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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Col 2 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23
OET (OET-LV) And you_all being dead in the transgressions and in_the uncircumcision of_the flesh of_you_all, he_made_ us _alive_together with him, having_forgiven all our transgressions to_us,
OET (OET-RV) You all were dead in your disobedience and because your bodies were ‘uncircumcised’. Then he made us alive together with him after he forgave us for all our disobedience.
Theme: Paul told the Colossians to behave correctly because they belong to Christ. They should not follow those who teach a false message. He also reminded them that God had accepted them completely because they belong to Christ.
In 1:13–2:5 Paul had reminded the Colossians what is true about Christ and had told them that God had always planned to make them his people. Beginning in 2:6, Paul urged them to continue to believe in Christ. He assured them that this was the same message that Epaphras and others had taught them. Therefore, they should continue to trust in Christ more and more and act in ways that honor God. They should not believe any other message.
Theme: Paul warned the Colossians to make sure that the false teachers did not deceive them with their deceptive Greek philosophies and ideas about the spirit world.
Paul stated his main point at the beginning of this paragraph: “See to it that no one takes you captive…” (2:8a). You need to make this main point clear in your translation.
In Greek, 2:13–15 is one long, complicated sentence. Most English versions divide it into several sentences. You will probably need to do this in your translation, too.
When you were dead in your trespasses
And as for you Gentiles, before you believed in Christ you were spiritually dead because you were sinful,
You who are not Jews were separated from God because you had broken God’s laws,
you: Paul used an emphatic pronoun you here. In English, this can be expressed “It was you…” If you have special pronouns in your language to show such emphasis, you should use one here.
dead in your trespasses: Paul was writing about what the Colossians were like before they believed in Jesus. This is a figure of speech that means, “you were spiritually dead because you were continually behaving in sinful ways.” Because of the sinful things they did, it was not possible for them to have eternal life and be with God forever.
If you want to keep the figure of speech dead in your translation, you may need to clarify that Paul was not writing about physical death. For example, you could say:
it was as if you were dead
you were dead spiritually
If you cannot keep the figure of speech in your translation, you could say:
you were separated from God because you had sinned
trespasses: Paul did not use the normal Greek word for trespasses here, but he used the word paraptōma, which means “transgressions, actions that break the law.” Most modern English versions use the word “sins.” Unless you have a word that specifically means “transgressions,” you should probably also use your normal term for “sins” in this verse.
and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature,
and because you were not free from the power of your sinful nature.
and because God had not yet removed your sinful nature.
and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature: Here Paul gave a second reason why the Colossians had been dead spiritually. There are two main interpretations of this part of the verse:
Some scholars think that Paul was talking about spiritual circumcision, as in 2:11. For example:
you were uncircumcised spiritually, that is, you were controlled by your evil nature (SSA)
your sinful nature was not yet cut away (NLT) (GW, NCV, NLT, SSA)
Some scholars think that Paul meant literal circumcision, that is, that the Colossians were Gentiles and so had not been circumcised according to the law of Moses. For example:
you were Gentiles without the Law (GNT) (GNT, NJB, REB)
Both interpretations have strong commentary support. The Display follows the first interpretation—that Paul used the term uncircumcision as a figure of speech, similar to 2:11. The uncircumcision of your sinful nature means “your sinful nature had not been removed,” or “God had not freed you from the power of your sinful nature.”
However, if you want to follow the second interpretation, you could say:
You were spiritually dead…because you were Gentiles and did not know God.
God made you alive with Christ.
But God raised you up to live a new life with Christ.
But even though you were like that, God gave you new spiritual life. It was just as if he caused you to live again, together with Christ.
God made you alive with Christ: This is similar to what Paul said in 2:12b: “[you were] raised with him/[Christ].” Paul was saying that although the Colossians had been spiritually dead (2:13a), when they became Christians, God made them spiritually alive.
He forgave us all our trespasses,
God forgave us(incl) for all our sins.
He forgave us(incl) for all the sinful things that we(incl) had done.
He forgave us all our trespasses: He refers to God. Notice that Paul changed here from saying “you” to us.
trespasses: This is the same word Paul used in 2:13a. You should translate it in the same way here.
Note 1 topic: writing-pronouns
ὑμᾶς νεκροὺς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν, συνεζωοποίησεν ὑμᾶς
you_all (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὑμᾶς νεκρούς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καί τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκός ὑμῶν συνεζωοποίησεν ἡμάς σύν αὐτῷ χαρισάμενος ἡμῖν παντᾶ τά παραπτώματα)
Paul begins the sentence with you, and then he restates you when he identifies what God has done for you. If your language would not restate you or use this structure, you could separate the two uses of you into separate sentences. Alternate translation: [you were dead in the trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. Then, he made you alive together]
Note 2 topic: grammar-connect-time-background
νεκροὺς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὑμᾶς νεκρούς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καί τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκός ὑμῶν συνεζωοποίησεν ἡμάς σύν αὐτῷ χαρισάμενος ἡμῖν παντᾶ τά παραπτώματα)
This clause does not refer to the current situation of the Colossians, but rather it describes their situation before God acted to make them alive, as expressed in the rest of the verse. If it would be helpful in your language, you could clarify that this clause describes a time before he made you alive. Alternate translation: [who used to be dead in the trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ὑμᾶς νεκροὺς ὄντας
you_all (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὑμᾶς νεκρούς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καί τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκός ὑμῶν συνεζωοποίησεν ἡμάς σύν αὐτῷ χαρισάμενος ἡμῖν παντᾶ τά παραπτώματα)
Paul speaks of people who are without Christ as if they were dead. By this he means that those who lack any relationship with God and are not united to Christ are spiritually dead. If it would be helpful in your language, you could clarify that Paul speaks of spiritual death or express the idea with a simile, or express it plainly. Alternate translation: [you, being like dead people] or [you, being totally separated from God]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
νεκροὺς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὑμᾶς νεκρούς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καί τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκός ὑμῶν συνεζωοποίησεν ἡμάς σύν αὐτῷ χαρισάμενος ἡμῖν παντᾶ τά παραπτώματα)
When Paul speaks of someone being dead in something, this identifies both why and in what state the person is dead. In other words, the Colossians were dead because of their trespasses and because of their uncircumcision, and these things also characterized them while they were dead. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea with a phrase like “because of,” or you could translate trespasses and uncircumcision as descriptors of dead. Alternate translation: [being dead because of your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh] or [being dead, that is, trespassing God’s commands and being uncircumcised in your flesh]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
ἐν τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν
in the transgressions (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὑμᾶς νεκρούς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καί τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκός ὑμῶν συνεζωοποίησεν ἡμάς σύν αὐτῷ χαρισάμενος ἡμῖν παντᾶ τά παραπτώματα)
If your language does not use abstract nouns for the ideas of trespasses and uncircumcision, you could express the same ideas in another way. Alternate translation: [because you transgressed God’s commands and were uncircumcised in your flesh]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / possession
τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν
˱in˲_the uncircumcision ˱of˲_the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὑμᾶς νεκρούς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καί τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκός ὑμῶν συνεζωοποίησεν ἡμάς σύν αὐτῷ χαρισάμενος ἡμῖν παντᾶ τά παραπτώματα)
Here Paul uses the possessive form to describe flesh that has not been “circumcised.” If your language does not express this idea with the possessive form, you could translate uncircumcision as an adjective. Alternate translation: [your uncircumcised flesh]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
συνεζωοποίησεν ὑμᾶς σὺν αὐτῷ
˱he˲_made_alive_together (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὑμᾶς νεκρούς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καί τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκός ὑμῶν συνεζωοποίησεν ἡμάς σύν αὐτῷ χαρισάμενος ἡμῖν παντᾶ τά παραπτώματα)
Paul speaks of God’s work in restoring people to himself as if he brought these people back to life physically. If it would be helpful in your language, you could clarify that Paul speaks of spiritual life or express the idea with a simile or plainly. Alternate translation: [he did something like making you alive together with him] or [he restored you to proper relationship with him]
Note 8 topic: writing-pronouns
συνεζωοποίησεν ὑμᾶς σὺν αὐτῷ
˱he˲_made_alive_together (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὑμᾶς νεκρούς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καί τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκός ὑμῶν συνεζωοποίησεν ἡμάς σύν αὐτῷ χαρισάμενος ἡμῖν παντᾶ τά παραπτώματα)
The word he refers to God the Father, while the word translated him refers to God the Son. If it would be helpful in your language, you could clarify the antecedent of one or both of these pronouns. Alternate translation: [God made you alive together with the Messiah]
2:6-15 In the face of the false teachers’ enticing arguments, Paul exhorts the Colossians to stand firm in their faith in Christ, for in Christ lives all the fullness of God, and their spiritual experience is complete in him.
OET (OET-LV) And you_all being dead in the transgressions and in_the uncircumcision of_the flesh of_you_all, he_made_ us _alive_together with him, having_forgiven all our transgressions to_us,
OET (OET-RV) You all were dead in your disobedience and because your bodies were ‘uncircumcised’. Then he made us alive together with him after he forgave us for all our disobedience.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.