OET interlinear COL 3:9

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

ἀπεκδυσάμενοι

/having/_disarmed

The clause that begins with having taken off could: (1) give the reason why the Colossians should not lie to each other (and should put off the sins listed in the previous verse). Alternate translation: “because you have taken off” (2) give another command. Alternate translation: “and take off”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἀπεκδυσάμενοι τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον

/having/_disarmed the old person

Here Paul uses a metaphor that is similar to one he used in 2:11, where he speaks of the “circumcision of Christ” that “puts off” the body of flesh. Here, he speaks of the old man as if it were a piece of clothing that the Colossians could “take off.” This does not mean that their true selves are found underneath the old man, since the next verse has them putting on the new man. Instead, Paul uses the metaphor to illustrate how they have changed identity from old to “new.” If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea with a comparable metaphor or express it plainly. Alternate translation: “having forsaken your old identity”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον

the old person

Paul uses the phrase the old man as part of his language about dying and rising with Christ. The old man is thus the person who died with Christ. It does not refer to a part of the person, but rather, it refers to what the whole person used to be before dying with Christ. This is why the ULT uses the neuter pronoun its to refer to old man later in the verse. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a term that refers to the whole person and who he or she used to be. Alternate translation: “the old ‘you’” or “your old identity”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations

ἄνθρωπον

person

While the word man is grammatically masculine, it does not refer primarily to male people but to humans in general. If you have a general word for humans in your language, you could use it here. Alternate translation: “human” or “human being”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

σὺν ταῖς πράξεσιν αὐτοῦ

with the practices ˱of˲_him

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea behind practices, you could express the idea by using a relative clause that refers to what the old man “normally does.” Alternate translation: “along with what it does” or “with how it acts”