All these refer: the regulations have to do with certain material things, not otherwise specified, which cease to exist once they are used. The language strongly supports the idea that food and drink are meant. Become useless translates the phrase “into destruction”; they are perishable and are meant by God to used, to be consumed.

All these refer to things which become useless may require certain modifications in order to communicate essentially the same meaning. For example, all these must be translated somewhat more specifically in some languages, for example, “all these regulations” or “all these statements about what one must not do.” The verb refer may be translated often as “talk about” or “are concerned with.” In translating things, one must be careful to identify the right types of objects; for example, things is too often translated simply as “artifacts,” that is to say, things that are manufactured. Here, however, the reference is primarily to food and drink, and therefore, it may be necessary to simply say “about what is eaten and drunk.”

Which become useless must often be expressed as “which are no longer of any value” or “which cannot be used again.” The meaning is also reinforced by the final clause once they are used, and thus one may say “which can only be used once” or “which are no longer of any value if they have been used once.” However, a literal translation of used may likewise be misleading, since it might refer only to manufactured objects; therefore, it may be more satisfactory to be slightly more specific about the nature of the objects included in such regulations and therefore to speak of “consumed” or even “eaten and drunk.”

They are only man-made rules and teachings: this clause refers to the “rules” in verse 20. The phase is strongly reminiscent of Isa 29.13 (Septuagint), quoted in Matt 15.9. It characterizes the rules as being of purely human origin, and not based on the gospel.

There is danger in a literal translation of they, since it may refer to those things which become useless. It may, therefore, be better to introduce a noun expression such as “these regulations” or “these laws.”

Man-made rules and teachings can often be best expressed as “rules which people make and what they teach.”

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 .