Colossians 2 Footnotes

2:8 The term “philosophy” occurs only here in the Bible. Paul was not making a blanket denunciation of philosophical study or even Greek philosophy like Platonism or Stoicism. Nor was he worried that the Colossians’ faith would crumble if they subjected it to critical inquiry. The article “the” appearing before the term in the Greek text suggests that the opponents had characterized their own teaching as a “philosophy”—the specific teaching Paul opposed.

“Elements of the world” (stoicheia) suggests supernatural agencies or spiritual beings.

2:9 Jesus Christ is far more than an inspired prophet, an extraordinary moral teacher, or some kind of supernatural being. The very substance of God exists in Jesus the Messiah in his incarnation, in his life on earth, and in his resurrected and ascended body.

2:15 No contradiction exists here between Paul’s statement that the rulers and authorities have been defeated and his assumption elsewhere that they are still virulently active and that believers need to fight against them (e.g., Eph 6:12). The cross of Christ is the point of decisive victory over the powers of evil; believers can now be victorious over them through union with Christ. They will be vanquished once and for all at the end of the age.

2:18 This probably refers to a magical invocation of angels for help or deliverance.