SEV Biblia, Chapter 2:14
Rayendo la cdula de los decretos que nos era contraria, que era contra nosotros, quitndola de en medio y clavndola en el madero;
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Colossians 2:14
Verse 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 Numbers v. 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, which immediately dissolves those ferruginous calces which constitute the blackening principle of most inks. But the East India inks, being formed only of simple black, such as burnt ivory, or cork, and gum water, may be wiped clean off from the surface of the paper or parchment by the application of a wet sponge, so as to leave not one legible vestige remaining: this I have often proved.
Nailing it to his cross] When Christ was nailed to the cross, our obligation to fulfill these ordinances was done away. There may be another reference here to some ancient mode of annulling legal obligations, by nailing them to a post; but I do not recollect at present an instance or example. Antiquated laws are said to have been thus abrogated.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances , etc.] Various are the senses interpreters give of these words; some think by the handwriting is meant the covenant God made with Adam, ( Genesis 2:17), which being broken, obliged him and all his posterity to the penalty of death, but is cancelled and abolished by Christ; others, the agreement which the Israelites made with God at Mount Sinai, when they said, all that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient, ( Exodus 24:7); which was as it were setting their hands, and laying themselves under obligation to obedience, and, in case of failure, to the penalty of the law; others, God's book of remembrance of the sins of men, out of which they are blotted when pardoned; others, the book of conscience, which bears witness to every debt, to every violation and transgression of the law, which may be said to be blotted out, when pacified with an application of the blood and righteousness of Christ; rather with others it signifies the ceremonial law, which lay in divers ordinances and commands, and is what, the apostle afterwards speaks of more clearly and particularly; and may be called so, because submission to it was an acknowledgment both of the faith and guilt of sin; every washing was saying, that a man was polluted and unclean; and every sacrifice was signing a man's own guilt and condemnation, and testifying that he deserved to die as the creature did, which was offered in sacrifice: or rather the whole law of Moses is intended, which was the handwriting of God, and obliged to obedience to it, and to punishment in case of disobedience; and this the Jews call bwj rj , the writing of the debt, and is the very phrase the Syriac version uses here: now this was as a debt book, which showed and testified the debts of men; that is, their sins, how many they are guilty of, and what punishment is due unto them: and may well be said to be that that was against us, which was contrary to us ; its nature being holy, just, good, and spiritual, is contrary to the unholy and carnal heart of man, and its commands disagreeable to his mind and will; nor can he perform what it requires; nor can he be subject to it without the grace of God, any more than he can like its precepts; and besides, it is contrary to him, and against him, as it charges him with debts, and proves them upon him, so that he has nothing to say in his defence; yea, it proceeds against him, and curses and condemns, and kills him: but God has blotted it out, Christ having engaged as a surety for his people, to pay off all their debts; and this being done by him, God has crossed the debt book of the law, has blotted it out, so that this book is of no force; it does not stand against these persons, it cannot show or prove any standing debt, it cannot demand any, or inflict any penalty: nay, he has took it out of the way ; it is not to be seen or looked into as a debt book; it is abolished and done away; it is no more as administered by Moses, as a covenant of works, or as to its rigorous exaction, curse, and condemnation; this is true of the whole law of Moses, as well as of the ceremonial, which is utterly abolished and disannulled in every sense, because of the weakness and unprofitableness of it: nailing it to his cross : to the cross of Christ, showing that the abolition of it is owing to the cross of Christ; where and when he bore the curse and penalty of the law for his people, as well as answered all the types and shadows of it: it is thought to be an allusion to a custom in some countries, to cancel bonds, or antiquate edicts and decrees, by driving a nail through them, so that they could not be legible any more: or it may be to the writing of Pilate, which contained the charge and accusation against Christ; and which was placed over his head upon the cross, and fastened to it with nails f25 ; every nail in the cross made a scissure in this handwriting, or bond of the law, that lay against us, whereby it was so rent and torn, as to be of no force: thus the Holy Ghost makes use of various expressions, to show that there is nothing in the law standing against the saints; it is blotted out, and cannot be read; it is took away, and cannot be seen; it is nailed to the cross of Christ, and is torn to pieces thereby, that nothing can ever be produced from it to their hurt and condemnation.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 8-17 - There is a philosophy which rightly exercises our reasonable faculties a study of the works of God, which leads us to the knowledge of God and confirms our faith in him. But there is a philosophy which is vai and deceitful; and while it pleases men's fancies, hinders their faith such are curious speculations about things above us, or no concern to us. Those who walk in the way of the world, are turned from followin Christ. We have in Him the substance of all the shadows of the ceremonial law. All the defects of it are made up in the gospel of Christ, by his complete sacrifice for sin, and by the revelation of the will of God. To be complete, is to be furnished with all thing necessary for salvation. By this one word "complete," is shown that we have in Christ whatever is required. "In him," not when we look to Christ, as though he were distant from us, but we are in him, when, by the power of the Spirit, we have faith wrought in our hearts by the Spirit, and we are united to our Head. The circumcision of the heart the crucifixion of the flesh, the death and burial to sin and to the world, and the resurrection to newness of life, set forth in baptism and by faith wrought in our hearts, prove that our sins are forgiven and that we are fully delivered from the curse of the law. Throug Christ, we, who were dead in sins, are quickened. Christ's death wa the death of our sins; Christ's resurrection is the quickening of ou souls. The law of ordinances, which was a yoke to the Jews, and partition-wall to the Gentiles, the Lord Jesus took out of the way When the substance was come, the shadows fled. Since every mortal ma is, through the hand-writing of the law, guilty of death, how very dreadful is the condition of the ungodly and unholy, who trample unde foot that blood of the Son of God, whereby alone this deadl hand-writing can be blotted out! Let not any be troubled about bigote judgments which related to meats, or the Jewish solemnities. The setting apart a portion of our time for the worship and service of God is a moral and unchangeable duty, but had no necessary dependence upo the seventh day of the week, the sabbath of the Jews. The first day of the week, or the Lord's day, is the time kept holy by Christians, in remembrance of Christ's resurrection. All the Jewish rites were shadow of gospel blessings.
Greek Textus Receptus
εξαλειψας 1813 5660 το 3588 καθ 2596 ημων 2257 χειρογραφον 5498 τοις 3588 δογμασιν 1378 ο 3739 ην 2258 5713 υπεναντιον 5227 ημιν 2254 και 2532 αυτο 846 ηρκεν 142 5758 εκ 1537 του 3588 μεσου 3319 προσηλωσας 4338 5660 αυτο 846 τω 3588 σταυρω 4716
Vincent's NT Word Studies
14. Blotting out (exaleiyav). See on Acts iii. 19; compare Apoc. iii. 5. The simple verb ajleifw means to anoint, see on John xi. 2. Hence to besmear. The compounded preposition ejx means completely. The compound verb here is used by Thucydides of whitewashing a wall; 1 Chronicles xxix. 4, of overlaying walls with gold. The preposition also carries the sense of removal; hence to smear out; to wipe away.
The handwriting (to ceirografon). The A.V. has simply translated according to the composition of the noun, ceir hand, grafw to write. Properly an autograph, and specially a note of hand, bond. Compare Tobit v. 3; ix. 5. Transcribed, chirographus and chirographon, it appears often in Latin authors, especially in law-books. So Juvenal, of a rascally neighbor, who declares his note of hand void, and the tablets on which it is written as so much useless wood (xvi. 41). Suetonios, of the promise of marriage given by Caligula to Ennia Naevia "under oath and bond" (chirographo, "Caligula," 12).
Of ordinances (toiv dogmasin). See on Luke ii. 1. Lit., in ordinances; consisting in, or, as Rev., written in, as suggested by handwriting. As Paul declares this bond to be against us, including both Jews and Gentiles, the reference, while primarily to the Mosaic law, is to be taken in a wider sense, as including the moral law of God in general, which applied to the Gentiles as much as to the Jews. See Rom. iii. 19. The law is frequently conceived by Paul with this wider reference, as a principle which has its chief representative in the Mosaic law, but the applications of which are much wider. See on Rom. ii. 12. This law is conceived here as a bond, a bill of debt, standing against those who have not received Christ. As the form of error at Colossae was largely Judaic, insisting on the Jewish ceremonial law, the phrase is probably colored by this fact. Compare Eph. ii. 15.
Which was contrary to us (o hn upenantion hmin). He has just said which was against us (to kaq' hJmwn); which stood to our debit, binding us legally. This phrase enlarges on that idea, emphasizing the hostile character of the bond, as a hindrance. Compare Rom. iv. 15; v. 20; 1 Corinthians xv. 56; Gal. iii. 23. "Law is against us, because it comes like a taskmaster, bidding us do, but neither putting the inclination into our hearts nor the power into our hands. And law is against us, because the revelation of unfulfilled duty is the accusation of the defaulter, and a revelation to him of his guilt. And law is against us, because it comes with threatenings and foretastes of penalty and pain. Thus, as standard, accuser, and avenger it is against us" (Maclaren).
Took it out of the way (auto hrken ek tou mesou). Lit., out of the midst.
Nailing it to His cross (proshlwsav auto tw staurw). Rev., the cross. The verb occurs nowhere else. The law with its decrees was abolished in Christ's death, as if crucified with Him. It was no longer in the midst, in the foreground, as a debtor's obligation is perpetually before him, embarrassing his whole life. Ignatius: "I perceived that ye were settled in unmovable faith, as if nailed (kaqhlwmenouv) upon the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, both in flesh and spirit" (To Smyrna, 1.).
Robertson's NT Word Studies
2:14 {Having blotted out} (exaleiyas). And so "cancelled." First aorist active participle of old verb exaleifw, to rub out, wipe off, erase. In N.T. only in #Ac 3:19 (LXX); #Re 3:5; Col 2:14. Here the word explains carisamenos and is simultaneous with it. Plato used it of blotting out a writing. Often MSS. were rubbed or scraped and written over again (palimpsests, like Codex C). {The bond written in ordinances that was against us} (to kaq' hemwn ceirografon tois dogmasin). The late compound ceirografon (ceir, hand, grafw) is very common in the papyri for a certificate of debt or bond, many of the original ceirografa (handwriting, "chirography"). See Deissmann, _Bible Studies_, p. 247. The signature made a legal debt or bond as Paul says in #Phm 1:18f.: "I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it." Many of the papyri examples have been "crossed out" thus X as we do today and so cancelled. One decree is described as "neither washed out nor written over" (Milligan, N. T. _Documents_, p. 16). Undoubtedly "the handwriting in decrees" (dogmasin, the Mosaic law, #Eph 2:15) was against the Jews (#Ex 24:3; De 27:14-26) for they accepted it, but the Gentiles also gave moral assent to God's law written in their hearts (#Ro 2:14f.). So Paul says "against us" (kaq' hemwn) and adds "which was contrary to us" (ho en hupenantion hemin) because we (neither Jew nor Gentile) could not keep it. hupenantios is an old double compound adjective (hupo, en, antios) set over against, only here in N.T. except #Heb 10:27 when it is used as a substantive. It is striking that Paul has connected the common word ceirografon for bond or debt with the Cross of Christ (Deissmann, _Light, etc._, p. 332). {And he hath taken it out of the way} (kai erken ek tou mesou). Perfect active indicative of air", old and common verb, to lift up, to bear, to take away. The word used by the Baptist of Jesus as "the Lamb of God that bears away (air"n) the Sin of the world" (#Joh 1:29). The perfect tense emphasizes the permanence of the removal of the bond which has been paid and cancelled and cannot be presented again. Lightfoot argues for Christ as the subject of erken, but that is not necessary, though Paul does use sudden anacolutha. God has taken the bond against us "out of the midst" (ek tou mesou). Nailing it to the cross (proselwsas auto twi staurwi). First aorist active participle of old and common verb proselow, to fasten with nails to a thing (with dative staurwi). Here alone in N.T., but in III Macc. 4:9 with the very word staurwi. The victim was nailed to the cross as was Christ. "When Christ was crucified, God nailed the Law to His cross" (Peake). Hence the "bond" is cancelled for us. Business men today sometimes file cancelled accounts. No evidence exists that Paul alluded to such a custom here.
