Still combatting the rules which the false teachers at Colossae were trying to impose on the Christians, Paul refers again to their death with Christ, symbolized in baptism (verse 12a). The Greek is a conditional clause, “if … you died” (Revised Standard Version), which is a rhetorical device and does not imply any doubt; it is a way of stating a fact, from which certain consequences are being drawn. Their “death” is a spiritual one, they have died to the old life, which is controlled by sin (see further 3.3).

In place of the statement you have died with Christ, it may be more relevant and accurate to translate “when Christ died, you also died.” The figurative meaning may, of course, be marked by some such additional phrase as “as it were.”

The expression are set free may be rendered as “are no longer under the control of” or “have been rescued from.”

For the ruling spirits of the universe see 2.8. In this context, the ruling spirits of the universe may be readily rendered as “the spirits that rule this universe” or “… this world.”

You live as though you belonged to this world: although Paul does not dwell on the idea in this letter, “the world” is dominated by the power of evil and sin, from which a Christian has been set free.

The verb live in this context may be better expressed in some languages as “conduct yourselves” or “behave as,” for it refers not to actual physiological life but to manner of behavior.

It may be quite easy to speak of the world belonging to people, but very strange, if not unintelligible, to speak of “people belonging to the world.” In some instances, an equivalent expression may be “as though you were just like everyone else in this world.”

You obey such rules as translates the passive of the Greek verb dogmatizō (only here in the NT, compare dogma in Acts 16.4, Col 2.14) “to impose a rule”; the passive means “to submit to a rule, to obey a rule.” Such rules as may be better expressed in some languages as “the following rules.” In some languages, however, it is very important to make a distinction between those verbs for “obey” which refer to obeying a person and those which relate to conformance to particular rules. One may, for example, “obey a person,” but “live according to certain rules.”

It is not entirely clear what is the specific content of the two rules “do not handle … do not touch” (Revised Standard Version). If a distinction is intended, the first verb (haptomai) seems to be the stronger one, since it may be used in the sense of having contact with, and even “possessing”; see its use in 2 Cor 6.17, and 1 Cor 7.1 (which has “a woman” for object). From its use in 1 Cor 7.1, some commentators see here some sort of regulation which made sex taboo, but this does not seem very likely. It is more likely that both verbs, together with don’t taste, refer to certain foods and drinks which the false teachers had proscribed (1 Tim 4.3 is explicit: certain foods and marriage were being prohibited).

The difficulty with the series of negations don’t handle this, don’t taste that, don’t touch the other is that frequently some kind of concrete object is required. Indefinite pronominal forms such as “this,” or “that,” or “the other” simply do not suffice, and therefore one may need to render these prohibitions as “don’t handle this food; don’t taste that food; and don’t even touch other food.” Such expressions may be more helpful for the readers’ understanding of precisely what is involved, and by having nouns as objects, the grammatical requirements are also fulfilled.

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 .