Colossians 2:14

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;

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
out	ἐξαλείψας exaleipsas	G1813	to smear out · verb — aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
handwriting	χειρόγραφον cheirographon	G5498	something hand-written ("chirograph") · noun — accusative singular neuter
ordinances	δόγμασιν dogmasin	G1378	a law (civil · noun — dative plural neuter
that	ὃ ho	G3739	the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun · relative pronoun — nominative singular neuter
was	ἦν ēn	G2258	I (thou
against	καθ᾽ kath᾽	G2596	(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
us	ἡμῶν hēmōn	G2257	of (or from) us
contrary	ὑπεναντίον hupenantion	G5227	under (covertly) contrary to · adjective — nominative singular neuter
us	ἡμῖν hēmîn	G2254	to (or for
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
took	ἦρκεν ērken	G142	to lift up · verb — perfect active indicative, 3rd person singular
it	αὐτὸ auto	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular neuter
of	ἐκ ek	G1537	literal or figurative · preposition
way	μέσου mesou	G3319	middle (as an adjective or (neuter) noun) · adjective — genitive singular neuter
nailing	προσηλώσας prosēlōsas	G4338	to peg to · verb — aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
it	αὐτὸ auto	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular neuter
cross	σταυρῷ· staurō	G4716	a stake or post (as set upright) · noun — dative singular masculine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Isaiah 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
Ephesians 2:14-16 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Isaiah 43:25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
Hebrews 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye…
Colossians 2:20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
Hebrews 7:18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
Hebrews 10:8-9 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Colossians 2:13-15

The apostle here represents the privileges we Christians have above the Jews, which are very great. I. Christ's death is our life: And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, Col 2:13. A state of sin is a state of spiritual death. Those who are in sin are dead in sin. As the death of the body consists in its separation from the soul, so the death of the soul consists in its separation from God and the divine favour. As the death of the body is the corruption and putrefaction of it, so sin is the corruption or depravation of the soul. As a man who is dead is unable to help himself by any power of his own, so an habitual sinner is…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Colossians 2:14

Blotting out--Greek, "Having wiped out"; coincident in time with "having forgiven you" (Col 2:13); hereby having cancelled the law's indictment against you. The law (including especially the moral law, wherein lay the chief difficulty in obeying) is abrogated to the believer, as far as it was a compulsory, accusing code, and as far as "righteousness" (justification) and "life" were sought for by it. It can only produce outward works, not inward obedience of the will, which in the believer flows from the Holy Spirit in Him (Rom 3:21; Rom 7:2, Rom 7:4; Gal 2:19). the handwriting of ordinances--rather, "IN ordinances" (see on Eph 2:15); "the law of commandments contained in ordinances." "The…

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Adam Clarke on Colossians 2:14

Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances - By the hand-writing of ordinances the apostle most evidently means the ceremonial law: this was against them, for they were bound to fulfill it; and it was contrary to them, as condemning them for their neglect and transgression of it. This law God himself has blotted out. Blotting out the hand-writing is probably an allusion to Num 5:23, where the curses written in the book, in the case of the woman suspected of adultery, are directed to be blotted out with the bitter waters. And there can be little doubt of a farther allusion, viz., to the custom of discharging the writing from parchment by the application of such a fluid as the muriatic acid,…

The Church Fathers

At the Birth of the Son the king was enrolling all men for the tribute-money, that they might be debtors to Him: the King came forth to us Who blotted out our bills, and wrote another bill in His own Name that He might be our debtor.
— Ephrem the Syrian, Nineteen Hymns on the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh, Hymn 4

With good reason do we celebrate the Passover wherein the blood of the Lord was poured out, by which we are cleansed of every offense. Let us be assured; the devil was holding the bond of slavery against us, but it was blotted out by the blood of Christ. .
— Augustine of Hippo,

"In doctrines" [ordinances], he saith. What doctrines? The Faith. It is enough to believe. He hath not set works against works, but works against faith. And what next? Blotting out is an advance upon remission; again he saith, "And hath taken it out of the way." Nor yet even so did He preserve it, but rent it even in sunder, "by nailing it to His Cross."
— John Chrysostom, Homily on Colossians 6

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Blot — A stain or reproach (Job 31:7; Prov. 9:7). To blot out sin is to forgive it (Ps. 51:1, 9; Isa. 44:22; Acts 3:19). Christ’s blotting out the handwriting of ordinances was his fulfilling the law in our…
Handwriting — (Col. 2:14). The “blotting out the handwriting” is the removal by the grace of the gospel of the condemnation of the law which we had broken.
Nail — For fastening. (1.) Hebrew yathed, “piercing,” a peg or nail of any material (Ezek. 15:3), more especially a tent-peg (Ex. 27:19; 35:18; 38:20), with one of which Jael (q.v.) pierced the temples of…
Contracts · .By blotting out — .By blotting out
Cross · 2:23,36;4:10; — 2:23,36;4:10;
Justification · 3:8,9; — 3:8,9;
Ordinance · INSUFFICIENCY OF, FOR SALVATION — INSUFFICIENCY OF, FOR SALVATION
Reconciliation With God · Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances is necessary to — Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances is necessary to
Types · .The institutions ordained by Moses — .The institutions ordained by Moses
Types Of Christ · Samson — Samson

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Colossians 2:14

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Colossians 2:13-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Colossians 2:14

Adam Clarke on Colossians 2:14

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Colossians 2:14

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Colossians 2:13-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Colossians 2:14

Adam Clarke on Colossians 2:14

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Colossians 2:14

John Calvin on Colossians 2:13-15

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Colossians 2:14