Colossians 2:18-22

2:18 Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths¹ about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind.² 2:19 He has not held fast³ to the head from whom the whole body, supported⁴ and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.⁵

2:20 If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits⁶ of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world? 2:21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” 2:22 These are all destined to perish with use, founded as they are⁷ on human commands and teachings.⁸

¹tn For the various views on the translation of ἐμβατεύων (embateuwn), see BDAG 321 s.v. ἐμβατεύω 4. The idea in this context seems to be that the individual in question loves to talk on and on about his spiritual experiences, but in reality they are only coming out of his own sinful flesh.

²tn Grk “by the mind of his flesh.” In the translation above, σαρκός (sarkos) is taken as an attributive genitive. The phrase could also be translated “by his sinful thoughts,” since it appears that Paul is using σάρξ (sarx, “flesh”) here in a morally negative way.

³tn The Greek participle κρατῶν (kratwn) was translated as a finite verb to avoid an unusually long and pedantic sentence structure in English.

⁴tn See BDAG 387 s.v. ἐπιχορηγέω 3.

⁵tn The genitive τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) has been translated as a genitive of source, “from God.”

⁶tn See the note on the phrase “elemental spirits” in 2:8.

⁷tn The expression “founded as they are” brings out the force of the Greek preposition κατά (kata).

⁸tn Grk “The commands and teachings of men.”