SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 2001 – Page 2

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 4:5

Paragraph 4:5–6

Theme: Paul encouraged the Colossians always to speak wisely and kindly to those who did not believe in the Lord Jesus.

In 4:2–4 Paul asked the Colossians to pray that he would be able to proclaim the gospel to many people. Here in 4:5–6 he gave them advice about how they could preach the gospel to people they knew who were not believers. Paul never said explicitly in these verses, “tell these people about Jesus,” but that is obviously what he wanted the Colossians to do.

4:5a

outsiders: By outsiders, Paul meant non-Christians, people who did not believe in Jesus.

4:5b

redeeming the time: Paul was specifically referring to the way the Colossians should use every opportunity/circumstance to help unbelievers, especially to help them to become believers.

In Ephesians 5:15–16 Paul wrote, “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” The underlined words are the same as here in 4:5b. Compare your translations of these two passages and use similar wording. In both Ephesians 5:15–16 and Colossians 4:5, Paul was advising the Christians to behave as Christians should, and to take every opportunity to help those who were not Christians.

© 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 1:29

1:29a

To this end: This refers back to 1:28c. The purpose for which Paul worked so hard was to “present everyone perfect in Christ.”

I also labor: This means, “I work hard.”

1:29b

striving: This means, “striving intensely, making every effort, doing everything possible.” It can refer to the struggle in an athletic contest or in a battle. However, here it does not refer to a physical effort. Paul knew that he was in a spiritual battle against Satan. Although he was in prison, he was fully committed to using all his energy to help the believers.

with all His energy: Paul worked hard and exerted great effort to do his job of preaching the gospel. However, he knew he did not do it by his own power. He said that it was Christ’s energy, the energy that Christ gave him, that enabled him to work as hard as he did.

working powerfully within me: Paul said that Christ’s energy was working powerfully in him, enabling him to do his job. In some languages it is not possible to talk about “Christ’s energy which so powerfully works in me.” One possible way to translate this would be:

the energy which Christ gives to me as he works in me

The UBS Handbook Handbook suggests a translation like this:

the mighty strength which Christ gives me and which shows up as I work

General Comment about 1:28–29

In some languages it might be necessary to reorder 1:28–29. One way to do this is:

Christ’s powerful help in me enables me constantly to work hard to warn people ⌊to continue to follow Christ⌋ and to teach them ⌊more about him⌋. I work so hard to do this because my strong desire is that every one who is united to Christ will be perfect when they stand before God.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 3:9

3:9b–10

The phrases in 3:9b–10 are similar to those in Ephesians 4:22–24. You should compare your translations of these two passages to make sure you have translated them in a similar way.

3:9b

since: Paul was explaining to the Colossians why they should not act in these evil ways. 3:9b–10 is connected not only to 3:9a but also to 3:8.

have taken off the old self: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates taken off literally refers to removing clothes. Paul used it as a figure of speech to mean that just as people take off old, dirty clothes, so a Christian has taken off his old nature.

the old self: The old self means the way the Colossians behaved in the past, the way they used to be before they became believers, their old sinful nature.

This is similar to what Paul said in 2:11b (“putting off your sinful nature”) and 2:20a (“you have died with Christ”). See the notes on these verses. Paul was saying, “you have stopped being the person you used to be.”

its practices: This means “the ways you used to behave.”

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 4:16

4:16a

After this letter has been read among you: In the first century many people did not know how to read. So most people in Colossae could not read this letter for themselves. They listened while someone else read the letter to the group.

4:16b

make sure that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans: The phrase the Berean Standard Bible uses, make sure, is an idiom in English. It means, “make certain that.” This is also the meaning of the Greek phrase. Paul was telling the Colossians that they must make sure that the believers in Laodicea also had an opportunity to read this letter.

4:16c

the letter from Laodicea: There are two ways to understand this phrase:

(1) It means “the letter that I wrote to the believers in Laodicea.” Paul wanted the Colossians to ask the Laodicean believers for the letter that Paul had written to them, so they could read it too.

(Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004), Revised English Bible)

(2) It means, “the letter the Laodiceans will write to you.” Paul knew that the Laodiceans were planning to write to the Colossians and he was telling them to make sure they read that letter.

(Good News Translation)

It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation (1). The majority of commentators agree that this is the correct interpretation. Paul was referring to a letter he had written to the Christians in Laodicea. Unfortunately, a copy of this letter has never been found.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 1:8

1:8

your love: In many languages it will be necessary to state whom the Colossian Christians loved. There are three possibilities:

(1) They loved other believers (as in 1:4).

(2) More specifically, they loved one another.

(3) They loved Paul and Timothy.

If you need to include the object of their love in your language, it is recommended that you follow the first option (1). This verse probably refers back to 1:4 where Paul wrote that the Colossians loved all God’s people. The first option includes the second option, because if they loved all believers they also loved one another.

in the Spirit: This refers to the Holy Spirit. If the word Spirit by itself might have an unclear or negative meaning in your language, you could say “God’s Spirit” or use your term for “Holy Spirit.” Paul was saying that the Colossians loved others “by means of” the Holy Spirit, that is, it was the Holy Spirit who enabled/caused them to love others. Here is another way to express this:

the love that the Holy Spirit has given you (Good News Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 2:11

2:11–15

In 2:10 Paul said “you have been given fullness in Christ.” This was a general statement. Here in 2:11–15 Paul described in more detail the fullness believers have in Christ through salvation.

2:11a

In Him you were also circumcised: In this verse Paul used the Jewish rite of circumcision as a figure of speech for what Christ has done for believers. You should keep this figure of speech in your translation if possible. Paul used this figure of speech for two reasons:

(a) When the Jews circumcised a baby boy, they removed a piece of skin, and Paul was comparing this to Christ removing the sinful nature of those who believe in him.

(b) Also, circumcision was the rite that marked the Jews as God’s people. When a boy was circumcised, this was the sign that he was part of God’s people, the Jews. Here Paul was saying that the Colossian Christians did not become the people of God because someone physically circumcised them, but because Christ freed them from the old sinful way they used to behave.

2:11b

in the putting off of your sinful nature: The Greek word apekdusis that the Berean Standard Bible translates as putting off is used for “removing, stripping off” something, such as clothes. In this context Paul used it as a figure of speech. When a person is circumcised, the priest removes a piece of skin from his body. In the same way, when a person is united with Christ, Christ removes his sinful nature.

sinful nature: Literally “body of flesh.” Paul was referring to human nature, which is naturally sinful. Good News Translation translates it, “this sinful self” (see 2:11 in Good News Translation). If it is not possible in your language to talk about “removing” sins, you can say:

he freed us from the power that sin has in our hearts

2:11c

with the circumcision performed by Christ: Paul said it was Christ who removed a person’s sinful nature. It is “the circumcision done by Christ” (see 2:11 in Good News Translation, New International Version).

2:11d

and not by human hands: By saying this, Paul explained that he was not writing about literal circumcision. The phrase not by human hands means “this is not something that people did to you,” or “you were not circumcised physically.”

General Comment about 2:11

It may be clearer in some languages to reorder the parts of 2:11. One way to do this might be:

When you were united to Christ, ⌊it is as if⌋ you were circumcised. You were not circumcised physically. No, rather it was Christ who circumcised you ⌊spiritually⌋; he ⌊cut away and⌋ removed your sinful nature.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 3:20

Paragraph 3:20–21

Theme: Paul gave instructions to parents and children: that children should obey their parents, and parents should not overcorrect their children.

3:20b

for this is pleasing to the Lord: The Greek translated literally says, “for this is pleasing in the Lord.” There are two ways to interpret this:

(1) “for this pleases the Lord”

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, King James Version, New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004)).

(2) “for this is pleasing ⌊to God⌋ in the Lord”. This means, “for this is what God wants you to do as followers of the Lord.” Here is another way to translate this:

for this is pleasing to God and is the Christian way (Revised English Bible)

(Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, SSA)

It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation with most of the English versions (1).

Lord: This refers to the Lord Jesus, just as in 3:18b.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 1:19

1:19

For: Notice that the Berean Standard Bible begins 1:19 with the word For. 1:19 explains and provides a reason for the previous verses.

God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him: A literal English translation of the Greek is: “in him was-pleased all the fullness to-dwell.” The phrase in Him refers to Jesus. In Greek there is no subject of the verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates was pleased. There are two main possibilities:

(1) The subject of the verb is God. This is how most English versions translate the verse.

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

(2) The subject of the verb is fullness. This is how the Revised Standard Version translates the verse.

Most scholars agree that God is the subject of the verb was pleased and so it is recommended that you follow the first option (1). Another way to translate the words God was pleased is:

God decided…

all His fullness: The Greek is literally “all the fullness.” It is not clear from this verse alone what fullness Paul meant. However, this is similar to what Paul says in 2:9: “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.” This helps us to understand that Paul was probably referring to God’s fullness in this verse. When Jesus came into the world, even though he became a man, he was still God, and he still retained all the power and characteristics of God.

in Him: This, of course, refers to Christ. In the Greek text Paul placed these words at the beginning of the clause to emphasize them. You should emphasize them in your translation in a way that is natural in your language.

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Source: SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 2001