The Greek that is translated as “put to death” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with so wie man abgestorbene Körperteile amputieren muss, trennt euch von… or “just as one has to amputate dead body parts, separate yourselves from….”
The Greek that is translated as “sexual immorality” or “fornication” or similar is translated much more specifically in some languages. Morelos Nahuatl has “let a man not yield himself to another woman except only to his wife. Also let a woman not yield herself to another man except only to her husband” or in Lalana Chinantec as “not proper for them to mix themselves with other women. The same is true of women for other men also.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
In Low German as Hurenkram or “things related to prostitution (and/or sleeping around)” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006) and in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) typically as Sexgier or “sex cravings” (exceptions: Acts 15:10 and 15:29).
The Greek that is translated as “licentiousness” and “impurity” or similar in English is translated in Bariai as “following behavior like dogs.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
In Nicholas King’s English translation of the New Testament (2004), the translator decided to use bullet point lists in some case in the Ephesians, Colossians, and Titus. “There are elaborate groups of nouns strung together, and the sentences are rather long. I have tried, not entirely successfully, to make these long sentences more manageable by the use of bullet points.” One such list is Colossians 3:1-11:
So, if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at God’s right hand;
think of the things that are above, not of things on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ appears, [who is] your life, then also you will appear with him in glory-
So put to death your earthly parts: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry);
through these things the anger of God is coming on the children of dis¬obedience;
among them you once walked, because you lived among them;
now, however, you have also put everything aside: anger, rage, evil, blasphemy, filthy talk from your mouth;
don’t tell lies to others,
having put off the old person, with all its practices, and
having put on the new person who is made new in knowledge, in accordance with the likeness of the one who created him,
where there is no ‘Greek and Jew’, circumcision and uncircumcision’, ‘barbarian’, ‘Scythian’, ‘slave’, ‘free’,
Following are a number of back-translations of Colossians 3:5:
Uma: “So, because we have died together with Kristus, we must release / let-go-of our behavior that is connected with our previous lives. Don’t commit-adultery, don’t behave wrong [implies sexual behavior], or do other deeds that are not fitting. Don’t desire what is evil, don’t desire someone else’s things. For people who behave like that, we can say that they are worshipping the thing that they desire.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Therefore, my siblings who trust in Isa Almasi, don’t really give-in-to/indulge the greedy-desires of your body. Don’t ever commit adultery-fornication. Don’t lust (immoral/craving for opposite sex) and don’t do foolish things (immoral understood). Abandon your greedy-desire for the things here on earth. Because if you do not abandon your greedy-desire, it is like your greedy-desire is your god because that is what you always follow.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Therefore, brothers, don’t you permit that you obey your evil desires; don’t you do what is ugly or filthy, and don’t you allow that you have a desire for someone who is not your spouse. Abandon evil behavior and selfishness, because if we are selfish about possessions, it’s as if the true God has been replaced by possession here in our breath.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Therefore then it is necessary that you turn-your-backs-on your former thoughts and customs which were evil such as immorality and other kinds of filthiness, all that the body wants that is evil, and greediness, for what a person is-greedy-for, that’s like his god.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Therefore put far away from you all the disgusting customs here in the world like all kinds of immoral-behavior with one not your spouse, and no matter what custom, thinking, or desire which is disgusting. Drop now also the habit of being greedy, for if it’s possessions here in the world that we are always thinking about, it’s like possessions are what we are worshipping, no longer God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Therefore now, all the evil thought that are here on earth are what you must separate from. Do not commit adultery. Do not do any evil thing. Do not let evil rest in your thoughts. Concerning what you possess, do not want that more and more you gather. Because the people who do this are worshipping what they gather, it isn’t God whom they worship in their hearts.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
For similar lists of vices see 1 Cor 6.9-10, Gal 5.19-21, Eph 5.1-5, 1 Peter 2.1, 4.1-3. Put to death: this verb occurs twice again (Rom 4.19, Heb 11.12) in a literal sense; only here is it used figuratively (compare the synonymous thanatoō in Rom 8.13), meaning “destroy, do away with completely” (see also Rom 6.11). As Moule points out, the English verb “mortify” (as in King James Version), though etymologically accurate, carries today a different meaning from what is commanded here.f 7 fr 3.5 ft Moule, op. cit., p. 114.
The figurative expression put to death is a forceful one and should be retained if possible. However, it may lead to misunderstanding, since “to kill desires” might suggest a complete loss of desire to live. A more satisfactory equivalent in some languages is “get rid of completely,” or “eliminate completely from yourselves,” or “cause completely to have no more influence.”
The earthly desires at work in you represents what is literally “the members that are upon the earth” (compare King James Version). It is an odd phrase, for which no exact parallel has been found (see Rom 6.13). Lightfoot’s explanation may be the best one: “the old man (see verse 9) with all his members must be pitilessly slain,” and he refers to Matt 5.29-30 for similar language.f 8 fr 3.5 ft Lightfoot, op. cit., p. 209. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has: “therefore put to death what of the old man still lives in you.” Barclay translates, “You must put an end to the use of any part of your body for worldly and immoral purposes.”
In a number of languages, there are two quite distinct words for desires; one refers to appropriate desires and another to evil ones. It is obviously the second term which is meant in this context, since all of the specific designations for these desires are related to certain kinds of sin. If a term for desires does suggest wrong desires, then it may not be necessary to add a term for earthly. In fact it is rarely possible to use an equivalent of earthly which has any reference to the earth itself. The only way in which “the earth” can be introduced is in a rather elaborate clause, for example, “desires which people in the world have.”
It is rare that one can speak of “desires at work,” for the very fact that one “desires something” indicates that in a sense the desire is active. Accordingly, the earthly desires at work in you, such as sexual immorality … may be expressed as “your evil desires for unlawful sex….”
The first sin listed covers “every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse” (A&G); indecency (Good News Translation) or “impurity” (Revised Standard Version) is usually associated with sexual sins, and is joined to sexual immorality in Rom 1.24, 2 Cor 12.21, Gal 5.19, Eph 5.3, 1 Thes 4.7. The next word lust (Good News Translation) or “passion” (Revised Standard Version) also refers to sexual passion (see Rom 1.26, 1 Thes 4.5), which results in sexual sin.
In a number of languages, it may be difficult to distinguish properly between indecency, sexual immorality and lust. Since all of these refer to certain aspects of sexual sin, it may be possible simply to use an expression such as “desire to engage in all kinds of unlawful sexual sins.” In some languages, an equivalent of these expressions in Greek would be expressed in figurative language, for example, “desires to act like a dog,” or “desires to be constantly hot with sex,” or “constantly desiring to rub bellies.”
Evil passions (Good News Translation) or “evil desire” (Revised Standard Version) may be narrowly restricted to sex or more broadly associated with evil of self-centered desire, which is the basic cause of all sins. The noun itself may be morally neutral or even good, and so the qualifying adjective “evil” is added. If evil passions are to be interpreted in terms of sex relations, the meaning may be incorporated or joined with the preceding three expressions. If however, evil passions are to be understood in a more general sense, the phrase may be translated as “desires to do evil” or “constantly wanting to do what is bad.”
The Greek word for greed is literally “a desire to have more.” In Eph 5.5 it is also made equivalent to idolatry. The reasoning seems to be that Mammon becomes the god that a covetous person worships and serves in the place of God (Matt 6.24). Greed may be rendered as “a desire to have many things” or even “a desire to have much more than others.”
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 .
Theme: Paul commanded the Colossians not to do what was evil.
3:5a
Put to death: This is a figure of speech that means: “have nothing to do with,” “do not associate with,” “refuse to do,” or “eliminate completely.” Paul was saying that the Colossians should no longer act in these ways, in fact, they should totally reject such behavior. It is as if such ways of behaving are “dead” and therefore these old ways no longer control the believers. Here is another way to translate this phrase:
So put all evil things out of your life (New Century Version)
therefore: This word connects this paragraph to what Paul had said before. Here Paul began to instruct the Colossians about how they should and should not behave, but he based his commands on the previous paragraphs. These paragraphs described the new life the Colossians now had because they had trusted in Christ.
the components of your earthly nature: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as earthly is literally “on the earth.” It is the same phrase Paul used in 3:2b. It means the evil deeds and desires that come from the old sinful nature. Paul was telling the Colossians that they must put to death anything that belongs to that old sinful nature. In other words, they should no longer behave the way they used to behave before they trusted in Christ.
3:5b–c
In 3:5b–c Paul lists five kinds of evil behavior as examples of “the components of your earthly nature.”
3:5b
sexual immorality, impurity, lust: The first three kinds of evil behavior that Paul listed were sexual sins.
sexual immorality: The Greek word porneia that the Berean Standard Bible translates sexual immorality is a general term that means any kind of unlawful sexual behavior. This includes people having sex before they are married or having sex with someone other than their own husband or wife.
impurity: The second term, impurity, also refers to sexual sin. It is often mentioned together with porneia, “sexual immorality,” in the NT. It can be translated, “doing indecent things,” or “doing shameful things.”
lust: The last term, lust, means “strong desire, passion.” In this verse, it probably means strong sexual desire.
It is difficult to make differences between these three terms in some languages. If you do not have different terms for each of these ideas in your language, here are some ways you could combine them:
Do not commit adultery or do other deeds that people are ashamed to talk about. -or-
Do not behave in any sort of sexually immoral way.
evil desires: The fourth term, evil desires, is a general term. It probably refers not only to evil sexual desires, but also to any kind of evil desire. Here is another way to translate this term:
Do not desire to do what is evil (SSA)
Since Paul has just referred to sexual sins, you may want to translate it like this:
and do not desire to do other kinds of evil
3:5c
greed: The fifth term, greed, means desiring to get more and more things, such as money or other possessions.
which is idolatry: Paul said here that “greed” is the same as idolatry. Idolatry usually means, “the worship of idols rather than God.”
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