Colossians 2:16–17
Bible verses · Also called: Colossians 2:16-17, Col 2:16-17, A shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ, In meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, Let no man judge you in respect of the sabbath days
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16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
The text is the New Korean Revised Version (1998), shown under a licence from the Korean Bible Society. Wording may differ slightly from the Korean Revised Version and the Revised New Korean Standard Version. Read in the Korean Revised Version
Paul's instruction that no one should judge believers in matters of food and drink or with regard to a festival, a new moon, or the Sabbath. Because Paul declares that these things are a shadow pointing to Christ, the passage serves as a key text in debates over the Sabbath, the Lord's Day, and dietary laws.
Context
Colossians 2 warns against teachings that were unsettling the church at Colossae. Paul states that in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead (2:9), that believers have received circumcision and baptism in him, and that the handwriting of ordinances was blotted out through the cross (2:11–15). Verses 16–17 draw the conclusion, warning against judging others over the observance of food laws and festivals. Paul then goes on to criticize the worship of angels and ascetic regulations (2:18–23). Scholars disagree about the nature of this "Colossian heresy," particularly whether it was primarily Jewish ritual observance, mysticism, or asceticism.
Interpretation
- The shadow-and-substance reading: The Old Testament food laws, festivals, and Sabbath were shadows pointing to the Christ who was to come; since Christ, the substance, has come, believers must not be judged by whether they observe them. Most major Protestant denominations read the passage this way.
- The Reformed Sabbatarian reading: Presbyterians who follow the Westminster Confession of Faith hold that the ceremonial aspects of the seventh-day Sabbath have been abolished, but that the moral commandment to keep one day in seven holy remains and has been transferred to the Lord's Day, which commemorates Christ's resurrection.
- The Seventh-day Adventist reading: What was abolished here are the ceremonial festivals of Leviticus and the special sabbaths attached to them, while the seventh-day Sabbath, established at creation, remains binding as one of the Ten Commandments.
Debates and Issues
This is one of the most frequently cited passages in the Sabbath and Lord's Day debate. Because the word "sabbath" in the original Greek is plural in form, interpreters are divided between those who take it to refer to the weekly Sabbath and those who take it to refer to festival sabbaths. Major denominations adopt the former view, noting that the plural form is also used in the New Testament for the weekly Sabbath. There is also discussion of whether the same principle may be extended to questions of judgment within the church concerning alcohol, food, and Lord's Day observance.
Related Passages
- Romans 14:5–6
- Galatians 4:9–11
- Hebrews 10:1
- Mark 2:27–28
See also 6
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