Notes

1. Paul Lamarche, “Structure de l’épître aux Colossiens,” Bib 56 (1975): 460.

2. Aletti, Saint Paul Épître aux Colossiens, 39.

3. Sumney, “The Argument of Colossians,” 349.

4. Of course, one can also argue that these are simply general terms that point to the pagan and Jewish environment in which the early Christians found themselves. This would, however, assume that no specific heresy can be identified within this text (cf. Hooker, “Were There False Teachers in Colossae?” 329). For a further discussion, see “Circumstances behind the Text” in the introduction.

5. Schweizer, Letter to the Colossians, 154.

6. Sumney, Colossians, 159.

7. Cf. Wright, Colossians and Philemon, 124.

8. See comments on 2:4.

9. BDAG, 567.

10. For a more neutral rendering, cf. CEV: “do not let anyone tell you….”

11. “In” (ἐν) would then indicate “sphere;” Wallace, Greek Grammar, 372.

12. Lohse, Colossians and Philemon, 115.

13. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon, 138, has therefore argued against an OT background for these terms. These references do, however, point to general issues of ritual purity; cf. Beetham, Echoes of Scripture, 196–200.

14. Bevere, Sharing in the Inheritance, 86.

15. Harris, Colossians and Philemon, 118.

16. Troy Martin, “Pagan and Judeo-Christian Time-Keeping Schemes in Gal 4.10 and Col 2.16,” NTS 42 (1996): 111.

17. H. Ross Cole, “The Christian and Time-Keeping in Colossians 2:16 and Galatians 4:10,” AUSS 39 (2001): 273–82.

18. See also T. C. G. Thornton, “Jewish New Moon Festivals, Galatians 4:3–11 and Colossians 2:16,” JTS 40 (1989): 100, who further suggests that the astronomical bodies that determine times and seasons “were aspects of the στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου from which Christians had been freed.”

19. Plato, Rep. 514a–518b; Cf. Plato, Crat. 391b, 432b.

20. Philo, Migration 12; Confusion 190; Josephus, J.W. 2.28; Beetham, Echoes of Scripture, 201.

21. Pindar, Pythian Odes 8.95–96; Sophocles, Antigone 1170; Euripides, Medea 1224.

22. Aeschylus, Agamemnon 839; Sophocles, Fragment 598.6. This is consistent with the OT portrayal of idols as those of a fleeting existence (cf. Isa 40:18–24).

23. For Plato this ontological distinction is, of course, derived from the epistemological one, as the issue of knowledge serves as the starting point of his discussion of reality.

24. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon, 140.

25. See, e.g., Troy Martin, “But Let Everyone Discern the Body of Christ (Colossians 2:17),” JBL 114 (1995): 249–55; Sang-Won Aaron Son, “Τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ in Colossians 2:17,” in History and Exegesis: New Testament Essays in Honor of Dr. E. Earle Ellis for His 80th Birthday (ed. Sang-Won Aaron Son; New York: T&T Clark, 2006), 222–38.

26. Cole, “The Christian and Time-Keeping in Colossians 2:16 and Galatians 4:10,” 271, who further points to 3:7–8, where an independent clause introduced by δέ (v. 8a) is again contrasted with a relative clause (v. 7a).

27. See also Son, “Τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ in Colossians 2:17,” 236, who, denying the presence of a contrast, considers “the body of Christ” in apposition to “the things to come.”

28. Schweizer, Letter to the Colossians, 158.

29. Dunn, Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, 177.

30. See esp. Kent L. Yinger, “Translating καταβραβευέτω [‘Disqualify’ NRSV] in Colossians 2.18,” BT 54 (2003): 140–41.

31. Cf. 1 Sam 18:22; 2 Sam 15:26; 1 Kgs 10:9; Ps 146[147]:10; Mal 1:10; Lightfoot, St. Paul’s Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, 195; Schweizer, Letter to the Colossians, 158; Moo, Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon, 225.

32. Though rarely, this is an attested use of the verb: CPR 20.17 (LSJ, 479).

33. Harris, Colossians and Philemon, 121; Garland, Colossians and Philemon, 176.

34. BDAG, 989.

35. Tertullian, On Fasting 12.2; 13.4; 16.4–6; Francis, “Humility and Angelic Worship in Col 2:18,” 168.

36. Smith, Heavenly Perspective, 122.

37. See, in particular, Francis, “Humility and Angelic Worship in Col 2:18,” 163–95; Sappington, Revelation and Redemption at Colossae, 158–61; Bevere, Sharing in the Inheritance, 101–114; Smith, Heavenly Perspective, 122–27; Stettler, “The Opponents at Colossae,” 186.

38. Lohse, Colossians and Philemon, 119.

39. Arnold, Colossian Syncretism, 91.

40. See the extensive discussion in ibid., 8–102.

41. Images from (later) Jewish synagogues in Asia Minor do point to a certain degree of syncretism in this general area; cf. A. Thomas Kraabel, “Social Systems of Six Diaspora Synagogues,” in Diaspora Jews and Judaism: Essays in Honor of, and in Dialogue with, A. Thomas Kraabel (ed. J. A. Overman and R. S. MacLennan; Atlanta: Scholars, 1992), 79–91.

42. DeMaris, The Colossian Controversy, 58–63.

43. See comments on vv. 6–15.

44. Pokorný, Colossians, 119.

45. Arnold, Colossian Syncretism, 101–2.

46. Crispin H. T. Fletcher-Louis, Luke-Acts: Angels, Christology and Soteriology (WUNT 2.94; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1997), 99.

47. Wright, Colossians and Philemon, 122.

48. Some manuscripts insert μή ( C D¹ Ψ 075 0278 1881 ), while others οὐκ (F G).

49. For a recent defense of this view, see Moo, Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon, 227–29.

50. Moule, Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, 105.

51. Lohse, Colossians and Philemon, 114. For the evidence for the presence of mystery cults in Asia Minor, see Arnold, Colossian Syncretism, 109–20.

52. See Arthur D. Nock, “The Vocabulary of the New Testament,” JBL 52 (1933): 132–33; Sappington, Revelation and Redemption at Colossae, 155.

53. Fred O. Francis, “The Background of EMBATEUEIN,” in Conflict at Colossae (ed. F. O. Francis and W. A. Meeks; Missoula, MT: Scholars, 1975), 197–207; Beetham, Echoes of Scripture, 206–7.

54. This contrast between reality and the illusion of their minds is implied with the presence of the final clause of this verse.

55. The passive participle “conceited” (φυσιούμενος), takes on an active sense of becoming “puffed up or conceited” (BDAG, 1069; cf. 1 Cor 4:18, 19; 5:2; 13:4).

56. On this issue, see “Introduction to Colossians”.

57. It is also possible to take this relative pronoun as a neuter pronoun (“which,” NJB), which points to the generic reference to the head.

58. See Arnold, “Jesus Christ: ‘Head’ of the Church,” 361, who suggests that the first participle draws from marital imagery, where the husband is to provide for the wife, and the second emphasizes unity.

59. Van Kooten, Cosmic Christology in Paul, 53.

60. Harris, Colossians and Philemon, 124.

61. As it modifies “growth,” a clear distinction between a subjective genitive and a genitive of source cannot be made.

62. See, e.g., J. P. Louw, “Reading a Text as Discourse,” in Linguistics and New Testament Interpretation: Essays on Discourse Analysis (ed. David Alan Black; Nashville: Broadman, 1993), 17–30.

63. Sumney, “The Argument of Colossians,” 350.

64. BDF §3721. See, however, the cautionary note in Wallace, Greek Grammar, 690.

65. Louw, “Reading a Text as Discourse,” 26.

66. To avoid this awkwardness, most versions avoid “from” and use “to” instead, but see: “if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world” (NKJV).

67. Wilson, Colossians and Philemon, 226.

68. This is an example of the permissive use of the passive voice; cf. BDF §314; Harris, Colossians and Philemon, 128.

69. Stettler, “The Opponents at Colossae,” 174–75.

70. Knowles, “ ‘Christ in You, the Hope of Glory,’ ” 191.

71. Lightfoot, St. Paul’s Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, 203–4.

72. Wright, Colossians and Philemon, 126.

73. Diachronically, “to touch” (θιγγάνω) is foreign to the Attic dialect and can be considered as roughly equivalent to “to handle” (ἃπτομαι); cf. LSJ, 801.

74. MacDonald, Colossians and Ephesians, 116, 121.

75. Pokorný, Colossians, 153.

76. Also worth noting is the call to abstain from sexual activities in Exod 19:15 in preparation for the encounter with the holy God.

77. Sumney, Colossians, 162. For a discussion of asceticism and divine-human encounter in Jewish traditions, see also Steven D. Fraade, “Ascetical Aspects of Ancient Judaism,” in Jewish Spirituality: From the Bible through the Middle Ages (ed. Arthur Green; New York: Crossroad, 1986), 253–88.

78. Moule, Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, 108.

79. Beale, “Colossians,” 861–62.

80. Also worth noting is the fact that both “wisdom” and “understanding” appear in Isa 29:14 and also appear together in Col 2:2–3.

81. Schweizer, Letter to the Colossians, 168.

82. Harris, Colossians and Philemon, 131.

83. See the influential study of Bruce Hollenbach, “Col. ii. 23: Which Things Lead to the Fulfillment of the Flesh,” NTS 25 (1978–79): 254–61.

84. This is to take the preposition πρός in the sense “against.”

85. Moule, Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, 105. For the absence of the expected δέ after μέν, see BDF §447(4).

86. See Lightfoot, St. Paul’s Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, 206.

87. Lohse, Colossians and Philemon, 127, who identifies a mystery cult background to this phrase as “τιμή signifies the divine election and deification which the initiate experiences.” See also MacDonald, Colossians and Ephesians, 123 who likewise prefers the translation “honor,” but reads this in light of the honor-shame of the first-century Greco-Roman world.

88. For the possibility of this usage as a Latinism, see BDAG, 1005.

89. The preposition translated “with” (ἐν) has been taken in a locative (“in the realm of,” cf. NJB), instrumental (“by promoting,” HCSB), result (“to make you,” CEV), or causal sense (“because,” NLT). This is best translated with a preposition in English that can express association, means, as well as content: “with” (NET, TNIV).

90. The connection is clearer in some manuscripts that lack “and” before this final item: B 1739 b m vg^mss. But the inclusion of the conjunction is supported by geographically diverse manuscript traditions; cf. Metzger, Textual Commentary, 556–57.

91. Kallistos Ware, “The Way of the Ascetics: Negative or Affirmative?” in Asceticism (ed. Vincent L. Wimbush and Richard Valantasis; New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1998), 12.

92. For helpful surveys, see William R. G. Loader, Jesus’ Attitude Towards the Law: A Study of the Gospels (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002); and Frank Thielman, Paul and the Law: A Contextual Approach (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994).

93. Translations that take the genitive as a subjective genitive (e.g., “faithfulness of Jesus Christ,” NET) do not affect our argument here.

94. Cf. Waldo Beach, Christian Ethics in the Protestant Tradition (Atlanta: John Knox, 1988), 32.

95. Diogenes Allen, Temptation (Cambridge, MA: Cowley, 1986), 68.

96. See, e.g., Keith Main, Prayer and Fasting: A Study in the Devotional Life of the Early Church (New York: Carlton, 1971), 48–54.

97. Scot McKnight, Fasting (Nashville: Nelson, 2009), xxi.

98. Ibid., 134.

99. See the Theology in Application section on 1:15–23.

100. For the significance of narrative in christological expressions throughout the NT, see also Richard A. Burridge, “From Titles to Stories: A Narrative Approach to the Dynamic Christologies of the New Testament,” in The Person of Christ (ed. Murray Rae and Stephen R. Holmes; London: T&T Clark, 2005), 37–60.