Kolose 1:25

1:25 I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship ¹  from God – given to me for you – in order to complete ²  the word of God,

Kolose 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ³  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ⁴ 

Kolose 2:7

2:7 rooted ⁵  and built up in him and firm ⁶  in your ⁷  faith just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Kolose 2:14

2:14 He has destroyed ⁸  what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness ⁹  expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.

Kolose 2:19-20

2:19 He has not held fast ¹⁰  to the head from whom the whole body, supported ¹¹  and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God. ¹² 

2:20 If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits ¹³  of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world?

Kolose 3:8

3:8 But now, put off all such things ¹⁴  as anger, rage, malice, slander, abusive language from your mouth.

Kolose 3:12-13

Exhortation to Unity and Love

3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, ¹⁵  kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 3:13 bearing with one another and forgiving ¹⁶  one another, if someone happens to have ¹⁷  a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others. ¹⁸ 

Kolose 4:10

4:10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him).

[1:25]  ¹ tn BDAG 697 s.v. οἰκονομία 1.b renders the term here as “divine office.”

[1:25]  ² tn See BDAG 828 s.v. πληρόω 3. The idea here seems to be that the apostle wants to “complete the word of God” in that he wants to preach it to every person in the known world (cf. Rom 15:19). See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 82.

[2:1]  ³ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”

[2:7]  ⁵ tn Or “having been rooted.”

[2:7]  ⁶ sn The three participles rooted, built up, and firm belong together and reflect three different metaphors. The first participle “rooted” (perfect tense) indicates a settled condition on the part of the Colossian believers and refers to horticulture. The second participle “built up” (present passive) comes from the world of architecture. The third participle “firm [established]” (present passive) comes from the law courts. With these three metaphors (as well as the following comment on thankfulness) Paul explains what he means when he commands them to continue to live their lives in Christ. The use of the passive probably reflects God’s activity among them. It was he who had rooted them, had been building them up, and had established them in the faith (cf. 1 Cor 3:5-15 for the use of mixed metaphors).

[2:7]  ⁷ tn The Greek text has the article τῇ (th), not the possessive pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn), but the article often functions as a possessive pronoun and was translated as such here (ExSyn 215).

[2:14]  ⁸ tn The participle ἐξαλείψας (exaleiyas) is a temporal adverbial participle of contemporaneous time related to the previous verb συνεζωοποίησεν (sunezwopoihsen), but has been translated as a finite verb because of the complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences. For the meaning “destroy” see BDAG 344-45 s.v. ἐξαλείφω 2.

[2:14]  ⁹ tn On the translation of χειρόγραφον (ceirografon), see BDAG 1083 s.v. which refers to it as “a certificate of indebtedness.”

[2:19]  ¹⁰ tn The Greek participle κρατῶν (kratwn) was translated as a finite verb to avoid an unusually long and pedantic sentence structure in English.

[2:19]  ¹¹ tn See BDAG 387 s.v. ἐπιχορηγέω 3.

[2:19]  ¹² tn The genitive τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) has been translated as a genitive of source, “from God.”

[2:20]  ¹³ tn See the note on the phrase “elemental spirits” in 2:8.

[3:8]  ¹⁴ tn The Greek article with τὰ πάντα (ta panta) is anaphoric, referring to the previous list of vices, and has been translated here as “all such things.”

[3:12]  ¹⁵ tn If the genitive construct σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ (splancna oiktirmou) is a hendiadys then it would be “compassion” or “tenderheartedness.” See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 161.

[3:13]  ¹⁶ tn For the translation of χαριζόμενοι (carizomenoi) as “forgiving,” see BDAG 1078 s.v. χαρίζομαι 3. The two participles “bearing” (ἀνεχόμενοι, anecomenoi) and “forgiving” (χαριζόμενοι) express the means by which the action of the finite verb “clothe yourselves” is to be carried out.

[3:13]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “if someone has”; the term “happens,” though not in the Greek text, is inserted to bring out the force of the third class condition.

[3:13]  ¹⁸ tn The expression “forgive others” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. It is included in the translation to make the sentence complete and more comprehensible to the English reader.