Bible Strands
Colossians 2:22
These will all perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to the Colossian believers to address a local movement promoting strict ascetic regulations. He confronts these rules at a moment when false teachers were demanding physical avoidance of food and objects.
The words — φθορὰν (phthoran) denotes decay or destruction, and ἀποχρὴσει (apochrēsei) means use or consumption. The text states that these regulations physically deteriorate when handled.
The thread — The rejection of human commands appears in Isaiah 29:13, Titus 1:14, and Mark 7:18. These passages consistently contrast external rules with the inability of physical things to address the heart or defile a person.
Why it lands — The text declares that man-made restrictions hold no power to change human nature. It requires readers to abandon physical regulations and rely on Christ alone for spiritual authority.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
Cross-references
- Isaiah 29:13 Therefore 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 1:14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of men who have rejected the truth.
- Mark 7:18 “Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him,
- 1 Corinthians 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 7:7 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’
- Matthew 15:3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?
- John 6:27 Do 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.”
- Isaiah 29:18 On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
- Daniel 11:37 He 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.
- Revelation 17:18 And the woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”