Colossians 2:11
New International Version
In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ,

New Living Translation
When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.

English Standard Version
In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,

Berean Standard Bible
In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.

Berean Literal Bible
in whom also you were circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in the removal of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ,

King James Bible
In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

New King James Version
In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,

New American Standard Bible
and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ,

NASB 1995
and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;

NASB 1977
and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;

Legacy Standard Bible
in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ,

Amplified Bible
In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, but by the [spiritual] circumcision of Christ in the stripping off of the body of the flesh [the sinful carnal nature],

Christian Standard Bible
You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
You were also circumcised in Him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of the Messiah.

American Standard Version
in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And you are circumcised in him by circumcision that is without hands, in the putting off of the body of sins by the circumcision of The Messiah.

Contemporary English Version
Christ has also taken away your selfish desires, just as circumcision removes flesh from the body.

Douay-Rheims Bible
In whom also you are circumcised with circumcision not made by hand, in despoiling of the body of the flesh, but in the circumcision of Christ:

English Revised Version
in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
In him you were also circumcised. It was not a circumcision performed by human hands. But it was a removal of the corrupt nature in the circumcision performed by Christ.

Good News Translation
In union with Christ you were circumcised, not with the circumcision that is made by human beings, but with the circumcision made by Christ, which consists of being freed from the power of this sinful self.

International Standard Version
In union with him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without human hands by stripping off the corrupt nature by the circumcision performed by the Messiah.

Literal Standard Version
in whom you also were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of sins of the flesh by the circumcision of the Christ,

Majority Standard Bible
In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.

New American Bible
In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand, by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ.

NET Bible
In him you also were circumcised--not, however, with a circumcision performed by human hands, but by the removal of the fleshly body, that is, through the circumcision done by Christ.

New Revised Standard Version
In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ;

New Heart English Bible
in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;

Webster's Bible Translation
In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

Weymouth New Testament
In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not performed by hand, when you threw off your sinful nature in true Christian circumcision;

World English Bible
In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ,

Young's Literal Translation
in whom also ye were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh in the circumcision of the Christ,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Alive in Christ
10And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. 11In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands. 12And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.…

Cross References
Jeremiah 4:4
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it, because of your evil deeds."

Romans 2:29
No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise does not come from men, but from God.

Romans 6:6
We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

Romans 7:24
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Galatians 5:24
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Ephesians 2:11
Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)--

Colossians 3:5
Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.


Treasury of Scripture

In whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

whom.

Deuteronomy 10:16
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.

Deuteronomy 30:6
And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

Jeremiah 4:4
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

without.

Mark 14:58
We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.

Acts 7:48
Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,

Acts 17:24
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

in putting.

Colossians 3:8,9
But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth…

Romans 6:6
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Ephesians 4:22
That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

by.

Luke 2:21
And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

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Body Christ Christian Circumcised Circumcision Flesh Hand Hands Nature Performed Putting Removal Sinful Sins Threw True.
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Body Christ Christian Circumcised Circumcision Flesh Hand Hands Nature Performed Putting Removal Sinful Sins Threw True.
Colossians 2
1. Paul still exhorts them to be constant in Christ;
8. to beware of philosophy, and vain traditions;
18. worshipping of angels;
20. and legal ceremonies, which are ended in Christ.














(11) The circumcision made without hands.--This abrupt introduction of the idea of circumcision would be difficult to understand, were it not for the knowledge of the enforcement of Jewish observance so strangely mixed with this "philosophy" at Colossae. (Comp. Ephesians 2:11, "Ye who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision in the flesh made with hands.") The phrase "made without hands" is so constantly used of heavenly realities (as in Mark 14:58; 2Corinthians 5:1; Hebrews 9:11; Hebrews 9:24), as opposed to earthly symbols, that it comes to have the positive sense of "spiritual." It is defined below as "the circumcision of Christ"--that which Christ has given us in Himself--in contradistinction to the old circumcision which is now "nothing." (On the treatment of this subject in the Epistles of this period, comp. with this passage Ephesians 2:11-12; Philippians 3:2-3, and see Notes there.) . . . Verse 11. - In whom also ye were circumcised, with a circumcision not wrought by hands (Ephesians 2:11; Philippians 3:3; Galatians 5:2-6; Galatians 6:12-15; Romans 2:25-29; Romans 4:9-12; 1 Corinthians 7:18; Acts 15:l, 5; Deuteronomy 30:6). Circumcision was insisted on by the new "philosophical" teacher as necessary to spiritual completeness; but from a different standpoint, and in a manner different from that of the Pharisaic Judaizers of Galatia and of Acts 15:1. By the latter it was preached as matter of Law and external requirement, and so became the critical point in the decision between the opposing principles of "faith" and "works." By the philosophical school it was enjoined as matter of symbolic moral efficiency. So Philo speaks of circumcision ('On the Migration of Abraham,' § 16) as "setting forth the excision of all the pleasures and passions, and the destruction of impious vain opinion" (see also his treatise 'On Circumcision'). From this point of view, baptism is the Christian circumcision, the new symbolic expression of the moral change which St. Paul and his opponents alike deemed necessary, though they understood it in a different sense from him (see vers. 20-23). In this respect the Christian is already complete, for his circumcision took place in the stripping off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ (Colossians 3:5, 8, 9; Ephesians 4:22-25; Romans 6:6; Romans 7:18-25; Romans 13:12; 1 Peter 2:1; 1 Peter 4:1, 2). The inserted "of the sins" is an ancient gloss. Ἀπ(έκ(δυσις, a double compound, found only in this Epistle (see corresponding verb in ver. 15; Colossians 3:9), denotes both "stripping off" and "putting away." "The stripping off of the body" was the ideal of the philosophical ascetics (see note on "body," ver. 23, and quotations from Philo). The apostle adds "of the flesh;" i.e. of the body in so far as it was the body of the flesh (vers. Colossians 2:13, 18, 23; Colossians 3:5). "The flesh" (in Colossians 1:22 that which Christ had put on; here that which the Christian puts off: comp. Romans 8:3) is "the flesh of sin," of Romans 8:3; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 2:3, etc. "The body," while identified with this "flesh," is "the body of sin" and "of death" (Romans 6:6; Romans 7:24; see Meyer, Godet, or Beet); sin inhabits it, clothes itself with it, and presents itself to us in its form; and this being the normal condition of unregenerate human nature, the sinful principle is naturally called the flesh. So "the (bodily) members" become "the members that are upon the earth," employed in the pursuit of lust and greed, till they become practically one with these vices (Colossians 3:5, see note; also Romans 7:5, 23). Yet "the body" and "the (sinful) flesh," while in the natural man one in practice, are in principle distinguishable (ver. 23: comp. Colossians 1:22], and separable (Romans 6:12). The deliverance from the physical acts and habits of the old sinful life, experienced by him who is "in Christ" (ver. 10; Romans 8:1-4; 2 Corinthians 5:17), is "the circumcision according to the Christ," or here more pointedly "of Christ" - a real and complete, instead of a partial and symbolic, putting away of the organic life and domination of sin which made the body its seat and its instrument. The genitive" of Christ "is neither objective ("undergone by Christ"), nor subjective ("wrought by Christ"), but stands in a mere general relation - "belonging to Christ," "the Christian circumcision." The occasion of this new birth in the Colossians was their baptism -

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
In
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

Him
(hō)
Personal / Relative Pronoun - Dative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3739: Who, which, what, that.

you were also circumcised
περιετμήθητε (perietmēthēte)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4059: To cut around, circumcise. From peri and the base of tomoteros; to cut around, i.e. to circumcise.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

the
τῇ (tē)
Article - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

putting off
ἀπεκδύσει (apekdysei)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 555: A putting off (as of a garment), a casting off. From apekduomai; divestment.

of [your]
τοῦ (tou)
Article - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

sinful nature,
σαρκός (sarkos)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 4561: Flesh, body, human nature, materiality; kindred.

with
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

the
τῇ (tē)
Article - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

circumcision
περιτομῇ (peritomē)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4061: Circumcision. From peritemno; circumcision.

[performed] by Christ
Χριστοῦ (Christou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 5547: Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ. From chrio; Anointed One, i.e. The Messiah, an epithet of Jesus.

[and]
περιτομῇ (peritomē)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4061: Circumcision. From peritemno; circumcision.

not by human hands.
ἀχειροποιήτῳ (acheiropoiētō)
Adjective - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 886: Not made with hands. Unmanufactured, i.e. Inartificial.


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NT Letters: Colossians 2:11 In whom you were also circumcised (Coloss. Col Co)
Colossians 2:10
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