Colossians 2:18
New International Version
Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.

New Living Translation
Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud,

English Standard Version
Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,

Berean Standard Bible
Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual mind.

Berean Literal Bible
Let no one disqualify you, delighting in humility and the worship of the angels, detailing what he has seen, being puffed up vainly by his mind of the flesh,

King James Bible
Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

New King James Version
Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

New American Standard Bible
Take care that no one keeps defrauding you of your prize by delighting in humility and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,

NASB 1995
Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,

NASB 1977
Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,

Legacy Standard Bible
Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, going into detail about visions he has seen, being puffed up for nothing by his fleshly mind,

Amplified Bible
Let no one defraud you of your prize [your freedom in Christ and your salvation] by insisting on mock humility and the worship of angels, going into detail about visions [he claims] he has seen [to justify his authority], puffed up [in conceit] by his unspiritual mind,

Christian Standard Bible
Let no one condemn you by delighting in ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated by empty notions of their unspiritual mind.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Let no one disqualify you, insisting on ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm and inflated without cause by his unspiritual mind.

American Standard Version
Let no man rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he hath seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

Contemporary English Version
Don't be cheated by people who make a show of acting humble and who worship angels. They brag about seeing visions. But it is all nonsense, because their minds are filled with selfish desires.

English Revised Version
Let no man rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he hath seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Let no one who delights in [false] humility and the worship of angels tell you that you don't deserve a prize. Such a person, whose sinful mind fills him with arrogance, gives endless details of the visions he has seen.

Good News Translation
Do not allow yourselves to be condemned by anyone who claims to be superior because of special visions and who insists on false humility and the worship of angels. For no reason at all, such people are all puffed up by their human way of thinking

International Standard Version
Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels cheat you out of the prize by rejoicing about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up for no reason by his carnal mind.

Majority Standard Bible
Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has not seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual mind.

NET Bible
Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind.

New Heart English Bible
Let no one rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

Webster's Bible Translation
Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

Weymouth New Testament
Let no one defraud you of your prize, priding himself on his humility and on his worship of the angels, and taking his stand on the visions he has seen, and idly puffed up with his unspiritual thoughts.

World English Bible
Let no one rob you of your prize by self-abasement and worshiping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
let no one deceive you of your prize, delighting in humble-mindedness and [in] worship of the messengers, intruding into the things he has not seen, being vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh,

Berean Literal Bible
Let no one disqualify you, delighting in humility and the worship of the angels, detailing what he has seen, being puffed up vainly by his mind of the flesh,

Young's Literal Translation
let no one beguile you of your prize, delighting in humble-mindedness and in worship of the messengers, intruding into the things he hath not seen, being vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh,

Smith's Literal Translation
Let none condemn you being willing in humility and religious worship of angels, going into what he has not seen, vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh,
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Let no man seduce you, willing in humility, and religion of angels, walking in the things which he hath not seen, in vain puffed up by the sense of his flesh,

Catholic Public Domain Version
Let no one seduce you, preferring base things and a religion of Angels, walking according to what he has not seen, being vainly inflated by the sensations of his flesh,

New American Bible
Let no one disqualify you, delighting in self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions, inflated without reason by his fleshly mind,

New Revised Standard Version
Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking,
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Let no man, by pretense of sincerity, doom you, so that you worship angels; for he is bold about the things he has not seen, and foolishly he is proud of his intellectual powers.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Let not a man wish by humility of mind to subjugate you to the worship of Angels to your condemnation, by which he presumes upon something that he does not see, and is emptily puffed up in his carnal mind,
NT Translations
Anderson New Testament
Let no one gain his purpose in depriving you of the palm by an affected humility and worship of angels, prying into things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

Godbey New Testament
Let no one purposely rob you of your prize by humiliation and worship of the angels, trusting in those things which he has seen, being vainly puffed up by the mind of his depravity,

Haweis New Testament
Let no man juggle you out of your prize, voluntary in his humility and the worship of angels, intruding into things which he never saw, vainly puffed up by his carnal imagination;

Mace New Testament
Let no man condemn you, from an affectation of humility, in worshipping of Angels, boldly prying into matters which he knows nothing of, being vainly puft up with his Jewish conceits:

Weymouth New Testament
Let no one defraud you of your prize, priding himself on his humility and on his worship of the angels, and taking his stand on the visions he has seen, and idly puffed up with his unspiritual thoughts.

Worrell New Testament
Let no one rob you of your prize, wishing to do it in humility and in a worshipping of angels, speculating about the things which he has seen, being vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh,

Worsley New Testament
Let no one deprive you of your reward by an affected humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into what he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his carnal mind;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Alive in Christ
17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ. 18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual mind. 19He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow.…

Cross References
Galatians 1:8-9
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse! / As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be under a curse!

1 Timothy 4:1-3
Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, / influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. / They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. / And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. / It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.

1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Ephesians 4:14
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed. / He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

1 Corinthians 8:1
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

Romans 16:17-18
Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them. / For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

2 Peter 2:1-3
Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. / Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed. / In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.

Matthew 24:24
For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if that were possible.

Isaiah 8:19
When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

Deuteronomy 18:10-12
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, / casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead. / For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.

Jeremiah 29:8-9
For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them. / For they are falsely prophesying to you in My name; I have not sent them, declares the LORD.”

Ezekiel 13:6-9
They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message. / Haven’t you seen a false vision and spoken a lying divination when you proclaim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ even though I have not spoken? / Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have uttered vain words and seen false visions, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD. ...

Zechariah 10:2
For idols speak deceit and diviners see illusions; they tell false dreams and offer empty comfort. Therefore the people wander like sheep, oppressed for lack of a shepherd.


Treasury of Scripture

Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

no.

Colossians 2:4,8
And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words…

Genesis 3:13
And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Numbers 25:18
For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor's sake.

beguile you.

Colossians 2:16
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

in a voluntary humility.

Colossians 2:23
Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

Isaiah 57:9
And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.

worshipping.

Daniel 11:38
But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.

Romans 1:25
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

1 Corinthians 8:5,6
For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) …

intruding.

Deuteronomy 29:29
The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Job 38:2
Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

Psalm 138:1,2
A Psalm of David. I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee…

vainly.

Colossians 2:8
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

1 Corinthians 4:18
Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.

Jump to Previous
Angels Beguile Consciously Defraud Delighting Delights Detail Dwelling False. Fleshly Goes Great Humility Idle Idly Inflated Making Mind Notions Prize Puffed Puffs Reason Reward Rob Self-Abasement Stand Thoughts Unspiritual Vainly Visions Voluntary Worship Worshiping Worshipping
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Angels Beguile Consciously Defraud Delighting Delights Detail Dwelling False. Fleshly Goes Great Humility Idle Idly Inflated Making Mind Notions Prize Puffed Puffs Reason Reward Rob Self-Abasement Stand Thoughts Unspiritual Vainly Visions Voluntary Worship Worshiping Worshipping
Colossians 2
1. Paul still exhorts them to be constant in Christ;
8. to beware of philosophy, and vain traditions;
18. worshipping of angels;
20. and legal ceremonies, which are ended in Christ.














Do not let anyone
This phrase is a direct exhortation from the Apostle Paul, emphasizing the personal responsibility of believers to guard against external influences. The Greek word for "let" (καταβραβεύω) implies a sense of being judged or ruled against. Paul is urging the Colossians to be vigilant and not allow others to impose false judgments upon them, which could lead them away from the truth of the Gospel.

who delights in false humility
The term "false humility" is translated from the Greek word "ταπεινοφροσύνη," which can mean humility or lowliness of mind. However, in this context, it is a humility that is insincere or self-imposed, often used to gain spiritual prestige. Paul warns against those who take pride in their humility, which is a contradiction in itself, as true humility is not self-seeking.

and the worship of angels
This phrase addresses a specific heretical practice that was infiltrating the Colossian church. The worship of angels was a part of certain mystical and ascetic practices that were contrary to Christian doctrine. The Greek word "θρησκεία" (worship) here indicates a religious observance that is misplaced. Paul is reminding the believers that worship is due to God alone, and any deviation from this is idolatry.

disqualify you
The Greek word "καταβραβεύω" used here suggests the idea of being deprived of a reward or prize. Paul is using athletic imagery to convey the seriousness of being led astray by false teachings. Just as an athlete can be disqualified from a race, believers can be led away from their spiritual reward by adhering to false doctrines.

with speculation about what he has seen
This phrase refers to the claims of mystical visions or revelations that some false teachers were promoting. The Greek word "εμβατεύων" implies entering into or dwelling upon these visions. Paul warns that such speculative experiences are not grounded in the truth of the Gospel and can lead believers away from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

such a person is puffed up
The phrase "puffed up" comes from the Greek word "φυσιόω," meaning to be inflated or arrogant. Paul is critiquing the pride and self-importance of those who claim superior spiritual experiences. This arrogance is contrasted with the humility and servitude that should characterize a follower of Christ.

without basis by his unspiritual mind
The term "unspiritual mind" is translated from the Greek "σὰρξ" (flesh), indicating a mindset that is not aligned with the Spirit of God. Paul is highlighting the futility and emptiness of relying on human wisdom and understanding, which is devoid of the Spirit's guidance. This serves as a reminder that true spiritual insight comes from God and is rooted in His Word, not in human speculation or experience.

(18) Beguile you of your reward.--The original is a word used, almost technically, for an unfair judgment in the stadium, robbing the victor of his prize. The prize here (as in 1Corinthians 9:24; Philippians 3:14) is the heavenly reward of the Christian course. In St. Paul's exhortation there seems to be a reference back to Colossians 2:16. There he says, "Let no man arrogate judgment over you;" here, "Let no man use that arrogated judgment so as to cheat you of your prize. There is one Judge, who has right and who is righteous; look to Him alone."

In a voluntary humility and worship.--This rendering seems virtually correct, though other renderings are proposed. The original is, willing in humility and worship, and the phrase "willing in" is often used in the LXX. for "delighting in." Other translations are here possible, though not without some harshness. But the true sense is shown beyond all doubt to be that given in our version, by the words used below to describe the same process, "will-worship and humility."

In this passage alone in the New Testament "humility "is spoken of with something of the condemnation accorded to it in heathen morality. The reason of this is obvious and instructive. Humility is a grace, of which the very essence is unconsciousness, and which, being itself negative, cannot live, except by resting on some more positive quality, such as faith or love. Whenever it is consciously cultivated and "delighted in, "it loses all its grace; it becomes either unreal, "the pride that apes humility," or it turns to abject slavishness and meanness. Of such depravations Church history is unhappily full.

Worshipping of angels.--This is closely connected with the "voluntary humility" above. The link of connection is supplied by the notice in the ancient interpreters, of the early growth of that unhappy idea, which has always lain at the root of saint-worship and angel-worship in the Church--"that we must be brought near by angels and not by Christ, for that were too high a thing for us" (Chrysostom). With this passage it is obvious to connect the emphasis laid (in Hebrews 1, 2) on the absolute superiority of our Lord to all angels, who are but "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them who are heirs of salvation;" and the prohibition of angel-worship in Revelation 22:9, "See thou do it not; for I am thy fellow-servant . . . worship God." . . .

Verse 18. - Let no one defraud you of your prize (Colossians 1:5, 23; Colossians 3:15; Philippians 3:14; Galatians 5:7; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; 2 Timothy 4:7, 8; James 1:12; 1 Peter 5:4; Revelation 2:10; Revelation 3:11). These eight words represent but three in the Greek. (On καταβραβεύω, see Meyer's elaborate note.) Βραβούω is used again in Colossians 3:15 (see note), meaning primarily" to act as βραβεύς," arbiter of the prize in the public games; βραβεῖον, the prize, is also figuratively used in Philippians 3:14, and literally in 1 Corinthians 9:24, and is synonymous with the "crown" of other passages. Κατὰ gives the verb a hostile sense; and the present tense, as in vers. 4, 8, 16, 20, implies a continued attempt. Let no one be acting the umpire against you, is the literal sense. The errorist condemns the Colossian Christian for his neglect of Jewish observances (ver. 16), and warns him that in his present state he will miss the heavenly prize, "the hope" he had supposed to be "in store for him in heaven" (ver. 5: comp. notes on Colossians 1:5 and Colossians 3:15; also Ephesians 1:13, 14). Delighting in lowliness of mind and worship of the angels (ver. 23; Revelation 19:10; Revelation 22:8, 9; Judges 13:17, 18). By these means the false teacher impressed his disciples. His angel worship commended itself as the mark of a devout and humble mind, reverent towards the unseen powers above us, and made purely Christian worship seem insufficient. "Delighting in" is the rendering of θέλων ἐν given by Bengel, Hofmann, Lightfoot, Klopper, and is preferable to that of Meyer and Ellicott, who, with several Greek interpreters, supply the sense of the previous verb "desiring (to do so) in lowliness etc.; and to that followed in the Revisers' margin,which puts a sort of adverbial sense on θέλων - "of his mere will, by humility," etc. This latter rendering underlies the paraphrastic" voluntary humility" of the A.V., and agrees with the common interpretation of ἐθελοθρησκεία in ver. 23 (see note). Θέλων ἐν is, no doubt, a marked Hebraism, and St. Paul's language is "singularly free from Hebraisms" (compare, however, the use of εἰδέναι to know, in 1 Thessalonians 5:12; the similar εὐδοκέω ἐν is well established, 1 Corinthians 10:5; 2 Corinthians 12:10; 2 Thessalonians 2:12). This very idiom is frequently used in the LXX, and occurs in the 'Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs,' a Christian writing, of the second century. The apostle may surely be allowed occasionally to have used a Hebraistic phrase, especially when so convenient and expressive as this. Westcott and Hort, with scrupulous purism, mark the reading on this account as doubtful. Ταπεινοφροσύνη ("lowliness of mind"), a word, perhaps, compounded by St. Paul himself (see Trench's 'Synonyms'), is almost confined to the Epistles of this group (comp. ver. 23; Colossians 3:12; Ephesians 4:2; Philippians 2:3; also Acts 20:19; 1 Peter 5:5). This quality is ascribed ironically to the false teacher (compare the "puffed up" of the next clause, and for similar irony see 1 Corinthians 8:1, 2; Galatians 4:17). Θρησκεία is "outward worship" or "devotion:" comp. note on ver. 23; elsewhere in New Testament only in Acts 26:5 and James 1:26, 27 (see Trench's 'Synonyms'). "Worship of the angels" is that paid to the angels; not "offered by them," as Luther and Hofmann interpret, supposing that the errorists pretended to imitate the worship of heaven. Investigating (or, dwelling on) the things which he hath seen'! vainly - being puffed up by 'the reason' of his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:l, 7; 1 Corinthians 8:1; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; 2 Peter 2:18; Jude 1:16). For ἐμβατεύων, we adopt the sense which it bears in 2 Macc. 2:30; in Philo, 'On the Planting of Noah,' § 19. and in patristic and later Greek generally, viz. "to search into," "examine," "discuss" (see Suicer's 'Thesaurus'). The rendering "proceeding" or "dwelling on," though near the radical sense of the word ("to step on" or "in"), wants lexical support. The same may be said of the rendering "intruding into," which suits the Received reading, "which he hath not seen." The "not" of the relative clause is wanting in nearly all our eldest and best witnesses, and is cancelled by the Revisers, with Tregelles, Tischendorf, Lightfoot, Westcott and Hort, etc. Its appearance in two different forms (οὐχ and μὴ) in the documents that present it, makes it still more certain that it is a copyist's insertion. The common reading gives, after all, an unsatisfactory sense; it is not likely the apostle would blame the errorist simply for entering into things beyond his sight (comp. 2 Corinthians 4:18; 2 Corinthians 5:7). Meyer, after Steiger and Huther, gives the best explanation of "which he hath seen," supposing the writer to allude ironically to pretended visions of angels or of the spiritual world, by which the false teacher sought to impose on the Colossians. This view is suggested by Tertullian in the passage cited under ver. 16. Such visions would be suitable for the purpose of the errorist, and congenial to the Phrygian temperament, with its tendency to mysticism and ecstasy (see Theodoret, quoted under ver. 15, who also says that angel worship was specially forbidden by the Council of Laodicea, A.n. 364). If the false teacher were accustomed to say with an imposing air, "I have seen, ah! I have seen!" in referring to his revelations, the apostle's allusion would be obvious and telling. The language of 2 Corinthians 12:1 (R.V.) suggests a similar reliance on supernatural visions on the part of the apostle's earlier opponents. This pretentious visionary is, however, a "philosopher" and a "reasoner" first of all (vers. 4, 8). Accordingly he investigates what he has seen; inquires into the import of his visions, rationally develops their principles, and deduces their consequences. So far, the apostle continues in the ironical vein in which the first words of the verse are written, setting forth the pretensions of his opponent in his own terms, his irony "restraining itself till, after the word ἐμβατεύων, the indignation of truth breaks forth from it" (Steiger) in the caustic and decisive "vainly." Αἰκῆ qualifies the foregoing participle (so Origen, apparently, in Cramer's 'Catena,' vol. 4. p. 69; Steiger, De Wette, Hofmann, Conybeare) more suitably than the following. Thus it signifies "idly," "to no purpose," as everywhere else in St. Paul (Romans 13:4; 1 Corinthians 15:2; Galatians 3:4; Galatians 4:11); not "without cause," as joined to φυσιούμενος ("puffed up"), whose 'force it could only weaken. "Vainly" stigmatizes the futility, "puffed up" the conceit, and "by the reason of his flesh" the low and sensuous origin of these vaunted revelations and of the high-flown theosophy which they were used to support. (For the sarcastic force of "puffed up," comp. 1 Corinthians 4:6, 19; 1 Corinthians 5:2; 1 Corinthians 8:1; 1 Corinthians 13:4). The "reason" (νοῦς) is, in Greek philosophy, the philosophical faculty, the power of supersensible intuition; and in Plato and Philo, the organ of the higher, mystical knowledge of Divine things (see Philo, 'Who is Heir of Divine Things?' §§ 13, 20, and passim). The Colossian "philosopher" (ver. 8) would, we may imagine, speak of himself as "borne aloft" in his visions "by heavenly reason," "lifted high in angelical communion," or the like. Hence the apostle's sarcasm, "Exalted are they? say rather, inflated: lifted high by Divine reason? nay, but swollen high by the reason of their flesh." Some such allusion to the language of the errorists best accounts for the paradoxical νοῦς τῆς σαρκός (see Lightfoot); contrast with Romans 7:25, and compare the disparaging reference to διανοία, Colossians 1:21 (note). Difficult as this passage is, we hesitate to follow Lightfoot, and Westcott and Herr, who have given their weighty sanction to the perilous remedy of conjectural emendations; the latter editors for the second Line in this verse, and again in ver. 23. The line of interpretation here adopted is advocated in the Expositor, first series, vol. 11. pp. 385-398.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
[Do not let anyone]
μηδεὶς (mēdeis)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3367: No one, none, nothing.

who delights
θέλων (thelōn)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2309: To will, wish, desire, be willing, intend, design.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

[false] humility
ταπεινοφροσύνῃ (tapeinophrosynē)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 5012: Humility, lowliness of mind, modesty. From a compound of tapeinos and the base of phren; humiliation of mind, i.e. Modesty.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

[the] worship
θρησκείᾳ (thrēskeia)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2356: From a derivative of threskos; ceremonial observance.

of angels
ἀγγέλων (angelōn)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 32: From aggello; a messenger; especially an 'angel'; by implication, a pastor.

disqualify
καταβραβευέτω (katabrabeuetō)
Verb - Present Imperative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2603: From kata and brabeuo; to award the price against, i.e. to defraud.

you
ὑμᾶς (hymas)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

with speculation about
ἐμβατεύων (embateuōn)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1687: From en and a presumed derivative of the base of basis; equivalent to embaino; to intrude on.

what
(ha)
Personal / Relative Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3739: Who, which, what, that.

he has seen.
ἑόρακεν (heoraken)
Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3708: Properly, to stare at, i.e. to discern clearly; by extension, to attend to; by Hebraism, to experience; passively, to appear.

[Such a man] is puffed up
φυσιούμενος (physioumenos)
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5448: From phusis in the primary sense of blowing; to inflate, i.e. make proud.

without basis
εἰκῇ (eikē)
Adverb
Strong's 1500: Without a cause, purpose; purposelessly, in vain, for nothing. Probably from eiko; idly, i.e. Without reason.

by
ὑπὸ (hypo)
Preposition
Strong's 5259: A primary preposition; under, i.e. of place, or with verbs; of place (underneath) or where (below) or time (when).

his
αὐτοῦ (autou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 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.

unspiritual
σαρκὸς (sarkos)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 4561: Flesh, body, human nature, materiality; kindred.

mind,
νοὸς (noos)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3563: Probably from the base of ginosko; the intellect, i.e. Mind; by implication, meaning.


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NT Letters: Colossians 2:18 Let no one rob you of your (Coloss. Col Co)
Colossians 2:17
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