complete verse (Colossians 1:21)

Following are a number of back-translations of Colossians 1:21:

  • Uma: “Long ago, relatives, you were far from God. You were his enemies because your hearts and actions were evil.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “You beforehand, you were far from God. And you were God’s enemies because your thoughts and your deeds were evil.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Long ago you were not friends of God, but rather you were his enemies, because your thinking and your behavior were always evil.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Even you back then, you were still far from God, and you were opposing him because of the evil that you were thinking and doing.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well now, as for you, you are included also in this. Because there in the past, you were really far from God in the opposition to him of your minds/inner-being and your evil doings.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “In past days, in your hearts you looked upon God as apart from you. You were enemies with him because of all the sins in which you lived. But now God has wanted that you be friends with him.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Colossians 1:21

A literal rendering of at one time might very well suggest that on a particular occasion, but not necessarily for any period of time, the believers in Colossae were estranged from God. The meaning here is simply “previously,” or “before you became believers,” or “before you put your trust in Christ.”

Paul begins the sentence with an accusative clause before the main verb (God has made you his friends, in verse 22) in order to emphasize his readers’ previous condition before hearing the gospel. They had been far away from God, that is, estranged or alienated from him. The compound verb apallotrioō is found only here and Eph 2.12, 4.18; it is formed from the adjective allotrios “stranger,” “foreigner” (see Matt 17.25-26, Heb 11.9), and refers to their condition as Gentiles, not part of God’s people, Israel (see the fuller statement of this in Eph 2.11-12). The passive participle simply states their condition, without giving its cause.

A literal translation of you were far away from God may very well be interpreted in a strictly literal sense, since earth is presumably far away from heaven, so the believers in Colossae were obviously far away from God. This estrangement from God must not, however, be expressed as “you were strangers to God” for this would imply that God did not recognize who they were. The responsibility for the estrangement must be expressed in terms of the actions or attitudes of the people, not the attitude of God. Thus it may be better to say “you were estranged from God,” or “you had turned your back on God,” or “you did not want to be friends with God.”

Not only were these believers previously far away from God, but both in thought and actions, they showed themselves to be God’s enemies. This word denotes their hostility toward God (compare Translator’s New Testament “your thinking was all against him”), not his attitude toward them. They had been enemies “in thinking, in evil works.” “Thinking” (Good News Translation you … thought) is the Greek dianoia “mind,” “understanding” (compare Eph 2.3, 4.18, 1 Peter 1.13, 2 Peter 3.1, 1 John 5.20); in the Septuagint it often represents Hebrew lev “heart.” “Evil works” are sinful, wicked action. These phrases are in the dative case, and their precise relationship to enemies is not explicitly stated by any connectives. The meaning is expressed in various ways: Goodspeed “hostile in attitude,” Phillips “his spiritual enemies.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “you whose evil deeds manifested profound hostility.” Good News Translation sees cause as the relationship, because of the evil things (see also Phillips New International Version Translator’s New Testament), but other interpretations are possible: Jerusalem Bible “in the way that you used to think,” Barclay and New English Bible take them as simply descriptive of the estrangement (so Lightfoot), and this may be the best way to handle this phrase; New English Bible “you were his enemies in heart and mind, and your deeds were evil.”

A statement such as “you were his enemies” can be misleading, for it might suggest that God was hostile to the people of Colossae. It may, therefore, be necessary to say “you were fighting against God” or “you made yourselves enemies of God.”

Because of the evil things you did and thought may be better expressed in many instances by indicating means, for example, “you were fighting against God by means of the evil things you did and the evil thoughts that you had.” In some instances, the evil things you did and thought may be rendered as “what you did and thought which was evil.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 1:21

Paragraph 1:21–23

Theme: Although the Colossians had previously been God’s enemies, he had now made them his own people.

1:21–23 is one sentence in Greek. You will probably need to divide it into several sentences in your translation. The main verb of this sentence is “he has reconciled you” (1:22). In the previous paragraph Paul said that God’s plan was to reconcile all things to himself (1:20). In this paragraph Paul applied this directly to the Colossians.

1:21a

Once: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates Once means “formerly, in the past.” Paul was writing about what the Colossian Christians were like before they believed in Christ.

you: The word you is emphasized in the Greek text. In English this can be expressed, “But as for you…,” or, “And you yourselves…” Paul used this emphasis to change the focus of the letter at this point. In 1:15–20 he had written about the greatness of Christ, here he began to write about the Colossian Christians’ relationship to God.

alienated from God: The Greek text does not contain the words from God (see Revised Standard Version and NET Bible). However, almost all commentators agree that the text here implies the words from God. Therefore the Berean Standard Bible and many other English versions include these words. Paul was saying that the Colossians were separated from God. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

far away from God (Good News Translation)

Paul did not mean that the Colossians were physically far away from God. He meant that they did not have a relationship with him because their sinful deeds separated them from him. Other ways to translate this might be:

you were like strangers to God
-or-
you had turned your backs on God

1:21b

hostile in your minds: This phrase continues to describe what the Colossians were like before they became Christians: they were hostile toward God. Possible ways to say this are:

you were hostile toward God
-or-
you were against God

in your minds: This explains the specific way the Colossians had been God’s enemies—they were hostile to God in the way they thought and felt. Here is another way to translate this:

Your thoughts made you his enemies (Contemporary English Version)

1:21c

engaging in evil deeds: It wasn’t just the way they thought that caused the Colossians to be God’s enemies—it was also the evil way they acted.

General Comment for 1:21b–c

Some English versions combine 1:21b–c and these two ideas. For example:

and were his enemies because of the evil things you did and thought (Good News Translation)

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