Having canceled out (1813) (exaleipho from ek = out, intensive [adds sense of "completely" - see also Vincent's note below] + aleipho = wipe, cover over, besmear) means literally to completely wipe off. Literally exaleipho means to remove by wiping off, as when a blackboard is erased. The word was applied to the process of obliterating writing on any material. Some of the uses in Scripture retain this literal meaning but most uses speak of a figurative blotting out or wiping off. The idea in all the uses is to cause something to cease by obliterating or eliminating any evidence. Twice in the Revelation God promises He will wipe away every tear. A number of uses in both OT (Septuagint) and the NT use this verb to describe the blotting out or wiping away of sins. Exaleipho was used by Thucydides of whitewashing a wall. Eadie writes that exaleipho is signifies to smear or plaster over and then it is used to denote the act by which a law or deed of obligation is cancelled...the word...means here to expunge. That to which the process of obliteration is applied is appropriately termed a handwriting (cheirographon), a note of hand, a written bond (which)... signifies a claim of unpaid debt (and)... is also one of punishment for it was "against us." (Colossians 2:14, 15 In Depth Commentary) Exaleipho - Used 5x in the NT - Acts 3:19; Col 2:14; Rev 3:5; 7:17; 21:4 Vincent adds that The preposition (ek) also carries the sense of removal; hence to smear out; to wipe away. Synonyms would include blotted out, wiped away, obliterated, effaced completely, expunged. The aorist tense pictures a past completed action - the blotting out has been accomplished by Christ on the Cross. Paul's use in this context pictures God blotting out and totally erasing our certificate of debt (our sin debt). To understand the word exaleipho is to understand the amazing mercy and lovingkindness of God. The substance on which ancient documents were written was either papyrus, a kind of paper made of the pith of the bulrush, or vellum, a substance made of the skins of animals. Both were fairly expensive and certainly could not be wasted. Ancient ink had no acid in it; it lay on the surface of the paper and did not, as modern ink usually does, bite into it. Sometimes a scribe, to save paper, used papyrus or vellum that had already been written upon. When he did that, he took a sponge and wiped off the writing. Because it was only on the surface of the paper, the ink could be wiped out as if it had never been! God, in his amazing mercy, banished the record of our sins so completely that it was as if it had never been; not a trace remained. Hallelujah! So when God cancelled out our debt it was accomplished completely and we need to receive and understand this profound truth so that the enemy does not "hound" us with "old sins" that God has completely blotted out! Are you having trouble accepting the forgiveness of God over some sin you have committed? Paul says that it is wiped completely off the slate so forget what lies behind and press on to what lies ahead. There are only 5 uses of exaleipho in the NT... Acts 3:19 (Peter to the Jewish audience that has just heard his sermon on the Messiah) "Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." Colossians 2:14 (note) having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Revelation 3:5 (note) 'He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels. Revelation 7:17 (note) for the Lamb in the center of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them to springs of the water of life; and God shall wipe every tear from their eyes." Revelation 21:4 (note) and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." There are 34 uses of exaleipho in the Septuagint (LXX) (Gen. 7:4, 23; 9.15" class="scriptRef">9:15; Exod. 17:14; 32:32f; Lev. 14:42f, 48; Num. 5:23; 27:4; Deut. 9:14; 25:6, 19; 29:20; Jdg. 15:16; 21:17; 2 Ki. 14:27; 1 Chr. 29:4; Neh. 13:14; Ps. 9:5; 51:1, 9; 69:28; 109:13, 14; Pr 6:33; Isa. 43:25; Je 18:23; Ezek 9:8; 20:17; 22:30; 25:15; Hos. 11:9) Study the uses in the Septuagint for insight into the meaning of exaleipho... Genesis 7:4 (Moses records God promise) For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made. Genesis 9:15 and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you (Noah) and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy (LXX = exaleipho = blot out) all flesh. Exodus 17:14 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this in a book as a memorial, and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly blot out (LXX = exaleipho) the memory of Amalek from under heaven." Exodus 32:32 "But now, if Thou wilt, forgive their sin-- and if not, please blot me out (LXX = exaleipho) from Thy book which Thou hast written!" 33 And the LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out (LXX = exaleipho) of My book. Leviticus 14:42 "Then they shall take other stones and replace those stones; and he shall take other plaster and replaster (Hebrew = tuach = to overspread, overlay, coat, besmear; LXX = exaleipho) the house. Numbers 5:23 'The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll, and he shall wash them off (Hebrew = machah = to wipe, wipe out; LXX = exaleipho) into the water of bitterness. Deuteronomy 9:14 'Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.' Judges 21:17 And they said, "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be blotted out (Hebrew = machah = to wipe, wipe out; LXX = exaleipho) from Israel. Psalm 51:1 (After his sin with Bathsheba David prayed ) Be gracious to me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness. According to the greatness of Thy compassion blot out (LXX =exaleipho) my transgressions. (Spurgeon's writes - "My revolts, my excesses, are all recorded against me; but, Lord, erase the lines. Draw thy pen through the register. Obliterate the record, though now it seems engraven in the rock for ever; many strokes of thy mercy may be needed, to cut out the deep inscription, but then thou has a multitude of mercies, and therefore, I beseech thee, erase my sins.") Psalm 51:9 Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. (Spurgeon's note) Psalm 69:28 May they be blotted out of the book of life, And may they not be recorded with the righteous. (Spurgeon's note) Isaiah 43:25 (God declares) "I, even I, am the One Who wipes out (LXX =exaleipho) your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins." Jesus completely obliterated and wiped out our "certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us". When someone had a debt in ancient times and it was paid off, they would write "Tetelestai" on the certificate of debt. Tetelestai meant PAID IN FULL and is the same word Jesus uttered ("It is finished") just before He died (Jn 19:30). When the Jews nailed Jesus to the cross they drove the nails into their own law. The old covenant was made obsolete by the blood of the new covenant. Barnes comments that The meaning here is, that the burdensome requirements of the Mosaic law are abolished, and that its necessity is superseded by the death of Christ. His death had the same effect, in reference to those ordinances, as if they had been blotted from the statute-book. This it did by fulfilling them, by introducing a more perfect system, and by rendering their observance no longer necessary, since all that they were designed to typify had been now accomplished in a better way. THE CERTIFICATE OF DEBT: to kath hemon cheirographon: (Col 2:20; Esther 3:12; 8:8; Lk 1:6; Eph 2:14, 15, 16; Heb 7:18; 8:13; 9:9,10; 10:8,9) (Today in the Word) the handwriting of the note (bond) (Amplified)... Webster says a "bond" is an an interest-bearing certificate of public or private indebtedness.