4:13a

For I testify about him: The Greek verb martureō that the Berean Standard Bible translates I testify about literally means “I witness” or “I testify.” It means that because Paul had personally seen and heard what Epaphras was doing, he could assure the Colossian believers that Epaphras was working hard on behalf of the Colossians and others.

he goes to great pains for you: The Greek translated literally says “he has much pain/labor for you.” There are two ways to interpret these words:

(1) Paul was referring to the hard work that Epaphras was doing to help the Colossians.

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, God’s Word, New Century Version, NET Bible, Revised English Bible)

(2) Paul was referring to the strong emotions that Epaphras felt because he was concerned about the Colossians. See SSA.

(New Living Translation (2004))

It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation (1), since the Greek word ponos most naturally means “work,” not “concern.” This is also the interpretation preferred by the majority of commentators. Paul did not specify the sort of work Epaphras was doing on behalf of the Colossians, but it presumably included praying for them (4:12). You could translate this:

I can assure you that he is working hard to help you,

Do not try to explain what kind of work Epaphras was doing.

4:13b

Laodicea and Hierapolis: These were towns along the same river as Colossae, to the west. It is possible that Epaphras had already preached in these towns also.

© 2001 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

1:5a-b

the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard: The Greek text does not include the words the faith and love in this verse, but begins “because of the hope” (see Revised Standard Version). The Berean Standard Bible has repeated the words faith and love from 1:4 to clarify the connection between 1:4 and 1:5. Paul was saying that the Colossian believers trusted in Christ Jesus and loved other Christians because of the hope they had.

hope: In English the word hope is more like a “wish.” When someone says, “I hope it doesn’t rain,” he means that he is uncertain: he doesn’t want it to rain, but he doesn’t know if it will or not. But this is not the biblical meaning of hope. The Greek word elpis, that the Berean Standard Bible translates hope, means “to confidently expect something to happen.”

Full Christian hope is this:

(a) Christ will descend from heaven.

(b) He will raise to life the Christians who have died, and he will gather them along with those who are still alive in order to bring them all together to meet him.

(c) All these believers will receive new bodies.

(d) God will accept them all as his perfect people.

(e) They all will live forever with God and Christ in heaven.

When Paul spoke about “the hope stored up for you in heaven,” he was referring to all these wonderful things that Christians are waiting for, the things that God has prepared for his people in heaven.

stored up: The Greek word apokeimai that the Berean Standard Bible translates stored up means, “to put away, store up,” like a farmer who stores grain in a barn so he can use it in the future. Paul was not saying that God had stored up literal “things” like money or food, but he was referring to the reward which God has for his people and which he is “keeping safe” for them. The UBS Handbook Handbook (page 11) suggests one way to translate this:

God is keeping safe for you in heaven the reward that you are confident that he will give you.

1:5c–6a

the word of truth, the gospel: Paul was not writing about two different things. The word of truth and the gospel refer to the same thing. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

the true message, which is the good news (Contemporary English Version)

the word of truth: This means the true message about Christ. In these verses, Paul began to emphasize that the message about Christ that the Colossians had originally been taught was the only true message about Christ. He emphasized this because some people in Colossae had begun to teach false things about Christ.

gospel: The Greek word euaggelion that the Berean Standard Bible translates gospel means “good news.” After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the first Christians soon began to use euaggelion to mean specifically “God’s message about Christ.” If you translate it using a general phrase like “good news,” check that the people who use your translation will understand that the term refers specifically to the message about Christ. See “gospel” in Key Biblical Terms and in the glossary.

that has come to you: Although this expression is actually part of 1:6, it is joined grammatically to 1:5.

In some languages, it is not possible to talk about news “coming” to a place or to people. If this is the case in your language, you can say something like:

the message that was first told to you
-or-
the message that was first brought to you

In this verse, Paul did not say who brought the gospel. In 1:7, Paul said that Epaphras taught them the gospel. However, Epaphras may not have been the only teacher who brought the gospel to Colossae. So if you need to say who brought the message in your translation, it is better to say something general like. For example:

people came and told you…

General Comment about 1:5a–6a

It may be helpful in your translation to change the order of the parts of 1:5a–6a. The Good News Translation has done that in this way:

When the true message, the good news, first came to you, you heard about the hope it offers. So your faith and love are based on what you hope for, which is kept safe for you in heaven.

Another way might be to say:

When people first came to you and told you the true message, the good news ⌊about Christ, you heard it and believed it⌋. Now you are expectantly waiting for the blessings that ⌊God⌋ has planned to give you in heaven. Because of this, ⌊you are trusting in Christ Jesus and love all God’s people⌋.

© 2001 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

Paragraph 2:8–15

Theme: Paul warned the Colossians to make sure that the false teachers did not deceive them with their deceptive Greek philosophies and ideas about the spirit world.

Paul stated his main point at the beginning of this paragraph: “See to it that no one takes you captive…” (2:8a). You need to make this main point clear in your translation.

2:8a

See to it: This is a warning, it means, “Watch out!” “Be careful!” “Pay attention!” “Make sure that…”

that no one takes you captive: This is a figure of speech. When a person is captured, he is forced to do whatever his captors want. In the same way the false teachers wanted to make the Colossian believers believe them and do whatever they commanded. So Paul means, “Be careful. Do not let anybody trick you and tell you what you must believe.” The SSA says, “Make sure that no one makes you become his disciple.”

2:8b

philosophy and empty deception: Among the non-Christian Greek people, there were many philosophers. A philosopher is a person who spends most of his time thinking and teaching about the gods and supernatural spirits. The Greek people admired and respected these philosophers very much. It seems that some of the Greek Christians in Colossae were thinking up ideas about God in this way, but their ideas were wrong. Paul was afraid that other Christians in Colossae would be led astray by listening to their teaching.

philosophy: Here are some other ways to translate this word:

human wisdom (Good News Translation)
-or-
teaching/ideas about God/spirits

empty: Paul said that the things they taught were empty, that is, “worthless, having no value,” their teachings did not help anyone truly to know God.

deception: He also said that what they taught caused deception. This word implies that what they taught sounded true and wise, but it was wrong, and it deceived people.

2:8c–e

In 2:8c–e, Paul used three phrases to describe in more detail what these people taught.

2:8c

which are based on human tradition: A literal translation of the Greek is “according to the traditions of people.” Paul wanted to emphasize that these teachings were from people, not from God. These were ideas that people had invented, not truths that God revealed. Here is another way to translate this clause:

only human teachings (Contemporary English Version)

tradition: Traditions are normally ideas and customs that have been passed-down/imparted from older people to younger people. The same Greek word is used in Matthew 15:2–3, 15:6; 1 Corinthians 11:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:15, 3:6. If you have an expression in your language for teachings that the elders tell to younger people, you may be able to use it here.

2:8d

and: This verse part is parallel to 2:8c and begins with the same Greek word kata “according to.” The things the false teachers taught depended on two things: “human tradition” (2:8c) and “the basic principles of this world” (see New International Version alternative source line for 2:8d). The Berean Standard Bible uses the word and here to show that the false teaching came from “the basic principles of this world” in a similar way to how it came from “human tradition.”

the spiritual forces of the world: The New International Version translates this Greek phrase: “basic principles of the world.” The reason there are two different translations is because the Greek word stoicheia that the Berean Standard Bible translates spiritual forces and the New International Version translates “basic principles” has two meanings:

(1) It could mean, “elementary principles and rules about behavior.”

(New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, SSA)

(2) It could refer to “the heavenly bodies,” that is, the sun, moon, and stars. In this context it would refer specifically to the spirits whom the Greeks believed were in control of these bodies.

(Berean Standard Bible, Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Revised English Bible)

Although most English versions prefer the second option (2), the commentaries are fairly equally divided. The first option is recommended here (1) because it makes best sense in the context. Paul was talking about false teaching. He used this same word stoicheia in 2:20, where he followed it immediately with a list of rules that people had made. Therefore, in this context Paul probably meant the basic religious rules which people invent.

of the world: There are two ways to understand this:

(1) It mean that these were rules about the world and the things in the world, that is, rules about external things, such as food, clothes, ceremonies, etc. See SSA.

(2) It means that people invented these rules. So world here means “people in the world.”

Both are possible in the context. However when Paul wrote more about this in 2:16, 20–23, he explicitly referred to laws concerning external things, so it is best to follow the same interpretation here.

If you wish to follow the second option, you could say:

⌊And they teach people⌋ to obey regulations that people have invented.

2:8e

rather than on Christ: A literal English translation of the Greek is “and not according to Christ.” This is in contrast to 2:8c–d where Paul had described the two things on which the false teachers depended for their teaching. Here Paul said what they did not depend on.

These words have two possible meanings:

(1) The things the false teachers taught were not the true teachings about Christ. SSA expresses this: “it teaches what is contrary to ⌊the true teachings about⌋ Christ.”

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Revised English Bible)

(2) What the false teachers taught was not from Christ. That is, it did not agree with what Christ taught and the truth he gave to his followers.

(Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004))

Both interpretations are possible and their meaning is very similar. However, the first one is closer to the normal meaning of the Greek word kata “according to,” which Paul used to begin each phrase in 2:8c–e, so the first interpretation is recommended (1).

© 2001 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

Paragraph 3:17

Theme: Paul reminded the Colossians that they belonged to the Lord Jesus. Therefore, they should do everything that people who belong to him should do.

This verse is a summary of all that Paul had commanded/urged the Colossians to do since 2:6.

3:17b

in the name of the Lord Jesus: To do something in the name of someone else is to do it as that person’s representative, or as one who acts under his authority. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus (New Living Translation (2004))

General Comment about 3:17a–b

You could reorder 3:17a–b as follows:

Since we are all representatives of the Lord Jesus, we should speak as he wants us to speak, and we should do things in the way he wants us to do them.

3:17c

God the Father: In some languages, it is more natural to say “God our(incl.) Father,” than God the Father.

through Him: That is, “through Jesus.” This means that Christians should thank God the Father “by means of the Lord Jesus.” Jesus is our mediator—he is the “go-between.” Christ takes our thanks and presents them to God the Father.

It could also mean that it is by means of Jesus and what he did that Christians can approach God to pray and give thanks. One way to express this is to say:

Always say thank you to our Father God. You can approach him to say thank you because Jesus has made it possible for you.

© 2001 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

1:16a

For: In this clause Paul explains the reason why Christ has supreme authority over all that has been created. It is because he is the creator of all things.

in Him all things were created: Here Paul says that all things were created in him. Later in 1:16e, Paul said that all things were created through him. Both imply that God created all things by means of Christ. However, the Bible never explains exactly how this happened. The important thing is that Christ was present when God created the world and played an active role in that event. You could translate it like this:

God created all things by means of Christ.

Another possible way to express this is:

God caused him ⌊Christ⌋ to create all things.

in Him: In the Greek text, Paul placed the phrase in Him at the beginning of the clause to emphasize it. You should emphasize this phrase in your translation, too.

were created: This is often a difficult word to translate. It means, “to cause something to begin to exist.” It means more than “to make something from existing materials.” If the verb your language uses for “to make” can include both meanings of “to create” listed above, then you can use it here.

1:16b

things in heaven and on earth: In 1:16a Paul said that God created “all things” by means of Christ. The expression here, things in heaven and on earth, is another way to say “all things.”

1:16c

visible and invisible: This refers to the things people can see and those they cannot see. There are two ways to understand how this part of the verse connects to 1:16b:

(1) When Paul said visible and invisible, he again meant all things. Everything that God created belongs to the group of things we can see or to the group of things we cannot see.

(2) When Paul said visible and invisible, he was restating 1:16b in the opposite order (this is called a chiastic structure). Therefore, invisible things is equivalent to “things in heaven,” and visible things is equivalent to “things on earth.”

Both these options are possible and have strong support among the commentaries. The Display follows the first option (1). If you wish to follow the second option (2), you could say:

He created the things in heaven that we cannot see, and the things on earth that we can see.

Whichever option you choose, the important thing is to clarify that God, by means of Christ, created everything.

1:16d

thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities: Most Biblical scholars believe this is a specific list of the “invisible” things Paul mentioned in 1:16c, but no one is certain about the identity of each of these groups. Paul was not teaching here about the different types of leaders among the angels and spirits. He simply wanted to emphasize that all of them, even the most powerful and important ones, were created by means of Christ.

1:16e

All things: Here in 1:16e, Paul put the words All things at the beginning of this clause to emphasize them. Try to emphasize these words in a natural way in your translation.

through Him: Although the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates through in this phrase is different from the word “in” in 1:16a, the meaning is the same.

for Him: This means that Christ is the goal of all creation. In other words, God created all things “for his benefit.” You could also translate this, “to honor him” or “to serve him.”

© 2001 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

2:19a

He has lost connection to the head: The Greek literally says “not holding on to the head.” Obviously Paul did not mean holding on physically to “the head” (Christ). There are two ways to understand this figure of speech:

(1) Paul meant that such people did not “hold firmly to the true teachings about Christ.” This means that they did not faithfully believe and teach what is true about Christ.

(2) Paul meant that such people no longer trusted in Christ to save them. This could be translated: “he is no longer loyal to Christ,” or “he ceases to depend on Christ” (UBS Handbook Handbook).

The first interpretation is recommended (1) because it fits best with the warning Paul was giving the Colossian believers in this letter—that they should not follow the false teachings these people taught.

head: This refers to Christ. The figure of speech here is the same as in 1:18a; that is, Christ is like the head of a body, and his people, Christians, are like the body. In your translation, you should translate this figure of speech here like you did in 1:18.

2:19b

from whom the whole body…grows: The words from whom mean “from Christ.” Paul said that Christ controls the spiritual growth of the church in the same way that the head of a person controls the physical growth of his body. One way to say this is “It is only by ⌊being connected/united to⌋ Christ that the whole body grows.”

the whole body: This means the whole body of Christ, which means the church, all believers.

grows: In this context grows means “to grow spiritually,” “to continue to know God more and more,” or “to continue to understand more about God.” It does not mean, “to grow numerically,” that is, to have more and more people become Christians.

supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates joints and ligaments refer to the tough, stringy parts inside the body that connect all the other parts together. Paul was saying that just as joints and ligaments support and join together the parts of the body, so the church is held together and supported by Christ’s control.

2:19c

as God causes it to grow: The Greek literally says, “grows a growth of God.” This can mean:

(1) The growth is the way God has planned/desired. This could be expressed, “as God wants them to grow,” or “the way God has planned”.

(Good News Translation, God’s Word, New Century Version, Revised English Bible, SSA)

(2) The growth is from God. This could be expressed, “as God causes the church to grow spiritually.

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004))

The Display follows the first interpretation (1).

© 2001 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.