As a result translates the Greek adverb “where,” which means “in this new situation,” “in this new humanity (which God creates).” It may also be rendered as “because of this” or “because of what God has done.” The verb that follows (see also 1 Cor 6.5, Gal 3.28, Col 3.11, James 1.17) may be either there is (not) (Good News Translation) or as a stronger assertion “there cannot be” (Revised Standard Version). In the new humanity, all racial, religious, national, and social distinctions are abolished (see also 1 Cor 12.13, Gal 3.28).

It may not be possible to render literally there is no longer any distinction between Gentiles and Jews…. Instead of such an abstract word as distinction, it may be necessary to specifically contrast Gentiles and Jews, circumcised and uncircumcised, etc., for example, “because of what God has done, Gentiles are no different from Jews; circumcised people are no different from uncircumcised.” Accordingly, the last four classes may be spoken of as “barbarians, savages, slaves, and free men are all the same.”

The word “Greek” (Revised Standard Version) stands for Gentiles as a whole, not just people from Greece; circumcised and uncircumcised is practically the same as Jews and Gentiles. If, as in so many instances, circumcised and uncircumcised can best be rendered as Jews and non-Jews (a phrase which likewise distinguishes “Jews and Gentiles”), it may be best to coalesce these two distinction into one, for example, “Jews and non-Jews” or “those who are Jews and those who are not Jews.”

Barbarians may simply be “foreigners” (Phillips): it is the name that Greeks applied to all other races. Barbarians may often be translated as “those of other tribes” or “those who speak strange languages.”

Savages represents the Greek “Scythian” (Revised Standard Version), who were reputed by the Romans to be the wildest, most uncivilized, people living. Josephus said of them that they were little better than wild beasts. (This list does not include the sexual distinction “male and female,” which appears in Gal 3.28.) Savages may be expressed as “uncivilized people,” or idiomatically as “tribes living far away,” or “people without farms” (an expression used in some languages to designate a relatively primitive type of hunting and gathering society).

Christ is all, Christ is in all is a summary way of stating that in the new humanity Christ is all that matters, since he is in all alike (in all could mean “in all things,” but more probably means “in everyone,” “in all people” who belong to the new humanity). New American Bible “Christ is everything in all of you,” Jerusalem Bible “There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in everything,” Phillips “Christ is all that matters, for Christ lives in all.” Christ is all may be expressed as “Christ is the one who is important.” Expressed negatively, the same phrase may be rendered as “there is no one else except Christ who is important.”

In rendering Christ is in all, it may be essential to specify who or what is involved in all. If all is to be interpreted as a reference to non-humans, then one could only say “Christ is in all the universe” or “… in all that exists,” but since the more usual interpretation relates all to persons, it may be best to say “in all of you.” If, however, one translates in all as “in all people,” there are certain theological problems which immediately arise, since this would presuppose that in some measure Christ dwells in all human beings irrespective of their religious beliefs or relationship to God. This would seem to be quite contrary to what Paul is speaking of in this context.

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 .