Limitless Word
These will all perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.
Colossians 2:22 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB (all of which perish with use), according to the precepts and doctrines of men?
  • KJV Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
  • NKJV which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men?
  • NASB (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of man?
  • NLT Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

These rules concern things that perish with use and rest only on human commands. They carry no lasting spiritual authority.

Overview

The forbidden items 'perish with use'—they are temporary, physical things, not matters of the heart. The regulations come 'according to the precepts and doctrines of men,' echoing Jesus' rebuke of human traditions elevated over God's word. What merely originates with people cannot bind the conscience or save.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Isa 29:13Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.
  • Titus 1:14and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of men who have rejected the truth.
  • 1 Cor 6:13“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
  • Mark 7:18–19“Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him,
  • Mark 7:7–13They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’
  • Matt 15:3–9Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?
  • John 6:27Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”
  • Rev 17:18And the woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”
  • Isa 29:18On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
  • Dan 11:37He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers, nor for the one desired by women, nor for any other god, because he will magnify himself above them all.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Colossians videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Colossians 2:22YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ColossiansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The image of the invisible God, firstborn over creation, in whom all things hold together and all the fullness of God dwells bodily — supreme over every power.

How Colossians 2:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.