SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 2001 – Page 11

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 1:9

Paragraph 1:9–12

Theme: Paul was constantly asking God to help the Colossians to know all that God wanted them to do.

In these verses Paul was not actually praying. Rather, he was telling the Colossians what he usually prayed for them. In Greek these four verses are one long sentence. You will probably need to divide this sentence into several sentences in your translation, as most English versions do. The main part of the long sentence is “we have not stopped praying for you and asking God…” (1:9a–b). The rest of these verses contain a list of what Paul was praying for the Colossians.

Study the different ways the English versions have broken 1:9–12 into different sentences. Consider how you can arrange the sentences and connect them together to make Paul’s prayer sound natural in your language. One way to do this would be to repeat, “We pray that…” at the beginning of each subject Paul prayed for the Colossians.

1:9a

For this reason: These words connect 1:9–12 with what Paul said in 1:3–8. Because of the news Paul had heard about the Colossians, he prayed for them.

we have not stopped praying for you: This is another hyperbole (see 1:6b). It does not mean that Paul prayed for the Colossian believers all day and all night and never stopped. It means that he prayed for them often and regularly. If it is more natural in your language, you could translate not stopped praying in a positive way. For example:

we have always prayed for you (Good News Translation)

See also New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004).

1:9b

to fill you with the knowledge of: This is a figure of speech. To be “filled with knowledge of something” means “to know something fully, to understand it completely.”

His will: God’s will is what God wants and desires. So Paul was praying that God would cause the Colossians to know fully what he wanted for them. He was praying that they would understand all that God wanted them to do.

1:9c

in all spiritual wisdom and understanding: The Greek preposition en that the Berean Standard Bible translates in has many possible meanings depending on the context. Because of this, commentators have three opinions of how to connect 1:9b and 1:9c:

(1) 1:9c is the means by which a person is filled with the knowledge of God’s will (1:9b). So 1:9b–c means: “[We ask God] to cause you to know fully all that he wants you to do by means of him making you very wise and enabling you to understand spiritual things.”

(New International Version, God’s Word, New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) 1:9c is a restatement of 1:9b. So 1:9b–c means: “[We ask God] to cause you to know fully all that he wants you to do; that is, we ask him to make you very wise and to enable you to understand spiritual things.” No English version follows this, but several commentaries support it.

(3) 1:9c is something that accompanies 1:9b. So Paul not only prayed that God would fill the Colossians with the knowledge of God’s will, but also with all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

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

All these options are possible. The Display follows the first interpretation (1) because it has strong support from both English versions and commentaries. If you wish to follow the second option, you could say:

that is, ⌊that God will fill you⌋ with all spiritual wisdom and understanding

all spiritual wisdom and understanding: The order of the words in Greek here is: “all wisdom and understanding spiritual.” It is not clear from this word order how the adjectives all and spiritual are connected to the nouns wisdom and understanding. There are two main possibilities:

(1) The adjectives all and spiritual modify both nouns, so it is translated all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004))

(2) The adjective all only modifies the noun wisdom and the adjective spiritual only modifies the noun understanding. For example:

perfect (all) wisdom and spiritual understanding (New Jerusalem Bible)

(New Jerusalem Bible, see also SSA)

It is recommended you follow the first interpretation (1) like the majority of English versions and commentaries do. This means that Paul was not simply praying that the Colossians would be wise, but that they would be wise “spiritually.”

spiritual: There are two ways to understand spiritual in this context:

(1) It means being wise about and understanding spiritual matters, that is, about God and his ways.

(New Century Version)

(2) It means that the wisdom and understanding come from the Holy Spirit.

(Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version)

Either of these interpretations is acceptable. Most English versions are ambiguous. The Display follows the first interpretation (1), which is supported by many commentaries. If you wish to follow the second interpretation you could say:

⌊we(excl.) ask⌋ God to make you very wise and cause you to understand ⌊his ways⌋ by means of the Holy Spirit ⌊helping 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.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 2:12

2:12

In 2:11 Paul used circumcision as a figure of speech to describe what Christ does when a person becomes a Christian: he removes the person’s old, sinful nature. In 2:12 Paul used a different figure of speech: baptism. Baptism also describes and symbolizes what happens when a person becomes a Christian, but it includes something extra. In baptism, not only is the old, sinful nature put to death, but also God gives the person a new nature. Paul compared the death of the old sinful nature and the receiving of the new nature to the death and resurrection of Christ.

2:12a

And having been buried with Him in baptism: Paul compared the death of a person’s old sinful nature to Christ’s death and burial. Here Paul said that when a Christian is baptized, the act of going into the water is like being buried. In 2:12b he said that the act of coming out of the water is like rising from death. Therefore, baptism shows what happens when a person becomes a Christian—his old nature dies and he receives a new nature.

Since Paul was not writing about being literally buried, in your translation you may want to say something like this:

When you were baptized, it is as if you ⌊died and⌋ were buried together with Christ,

You may also want to repeat your translation of the phrase “sinful nature” from 2:11 in your translation as follows:

When you were baptized, ⌊your sinful nature died and⌋ was buried just like Christ,

with Him: The phrase with Him means “together with Christ” or “just like Christ.” It shows that Christians identify with Christ. Be careful not to translate this phrase in a way that implies that Christians were buried beside/alongside Christ at the same time as he was.

in baptism: This means “When you were baptized…,” or “At the time of your baptism…”

2:12b

you were raised with Him: The Berean Standard Bible implies that the phrase “in baptism” is only connected to the verb “buried.” However, in Greek this phrase actually is connected to the verb raised in 2:12b as well as to the verb “buried” in 2:12a. Therefore, Paul was comparing a person coming out of the water after being baptized to someone rising from the dead. This is the second part of Paul’s figure of speech. Paul was comparing the way God raised Jesus from death with the way he gives a new nature to believers.

with Him: As in 2:12b, this phrase with Him shows that people who are baptized identify with Christ. It does not mean that people were raised from the dead at the same time as Christ was.

2:12c

through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead: This means that believers are given a new nature by believing that God has the power to do it just as he had the power to raise Jesus from the dead.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 3:21

3:21a

Fathers: The Greek word Paul used here usually refers specifically to fathers. Rarely it can be used to include both parents (see Hebrews 11:23). The Good News Translation translates it “parents” (see also New Jerusalem Bible and SSA), but most English versions say “fathers.” Since Paul used the more usual word for “parents” in 3:20, it is more likely that he was addressing fathers alone here as the ones who have final authority in the home.

do not provoke your children: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates provoke means “to rouse to anger, provoke, irritate.” In the context, this means “do not irritate your children ⌊by constantly correcting/scolding them for everything they do⌋.”

3:21b

discouraged: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates discouraged means to become sad (or angry, or frustrated), and therefore to stop trying to do what pleases God. Here is another way to translate this word:

they might give up (Contemporary English Version)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 1:20

1:20a

through Him to reconcile to Himself all things: 1:20a is parallel to the second part of 1:19. In other words, God was pleased to do two things: (1) to have all his fullness dwell in Christ (1:19), and (2) to reconcile to Himself all things (1:20a).

through Him: The pronoun Him refers to Christ here, as it does in 1:19, and Paul placed the words at the beginning of the verse to emphasize them.

reconcile: The word reconcile means “to change people from being enemies to being friends” or “to make peace between people who were once friends but have become enemies of one another.” When God created the world, he intended that everything and everybody should live in harmony and peace with him. But when Adam and Eve sinned, that peace and harmony was destroyed. When Christ died on the cross, he made it possible for people to have peace with God again.

all things: The words all things mean “everything that has been created.” Remember that in 1:16–17 Paul used these same words, all things, four times to refer to everything that God created. So Paul was saying that God not only reconciled all people to himself, but he also reconciled everything he had created.

1:20b

whether things on earth or things in heaven: This is almost the same as what Paul wrote in 1:16b and the meaning is the same in both verses—it means “everything.”

1:20c

by making peace: The phrase making peace means almost the same as “reconcile” in 1:20a. It means “to cause people to be in harmony.” It does not mean that God caused all things to be at peace with one another, rather it means that he made peace between them and himself.

through the blood of His cross: This explains more clearly what Paul meant by “through Him” in 1:20a. The word blood refers to the way Christ died. God required that blood be shed in order for him to forgive sins (Hebrews 9:22). So Christ’s blood is an important symbol in the Bible, and therefore you should keep it in your translation. One way you could clarify it would be to say:

by sending Christ to shed his blood and die on a cross

General Comment about 1:20

In some languages it is clearer to reorder the parts of 1:20 before translating the verse. Some English versions have done this. For example:

And God was pleased for him to make peace by sacrificing his blood on the cross, so that all beings in heaven and on earth would be brought back to God. (Contemporary English Version)

See also Good News Translation. Another way to reorder 1:20 is:

God decided to send his Son, who shed his blood and died on a cross. God did this in order to restore harmony between himself and all things. In this way, he made peace between himself and all that exists in heaven and all that exists on the earth.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 2:23

2:23a

have an appearance of wisdom: Or “…have a reputation for wisdom.” Paul was saying that these rules seemed to be wise—but they were not. They appeared to be rules that taught people the correct way to behave, but (2:23e) they did not succeed.

2:23b

self-prescribed worship: The first “wise” rule that Paul specified concerned self-prescribed worship. The meaning of the Greek word is difficult to understand, so English versions translate it in many different ways. The basic meaning seems to be that the people attempt to please God by willingly forcing themselves to follow difficult religious rules.

2:23c

their false humility: See the note on verse 2:18a.

2:23d

their harsh treatment of the body: These rules also told people to treat their bodies harshly. This included fasting or only eating poor food, forcing themselves to stay awake for a long time, sitting outside in the cold for a long time, or beating themselves. People did things like these because they thought that by doing them they could please God.

2:23e

but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh: This means: “But these rules are useless. They cannot help people to control their evil desires.” This part of the verse contrasts with 2:23a. Paul was saying, “these rules seem to be wise but they are actually useless.”

General Comment for 2:23

In some languages you can clarify the contrast in this verse by rearranging it. One way to do this would be:

These rules tell you to willingly submit to strict religious rites, humble yourselves, and make your bodies suffer in order to please God. This may seem like a wise way to behave, but actually these rules do not help people to control their evil desires.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 4:7

Section 4:7–18

Paul wrote final messages and greetings

Paragraph 4:7–9

Theme: Paul told the Colossians that he was sending Tychicus to them, and he would tell them all that had been happening to Paul and his friends.

4:7a

Tychicus: Paul mentioned in these verses that Tychicus was traveling to Colossae. This probably implied that he would carry this letter from Paul with him.

Paul did not mention until 4:8 that Tychicus was coming to Colossae because he, Paul, had sent him. It may be necessary in some languages to supply this information at the beginning of 4:7. For example:

⌊I have sent Tychicus to visit you, and⌋ he will tell you…

4:7b

a beloved brother: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates beloved literally means “one who is loved.” In your language, you may need to use a verb to translate this phrase. If you use a verb, it may be necessary for you to say who loved Tychicus. There are two possibilities:

(1) Paul should be the subject. He was saying, “He is my Christian brother whom I love.”

(2) Paul and his friends should be the subject, so Paul was saying, “He is our(excl.) Christian brother whom we(excl.) love.”

Both are possible and you should use whichever is most natural in your language.

brother: See the note on 1:1c.

4:7c

a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord: This is similar to the words Paul used to describe Epaphras in 1:7b, and 1:7c. See the notes on those verses.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 2:2

2:2a

they: This refers to all the people Paul mentioned in 2:1. This includes the Christians at Colossae, to whom Paul was directly writing, so it may be clearer for your readers if you use “you(plur)” or “all of you” here and in the rest of 2:2.

encouraged in heart: The Greek verb parakaleō that the Berean Standard Bible translates encouraged can also mean “strengthened” or “comforted.” Since Paul was writing to the Colossians about their need to believe strongly in the true message about Christ, he probably meant “strengthened” or “encouraged,” not “comforted.”

in heart: Paul used the Greek word for heart to refer to the center of a person’s feelings and emotions. He meant that he wanted the Colossians to be encouraged personally, within themselves. Many English versions do not translate this part of the verse literally (see Good News Translation, God’s Word, New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004)). There are several ways you could translate this:

• Translate literally and use your word for heart. You should only do this if the heart is considered the center of emotions in your culture.

• Use an idiom that has the same meaning in your culture.

• Translate the phrase directly, for example, “⌊I want to⌋ encourage you spiritually” or “⌊I want to⌋ strengthen you ⌊in your faith⌋.”

You should use the option which is most natural in your language.

2:2b

knit together in love: Paul was concerned that the false doctrines being taught in Colossae would divide the Christians. He wanted them to be united by means of the love they had for one another as they believed the true teaching about Christ. You could translate this:

I want you all to love one another and, in that way, to be united.

2:2c

full riches: Paul wanted the Colossians to have “all riches” that come from understanding and being certain about God’s message. The word riches is used as a figure of speech here. It does not mean money or other possessions, but it means the wonderful blessings and benefits that result from understanding and being certain about God’s message. This includes benefits such as joy and peace.

complete understanding: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates complete understanding is literally “the full-assurance of understanding.” Scholars understand the word plērophoria (Berean Standard Bible complete) in two ways:

(1) It means, “full assurance.” The whole expression then means that Paul wanted the Colossians to have the “complete assurance, certainty” which would come from truly understanding the message about Christ. For example:

the full wealth of assurance which true understanding brings (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, King James Version, NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Revised English Bible)

(2) It means “fullness.” The whole expression then means “complete/full understanding.” This is how the Berean Standard Bible understands it.

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, New Century Version, SSA)

Both of these options are possible meanings for plērophoria. The Display follows the first option (1), since most commentaries support it.

2:2d

the mystery of God, namely Christ: For the meaning of mystery, see the note on 1:27a. Paul was saying that Christ is the center of God’s mystery. To know God’s mystery is to know about Christ, or to know Christ himself. In some languages it will be necessary to clarify this by placing the word Christ into a separate clause. For example:

I want you all to know the mystery of God, that is, I want you to know ⌊about⌋ Christ.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 3:11

3:11

This verse is the result of 3:10, that is, as a result of the new life believers have in Christ, differences between people are no longer important—only Christ is. 3:11 is similar to Galatians 3:27–28, 6:15, and Romans 10:12. If you have already translated these passages, you should compare them with this verse.

3:11a

Here: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Here does not literally mean “in the place where I am.” It means, “in this new life God has given to you.”

there is no Greek or Jew: If the phrase there is no Greek or Jew is translated literally, people may misunderstand it to mean, “Greeks and Jews do not exist,” or “there are no Greek or Jewish believers.” This phrase is an idiom that means that differences between Jews and Greeks are not important, and it does not matter whether a person is a Jew or Greek.

Greek: Paul was probably using the word Greek to mean “Gentile,” that is, non-Jewish people. Good News Translation and New Living Translation (2004) translate it “Gentiles.”

circumcised or uncircumcised: This phrase is parallel to the phrase “Greek or Jew.” Jews were circumcised and this marked them as God’s special people. Greeks/Gentiles were not circumcised.

If your language does not use a lot of parallel phrases, you could combine these two phrases and say:

It does not matter if you are a Jew, circumcised ⌊according to the law of Moses⌋, or an uncircumcised Gentile…

3:11b

barbarian: The Greeks called any person who was not Greek a barbarian. It means “foreigner” and implies someone who was uncultured.

Scythian: The Scythians were a fierce, savage people who invaded other peoples’ countries and killed the occupants and caused other sorts of damage. People were afraid of them and considered them one of the worst kinds of “barbarians.” You can translate this using a term in your language that refers to people who are primitive or uncivilized.

slave: A slave was a servant who had been bought by someone and therefore belonged to this person. He had no freedom to do what he wanted to do or to go where he wanted to go. He had no possessions of his own and was completely dependent on his owners for everything.

free: This is the opposite of a “slave.” The word free can be translated as “free person,” or “person who is not a slave.”

3:11c

but Christ is all: This contrasts with 3:11a–b. Paul was saying that all these differences between people did not matter—the only thing that was important was Christ. He is the most important thing in the universe, he is supreme over all things and over all people.

3:11d

and is in all: Most scholars believe that this means that Christ “lives in all believers.” The Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, and New Living Translation (2004) make this explicit in their translation.

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Source: SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 2001