Discovery BoxRomans 2:29 
Context2:29 but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart 1 by the Spirit 2 and not by the written code. 3 This person’s 4 praise is not from people but from God.
Colossians 2:11-14
Context2:11 In him you also were circumcised – not, however, 5 with a circumcision performed by human hands, but by the removal 6 of the fleshly body, 7 that is, 8 through the circumcision done by Christ. 2:12 Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your 9 faith in the power 10 of God who raised him from the dead. 2:13 And even though you were dead in your 11 transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless 12 made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions. 2:14 He has destroyed 13 what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness 14 expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.
1 sn On circumcision is of the heart see Lev 26:41; Deut 10:16; Jer 4:4; Ezek 44:9.
2 tn Some have taken the phrase ἐν πνεύματι (en pneumati, “by/in [the] S/spirit”) not as a reference to the Holy Spirit, but referring to circumcision as “spiritual and not literal” (RSV).
3 tn Grk “letter.”
4 tn Grk “whose.” The relative pronoun has been replaced by the phrase “this person’s” and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation.
5 tn The terms “however” and “but” in this sentence were supplied in order to emphasize the contrast.
6 tn The articular noun τῇ ἀπεκδύσει (th apekdusei) is a noun which ends in -σις (-sis) and therefore denotes action, i.e., “removal.” Since the head noun is a verbal noun, the following genitive τοῦ σώματος (tou swmatos) is understood as an objective genitive, receiving the action of the head noun.
7 tn Grk “in the removal of the body of flesh.” The genitive τῆς σαρκός (th" sarko") has been translated as an attributive genitive, “fleshly body.”
8 tn The second prepositional phrase beginning with ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ (en th peritomh) is parallel to the prepositional phrase ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει (en th apekdusei) and gives a further explanation of it. The words “that is” were supplied to bring out this force in the translation.
9 tn The article with the genitive modifier τῆς πίστεως (th" pistew") is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
10 tn The genitive τῆς ἐνεργείας (th" energeia") has been translated as an objective genitive, “faith in the power.”
11 tn The article τοῖς (tois) with παραπτώμασιν (paraptwmasin) is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
12 tn The word “nevertheless,” though not in the Greek text, was supplied in the translation to bring out the force of the concessive participle ὄντας (ontas).
13 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.
14 tn On the translation of χειρόγραφον (ceirografon), see BDAG 1083 s.v. which refers to it as “a certificate of indebtedness.”
