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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 that they should not obey once more all those regulations that were based only on human ideas. They had abandoned that old way of living.
In this verse Paul summarized the Jewish rules in a very general way. He may have only been referring to the Jewish food laws, but it is more likely that he also meant other rules that said that touching certain things caused a person to be ceremonially unclean. You do not need to specify details of the laws in your translation.
“Do not handle,
These rules include rules like: “Do not handle this kind of thing!
Those who teach these things say, “You must not hold that thing in your hand!
Do not handle: This means not to hold something in one’s hands, not to use it.
do not taste,
Do not eat/taste this kind of food!
do not taste: This means not to eat even a little of something.
do not touch!”?
Do not even touch this kind of thing!”
do not touch!: This is similar to 2:21a, but it is stronger. It means not even to touch something. For example, the law of Moses commanded Jews not to touch the dead bodies of people or animals.
If it is necessary in your language to say what sort of things should not be handled, tasted, or touched, you should use very general words, like “these things”. For example:
Do not handle these things. Do not eat these foods. Do not touch these things.
In this verse, Paul was quoting the words of the false teachers. You must clarify this in your translation so that your readers do not think that Paul was commanding the Colossian believers not to touch or taste certain things. The BSB shows this by using quote marks, but it may be better in your language to begin the verse with an introductory phrase like:
There are people who teach you rules like this: “Do not handle…”
You do not have to follow rules that say, “Do not handle…”
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases
μὴ ἅψῃ! μηδὲ γεύσῃ! μηδὲ θίγῃς!
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Μή ἅψῃ Μηδέ γεύσῃ Μηδέ θίγῃς)
This verse gives three commands that are not from Paul, but rather they are examples of the “decrees” from [2:20](../02/20.md). If it would be helpful in your language, you could introduce these commands with a phrase, such as “for example,” to show that they connect to the “decrees” in the previous verse. Alternate translation: [for example, “You may not handle, nor taste, nor touch]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
μὴ ἅψῃ! μηδὲ γεύσῃ! μηδὲ θίγῃς!
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Μή ἅψῃ Μηδέ γεύσῃ Μηδέ θίγῃς)
Paul does not express what these commands say not to handle, taste, or touch, but it is clear that only certain things would be included, not all things. If your language would make this information explicit, you could add a generic phrase such as “certain things” or use words that match each command. Alternate translation: [You may not handle certain objects, nor taste certain foods and drinks, nor touch certain people]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / yousingular
ἅψῃ & γεύσῃ & θίγῃς
˱you˲_˓may˒_touch & ˱you˲_˓may˒_taste & ˱you˲_˓may˒_touch
These commands are addressed to You in the singular. Most likely, Paul refers to specific commands given to one person in a specific situation. However, he does intend these to be taken as examples of commands that might be given to any person among the Colossians. If your language can use a command in the singular as a generic example, you could do so here. If this does not make sense in your language, you could use plural commands here. Alternate translation: [You all may … handle … taste … touch]
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.
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