Colossians 2:21

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Colossians 2:16-23

The apostle concludes the chapter with exhortations to proper duty, which he infers from the foregoing discourse. I. Here is a caution to take heed of judaizing teachers, or those who would impose upon Christians the yoke of the ceremonial law: Let no man therefore judge you in meat nor drink, etc., Col. 2:16. Much of the ceremonies of the law of Moses consisted in the distinction of meats and days. It appears by Rom. 14:1-23 that there were those who were for keeping up those distinctions:... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Colossians 2:8-23

2:8-23 Beware lest there will be anyone who will carry you off as his spoil, by insisting on the necessity of a so-called philosophy, which is, in fact, an empty delusion, a philosophy which has been handed down by human tradition, and which is concerned with the elements of this world, and not with Christ; for in him there dwells the fullness of the divine nature; and you have found this fullness in him who is the head of every power and authority. In him you have been circumcised with a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Colossians 2:21

Touch not, taste not, handle not. This the apostle says, not of himself, but in the person of the Jewish doctors; who urging the use of the ceremonial law, to which they added decrees and constitutions of their own, said, "touch not" the dead body of any man, the bone of a man, or a grave, any man or woman in their uncleanness; not only their flesh, but the bed they lay on, or the seat they sat on; or any creature that was by the law unclean; of a Gentile, or any notorious sinner, or common... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Colossians 2:21

Touch not; taste not; handle not - These are forms of expression very frequent among the Jews. In Maccoth, fol. xxi. 1: "If they say to a Nazarite, Don't drink, don't drink; and he, notwithstanding, drinks; he is guilty. If they say, Don't shave, don't shave; and he shaves, notwithstanding; he is guilty. If they say, Don't put on these clothes, don't put on these clothes; and he, notwithstanding, puts on heterogeneous garments; he is guilty." See more in Schoettgen. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Colossians 2:21

Verse 21 21.Eat not, taste not. Hitherto this has been rendered — Handle not, but as another word immediately follows, which signifies the same thing, every one sees how cold and absurd were such a repetition. Farther, the verb ἅπτεσθαι is employed by the Greeks, among its other significations, in the sense of eating, (417) in accordance with the rendering that I have given. Plutarch makes use of it in the life of Caesar, when he relates that his soldiers, in destitution of all things, ate... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 2:16-23

SECTION VI . THE CLAIMS OF THE FALSE TEACHER . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 2:16-23

Legalism exposed. The apostle, having shown in the last section how much Christ is to the believer, proceeds in the verses now before us to expose the false use of ceremonies, or, in modem phraseology, ritualism. The false teachers were anxious to entangle the Gentile converts in a tedious round of ceremonies—to make them, in fact, Old Testament ritualists. They could even adduce what seemed to them philosophic reasons for such practice. But Paul scatters their false philosophy to the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 2:16-23

Three errors. I. LEGALISM . "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day: which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ's." There is a detailed reference here to Jewish institutions. Eating (rather than meat) was encompassed with regulations. There was a distinction drawn between clean and unclean animals. Certain parts of animals (the fat, the blood) were not to be eaten. God's rights (firstborn,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 2:20-23

The apostle's fourth and last warning is directed against ascetic rules of life. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 2:20-23

A warning against asceticism. The apostle now proceeds to deduce the practical consequences of our fellowship in the death of Christ. "If ye died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, do ye subject yourselves to ordinances, Handle not, nor taste, nor touch (all which things are to perish with the using) after the precepts and doctrines of men?" I. MARK THE PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES OF OUR SHARING IN THE DEATH OF CHRIST . ... read more

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