Colossians 2:14 - Alive in Christ (2024)

Verse (Click for Chapter)

New International Version
having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.New Living Translation
He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.English Standard Version
by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.Berean Standard Bible
having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!Berean Literal Bible
having blotted out the handwriting in the decrees against us, which was adverse to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.King James Bible
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;New King James Version
having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.New American Standard Bible
having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.NASB 1995
having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.NASB 1977
having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.Legacy Standard Bible
Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us, He also has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.Amplified Bible
having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of legal demands [which were in force] against us and which were hostile to us. And this certificate He has set aside and completely removed by nailing it to the cross.Christian Standard Bible
He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.Holman Christian Standard Bible
He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross.American Standard Version
having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and he hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he has blotted out by his authority the bill of our debts which was adverse to us and he took it from the midst and nailed it to his cross.Contemporary English Version
God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross. Douay-Rheims Bible
Blotting out the handwriting of the decree that was against us, which was contrary to us. And he hath taken the same out of the way, fastening it to the cross: English Revised Version
having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and he hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;GOD'S WORD® Translation
He did this by erasing the charges that were brought against us by the written laws God had established. He took the charges away by nailing them to the cross.Good News Translation
he canceled the unfavorable record of our debts with its binding rules and did away with it completely by nailing it to the cross. International Standard Version
having erased the charges that were brought against us, along with their obligations that were hostile to us. He took those charges away when he nailed them to the cross. Literal Standard Version
having blotted out the handwriting in the ordinances that is against us, that was contrary to us, and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the Cross;Majority Standard Bible
having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!New American Bible
obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims, which was opposed to us, he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross;NET Bible
He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.New Revised Standard Version
erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.New Heart English Bible
wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;Webster's Bible Translation
Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;Weymouth New Testament
The bond, with its requirements, which was in force against us and was hostile to us, He cancelled, and cleared it out of the way, nailing it to His Cross.World English Bible
wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us. He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. Young's Literal Translation
having blotted out the handwriting in the ordinances that is against us, that was contrary to us, and he hath taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross;Additional Translations ...

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14) Blotting out the handwriting--i.e., cancelling the bond which stood against us in its ordinances. The "handwriting" is the bond, exacting payment or penalty in default. (Comp. Philemon 1:19, "I Paul have written it with mine own hand; I will repay it.") What this bond is we see by Ephesians 2:15, which speaks of "the law of commandments in ordinances," there called "the enmity slain by the cross." On the meaning of "ordinances" see Note on that passage. The metaphor, however, here is different, and especially notable as the first anticipation of those many metaphors of later theology, from Tertullian downwards, in which the idea of a debt to God, paid for us by the blood of Christ, as "a satisfaction," is brought out. The Law is a bond, "Do this and thou shalt live." "The soul that sinneth it shall die." On failure to do our part it "stands against us." But God for Christ's sake forgives our transgressions and cancels the bond. It is a striking metaphor, full of graphic expressiveness; it is misleading only when (as in some later theologies) we hold it to be not only the truth, but the whole truth, forgetting that legal and forensic metaphors can but imperfectly represent inner spiritual realities.

And took it.--Properly, and He (Christ) hath taken it away. The change of tense is significant. The act of atonement is over; its effect remains.

Nailing it to his cross.--At this point the idea of atonement comes in. Hitherto we have heard simply of free forgiveness and love of God. Now the bond is viewed, not as cancelled by a simple act of divine mercy, but as absolutely destroyed by Christ, by "nailing it to His cross." It has been supposed (as by Bishop Pearson) that there is allusion to some custom of cancelling documents by the striking of a nail through them. But the custom is doubtful, and the supposition unnecessary. Our Lord "redeemed us from the curse of the Law," by His death, "being made a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13). St. Paul boldly speaks of that curse as a penalty standing against us, and as nailed to the cross with Himself, so to be for ever cancelled in the great declaration, "It is finished." If any more definite allusion is to be sought for, we might be inclined to refer to the "title" on the cross, probably nailed to it. Such title declared the explanation of the sufferer's death. The cancelled curse of the Law was just such an explanation of the great atoning death, and the title, declaring His mediatorial kingdom, showed the curse cancelled thereby.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 14. - Having blotted out the bond (that was) against us with (or, written in) decrees, which was opposed to us (Ephesians 2:14-16; Romans 3:9-26; Romans 7:7-14; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Galatians 3:10-22; 1 Corinthians 15:56; Acts 13:38, 39). The ancients commonly used wax tablets in writing, and the flat end of the pointed stylus drawn over the writing smeared it out (expunged) and so cancelled it (comp. Acts 3:19; Psalm 51:9; Isaiah 43:25, LXX). "God," not "Christ," is the subject of this verb, which stands in immediate sequence to those of vers. 12, 13 (comp. 2 Corinthians 5:19). It is the receiver rather than the offerer of satisfaction who cancels the debt: in Ephesians 2:15 (comp. Colossians 1:22) a different verb is used. Ξειρόγραφον ("handwritten;" a word of later Greek, only here in the New Testament) is used specially of an account of debt, a bond signed by the debtor's hand (see Meyer and Lightfoot). This bond (with its decrees) can be nothing other than "the law" (Ephesians 2:14-16; Acts 13:38, 39; Romans 3:20; Romans 7:25; Galatians 3:21, 22, etc.); not, however, the ritual law, nor even the Mosaic Law as such (as Meyer contends), but law as law, the Divine rule of human life impressed even on Gentile hearts (Romans 2:14, 15), to which man's conscience gives its consent (Romans 7:16, 22), and yet which becomes by his disobedience just a list of charges against him (so Neander and Lightfoot; see the latter on Galatians 2:19). Exodus 24:3 and Deuteronomy 27:14-26, indeed, illustrate this wider relation of Divine law to the human conscience generally. Τοῖς δόγμασιν is dative of reference either to καθ ἡμῶν ("against us:" qualifying or explanatory - in respect of its decrees) or to the verbal idea contained in χειργόραφον ("written in," or "with decrees"). The former explanation (that of Winer and Ellicott) is preferable. The Greek Fathers made it instrumental dative to ἐξαλείψας, understanding by these δόγματα τηε δοξτρινεσ (dogmas) of the gospel by which the charges of the Law against us are expunged. But this puts on δόγμα a later theological sense foreign to St. Paul, and universally rejected by modern interpreters. In the New Testament (comp. Luke 2:1; Acts 16:4; Hebrews 11:23), as in classical Greek, dogma is a decree, setting forth the will of some public authority (comp. note on δογματίζω, ver. 20). The added clause, "which was opposed to us," affirms the active opposition, as "against us" the essential hostility of the decrees of God's law to our sinful nature (Romans 4:15; Galatians 3:10: comp. Romans 7:13, 14). The emphasis with which St. Paul dwells on this point is characteristic of the author of Romans and Galatians. Ψπενάντιος occurs besides only in Hebrews 10:27; the prefix ὑπὸ implies close and persistent opposition (Lightfoot). And he hath taken it out of the midst, having nailed it to the cross (Colossians 1:20-22; Ephesians 2:18; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Romans 3:24-26; Romans 5:1, 2; Galatians 3:13; Hebrews 1:3; John 1:29; 1 John 4:10). A third time in these three verses (12-14) we note the transition from participle to coordinate finite verb; and here, in addition, the aorist tense passes into the perfect ("hath taken"), marking the finality of the removal of the Law's condemning power (Romans 8:1; Acts 13:39): comp. the opposite transition in Colossians 1:26, 27. The moral deliverance of ver. 11 is traced up to this legal release, both contained in our completeness in Christ (ver. 10). The subject is still "God." Cancelling the bond which he held against us in his Law, God has forver removed the barrier which stood between mankind and himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). Christ's place in this work, already shown in Colossians 1:18-23 (in its relation to himself), is vividly recalled by the mention of the cross. And the abolition of the Law's condemnation is finally set forth by a yet bolder metaphor - "having nailed it to the cross." The nails of the cross in piercing Christ pierced the legal instrument which held us debtors, and nullified it; see Galatians 3:13 (comp. Galatians 2:19, 20); Romans 7:4-6. Προσηλώσας may suggest the further idea of nailing up the cancelled document, by way of publication. At the cross all may read, "There is now no condemnation" (compare the "making a show" of ver. 15; also Romans 3:25; Galatians 3:1). (For vers. 11-14, compare concluding remark on Colossians 1:14.) Parallel Commentaries ...

Greek

having canceled
ἐξαλείψας (exaleipsas)
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1813: To plaster, wash over; I wipe off, wipe out, obliterate. From ek and aleipho; to smear out, i.e. Obliterate.

the
τὸ (to)
Article - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

debt ascribed
χειρόγραφον (cheirographon)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 5498: A handwriting, bond. Neuter of a compound of cheir and grapho; something hand-written, i.e. A manuscript (figuratively).

to
καθ’ (kath’)
Preposition
Strong's 2596: A primary particle; down, in varied relations (genitive, dative or accusative) with which it is joined).

us
ἡμῶν (hēmōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

in the
τοῖς (tois)
Article - Dative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

decrees
δόγμασιν (dogmasin)
Noun - Dative Neuter Plural
Strong's 1378: A decree, edict, ordinance. From the base of dokeo; a law.

that
(ho)
Personal / Relative Pronoun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3739: Who, which, what, that.

stood
ἦν (ēn)
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

against
ὑπεναντίον (hypenantion)
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 5227: Opposite to, adverse; subst: an adversary. From hupo and enantios; under contrary to, i.e. Opposed or an opponent.

us.
ἡμῖν (hēmin)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

He took
ἦρκεν (ērken)
Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 142: To raise, lift up, take away, remove.

it
αὐτὸ (auto)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Neuter 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

away,
ἐκ (ek)
Preposition
Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.

nailing
προσηλώσας (prosēlōsas)
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 4338: To fasten with nails, nail to. From pros and a derivative of helos; to peg to, i.e. Spike fast.

it
αὐτὸ (auto)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Neuter 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

to the
τῷ (tō)
Article - Dative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

cross!
σταυρῷ (staurō)
Noun - Dative Masculine Singular
Strong's 4716: A cross.

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