Sometimes means must be expressed essentially as a cause, but it should be a so-called “effective cause” and not merely a reason, for example, “God’s son died and this has made possible God’s making you his friends” or even “God has used the fact that his son died to make you his friends.”

(In order) to bring you … into his presence: as translated by Good News Translation, God is the subject of the verb and his refers to God; so also the translations that make God the subject of “he reconciled.” Those that make Christ the subject of “he reconciled,” also make him the subject of “to present” and take “before him,” as a reference to God. The Greek “to present you” may be understood as transitive, with God (or Christ) as subject, and “you” as object; or it may be understood intransitively, meaning “(for) you to stand.” Most understand it as transitive, but Jerusalem Bible takes it as intransitive (“now you are able to appear before him”); and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch takes it as an imperative, “Stand before him.” The language is that of an offering or sacrifice (compare such use of the verb in this kind of context in Luke 2.22, Rom 12.1, Eph 5.27, Col 1.28); it may seem odd to say that God “presents” a gift, or offering to himself (but see also Eph 5.27). Most translators take the infinitive to express purpose, as do Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, in order to; Jerusalem Bible, however, takes it to represent result. This “presentation” is probably thought of as an eschatological event, when all will be brought into his presence.

To bring you … into his presence may be rendered as a causative, for example, “to cause you to stand before him” or “to cause you to be where he is.”

The three adjectives holy, pure, and faultless describe moral and spiritual qualities (in Greek there is a rhetorical effect, achieved through alliteration; all three begin with the letter alpha). No precise and discrete areas of meaning are to be sought for each separate adjective; the three are used for effect, to denote complete and total purity, the effect of Christ’s redemptive death in purifying his people from all their sins, blemishes, and faults.

Since the three adjectives holy, pure, and faultless serve primarily to intensify the concept of being without blame, this may be expressed in some languages by using qualifying expressions, for example, “completely without blame in any way,” or “completely without the slightest amount of guilt,” or “not having guilt for anything at all.” This somewhat negative way of speaking of something which is holy and pure is not at all unusual. These adjectives which are positives in English are more often than not expressed negatively in other languages; that is to say, the focus is upon the absence of something bad rather than some positive quality.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

For similar lists of vices see 1 Cor 6.9-10, Gal 5.19-21, Eph 5.1-5, 1 Peter 2.1, 4.1-3. Put to death: this verb occurs twice again (Rom 4.19, Heb 11.12) in a literal sense; only here is it used figuratively (compare the synonymous thanatoō in Rom 8.13), meaning “destroy, do away with completely” (see also Rom 6.11). As Moule points out, the English verb “mortify” (as in King James Version), though etymologically accurate, carries today a different meaning from what is commanded here.f 7 fr 3.5 ft Moule, op. cit., p. 114.

The figurative expression put to death is a forceful one and should be retained if possible. However, it may lead to misunderstanding, since “to kill desires” might suggest a complete loss of desire to live. A more satisfactory equivalent in some languages is “get rid of completely,” or “eliminate completely from yourselves,” or “cause completely to have no more influence.”

The earthly desires at work in you represents what is literally “the members that are upon the earth” (compare King James Version). It is an odd phrase, for which no exact parallel has been found (see Rom 6.13). Lightfoot’s explanation may be the best one: “the old man (see verse 9) with all his members must be pitilessly slain,” and he refers to Matt 5.29-30 for similar language.f 8 fr 3.5 ft Lightfoot, op. cit., p. 209. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has: “therefore put to death what of the old man still lives in you.” Barclay translates, “You must put an end to the use of any part of your body for worldly and immoral purposes.”

In a number of languages, there are two quite distinct words for desires; one refers to appropriate desires and another to evil ones. It is obviously the second term which is meant in this context, since all of the specific designations for these desires are related to certain kinds of sin. If a term for desires does suggest wrong desires, then it may not be necessary to add a term for earthly. In fact it is rarely possible to use an equivalent of earthly which has any reference to the earth itself. The only way in which “the earth” can be introduced is in a rather elaborate clause, for example, “desires which people in the world have.”

It is rare that one can speak of “desires at work,” for the very fact that one “desires something” indicates that in a sense the desire is active. Accordingly, the earthly desires at work in you, such as sexual immorality … may be expressed as “your evil desires for unlawful sex….”

The first sin listed covers “every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse” (A&G); indecency (Good News Translation) or “impurity” (Revised Standard Version) is usually associated with sexual sins, and is joined to sexual immorality in Rom 1.24, 2 Cor 12.21, Gal 5.19, Eph 5.3, 1 Thes 4.7. The next word lust (Good News Translation) or “passion” (Revised Standard Version) also refers to sexual passion (see Rom 1.26, 1 Thes 4.5), which results in sexual sin.

In a number of languages, it may be difficult to distinguish properly between indecency, sexual immorality and lust. Since all of these refer to certain aspects of sexual sin, it may be possible simply to use an expression such as “desire to engage in all kinds of unlawful sexual sins.” In some languages, an equivalent of these expressions in Greek would be expressed in figurative language, for example, “desires to act like a dog,” or “desires to be constantly hot with sex,” or “constantly desiring to rub bellies.”

Evil passions (Good News Translation) or “evil desire” (Revised Standard Version) may be narrowly restricted to sex or more broadly associated with evil of self-centered desire, which is the basic cause of all sins. The noun itself may be morally neutral or even good, and so the qualifying adjective “evil” is added. If evil passions are to be interpreted in terms of sex relations, the meaning may be incorporated or joined with the preceding three expressions. If however, evil passions are to be understood in a more general sense, the phrase may be translated as “desires to do evil” or “constantly wanting to do what is bad.”

The Greek word for greed is literally “a desire to have more.” In Eph 5.5 it is also made equivalent to idolatry. The reasoning seems to be that Mammon becomes the god that a covetous person worships and serves in the place of God (Matt 6.24). Greed may be rendered as “a desire to have many things” or even “a desire to have much more than others.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

This added praise of Epaphras makes it appear that he had been criticized for neglecting his work. Hard work translates polun ponon “much toil”; later manuscripts have zēlon “zeal” (see King James Version). I can personally testify to his hard work for you may be translated as “I myself am able to tell you about the way in which he has worked hard for you” or “I myself have seen how he has worked hard for you.” Hard work for you may be rendered as “work hard in order to help you.”

Hierapolis was about 20 kilometers northwest of Colossae. Hierapolis, Colossae, and Laodicea (see 2.1) were all in the Lycus Valley.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .