SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 2001 – Page 2

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 3:12

Paragraph 3:12–14

Theme: Paul told the Colossians that since God loved them so much, they must love one another.

3:12a

Therefore: This connects back to 3:10. Paul was saying that since the Colossians had put on a new nature, they now should behave as God’s people should behave.

as: This means, “since you are…”

the elect of God: Paul listed three things about the Colossian believers. First he reminded them that they were the elect of God, that is, that God had chosen them to belong to him and be part of his people.

holy: Second, he reminded them that they were holy. In this context, it means “set apart, dedicated specially to God.” See the term “holy” in Key Biblical Terms and meaning 1 in the glossary.

beloved: Third, Paul reminded them that they were beloved. In this context, it means, “God loves you.”

3:12b

clothe yourselves: This is the same verb that Paul used in 3:10a (where the Berean Standard Bible translated it as “put on”). See the notes there. If you cannot use such a figure of speech in your language, you can translate the meaning directly: “Behave in these ways:…”

Paul then listed five ways the Colossians should behave. In some languages it will be necessary to translate each of these five nouns as a short sentence.

hearts of compassion: This means feelings of sympathy towards someone who needs help, showing concern for someone who needs help.

kindness: This is similar to “compassion.” It means acting in helpful, loving ways toward people.

humility: This is the same Greek word that Paul used in 2:18a and 2:23c. There the Berean Standard Bible translated it “false humility.” However, here it has a positive meaning. It means not being proud and arrogant. A person shows humility when he does not act as if he is better than other people.

gentleness: This means being willing to yield to others. A person shows gentleness when he is considerate of the rights and feelings of other people and does not insist on having his own way.

patience: This means calmly enduring unfair or unkind treatment by others—not becoming angry quickly when other people do something unpleasant. In the next sentence (3:13a), Paul used different words that mean almost the same thing as “being patient.”

© 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 3:11

3:11

This verse is the result of 3:10, that is, as a result of the new life believers have in Christ, differences between people are no longer important—only Christ is. 3:11 is similar to Galatians 3:27–28, 6:15, and Romans 10:12. If you have already translated these passages, you should compare them with this verse.

3:11a

Here: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Here does not literally mean “in the place where I am.” It means, “in this new life God has given to you.”

there is no Greek or Jew: If the phrase there is no Greek or Jew is translated literally, people may misunderstand it to mean, “Greeks and Jews do not exist,” or “there are no Greek or Jewish believers.” This phrase is an idiom that means that differences between Jews and Greeks are not important, and it does not matter whether a person is a Jew or Greek.

Greek: Paul was probably using the word Greek to mean “Gentile,” that is, non-Jewish people. Good News Translation and New Living Translation (2004) translate it “Gentiles.”

circumcised or uncircumcised: This phrase is parallel to the phrase “Greek or Jew.” Jews were circumcised and this marked them as God’s special people. Greeks/Gentiles were not circumcised.

If your language does not use a lot of parallel phrases, you could combine these two phrases and say:

It does not matter if you are a Jew, circumcised ⌊according to the law of Moses⌋, or an uncircumcised Gentile…

3:11b

barbarian: The Greeks called any person who was not Greek a barbarian. It means “foreigner” and implies someone who was uncultured.

Scythian: The Scythians were a fierce, savage people who invaded other peoples’ countries and killed the occupants and caused other sorts of damage. People were afraid of them and considered them one of the worst kinds of “barbarians.” You can translate this using a term in your language that refers to people who are primitive or uncivilized.

slave: A slave was a servant who had been bought by someone and therefore belonged to this person. He had no freedom to do what he wanted to do or to go where he wanted to go. He had no possessions of his own and was completely dependent on his owners for everything.

free: This is the opposite of a “slave.” The word free can be translated as “free person,” or “person who is not a slave.”

3:11c

but Christ is all: This contrasts with 3:11a–b. Paul was saying that all these differences between people did not matter—the only thing that was important was Christ. He is the most important thing in the universe, he is supreme over all things and over all people.

3:11d

and is in all: Most scholars believe that this means that Christ “lives in all believers.” The Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, and New Living Translation (2004) make this explicit in their translation.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 3:10

3:10a

The phrases in 3:10a are parallel to 3:9b. They describe what happened to the Colossians when they became Christians. 3:9b described the old nature the Colossians had put off or taken off, and 3:10a described the new nature they had put on instead.

have put on the new self: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates have put on is parallel to “have taken off” in 3:9b. It normally refers to putting on clothes. Here Paul used it as a figure of speech to mean that the Christian has “put on” (started) a new way of behaving, just as a person “puts on” clothes.

the new self: This means the new life and new way of behaving that a person has once he trusts in Christ.

Paul was saying: “you have started being a new person.”

3:10b

which: This refers back to the “new self” in 3:10a.

is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator: God is the one who is doing the “renewing.” The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates is being renewed is present tense in Greek. This means that God is continually renewing believers, that is, he is constantly changing them and causing them to be more like himself.

in knowledge: Most scholars think that Paul was writing about knowing God. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

in order that you might get to know God truly (SSA)
-or-
in order to bring you to a full knowledge of himself (Good News Translation)

its Creator: God, the Creator, was the one who created this new nature/self, and he is the one who gives new life to everyone who trusts in Christ. Here Paul was not referring to God creating the world or physical bodies, but to God creating a new nature for each Christian. (See 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 2:10.)

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 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 3:7

3:7

When you lived among them: Paul was writing about the way the Colossians behaved before they became believers.

you: This translates an emphatic pronoun in Greek. Here is another way to translate this pronoun:

you yourselves (Good News Translation)

used to walk in these ways: This is an idiom which means to “behave in these ways.” See the notes on 1:10a and 2:6b.

in these ways: This refers to the list in 3:5b–c.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 3:6

3:6a

Because of these: The word these refers back to the things listed in 3:5. Paul was saying, “Because people do these evil things…”

the wrath of God is coming: This means, “The time is coming when God will show his anger.” Paul did not mean that God would become angry. He meant that God will show he is angry by punishing people who act in the ways described in 3:5.

wrath: This is a strong word for “anger.” If you have only one word for “anger” in your language, you may want to use an adjective here and say “great/intense anger.”

3:6b

on the sons of disobedience: There is a textual problem with this part of the verse.

(Berean Standard Bible, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, King James Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version)

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

There is no majority view among English versions about whether or not to include this phrase. Since there is no majority view, you should probably follow the English version or national language version which is most used in your area. If you use footnotes in your translation, you could mention the alternative in a footnote.

© 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 3:5

Paragraph 3:5–11

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.”

© 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.

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Source: SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 2001