What Does Colossians 2:14 Mean?
Wiping away the handwriting of decrees against us, which stood opposite us, and lifting it out of the midst, nailing it to the cross.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;THE KEY
The thing removed is the written charge itself: it is erased, lifted out of the way, and nailed to the cross.
THE MEANING
The written record that stands against us is erased, lifted from the middle, and nailed to the cross. The verse places the removal on the charge itself, clearing what had stood in the reader’s way.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that the charge against you must remain permanently in your way.
THE ROOT
χειρόγραφον
cheirógraphon
GROWS FROM
γραφ-
graph-
Write, inscribe; joined to the element for “hand,” the compound names something written by hand.
“handwriting” in this verse is cheirógraphon. In legal usage, this word can denote a handwritten bond or acknowledgment of debt; here it is tied to decrees that stand against us. The action falls on the written claim itself, a document that can be erased and taken away.
ALSO GROWS
graphō: Write; inscribe
γράφω
This root names the act that makes a record visible on the page.
graphē: Writing; a written text
γραφή
The written record in this verse belongs to the same word family as writing itself.
gramma: Letter; written character
γράμμα
A charge made of written decrees is composed of the marks and characters this family names.
ἐξαλείψας
exaleipsas
GROWS FROM
ἀλειφ-
aleiph-
The base carries the sense of smearing or anointing; with the prefix meaning “out,” this verb means to wipe away or erase.
“wiping away” in this verse is exaleipsas. The verb makes the removal concrete: the mark itself is wiped from the surface, so the record no longer remains legible as a charge. The same verb is used for tears being wiped away, joining the erasure of the charge to the removal of grief.
ALSO GROWS
aleiphō: Anoint; smear
ἀλείφω
This related verb preserves the image of applying something across a surface.
exaleiphō: Wipe away; erase
ἐξαλείφω
This is the verb used here, and again for blotting out in Acts 3:19 and wiping away tears in Revelation 21:4.
ἦρκεν
ērken
GROWS FROM
αἴρ-
air-
Lift, take up, carry away, remove.
“lifting it out of the midst” in this verse is ērken. The wording pictures the record lifted from the midst and carried away. Erasure and removal work together: the page is cleared, then the obstacle is taken out of the center.
ALSO GROWS
airōn: Taking away; carrying off
αἴρων
In John 1:29, the same verb describes what is taken away, preserving the sense of active removal.
aron: Take up; lift
ἆρον
In Mark 2:9, the same verb is used to lift a bed, showing the physical motion beneath “take away.”
THE PATTERN
Scripture pictures what burdens a person as something that can be blotted out or wiped away.
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba. Show me favor, O God, according to your faithful love; according to the abundance of your compassion, wipe away my rebellion.Turn around, then, and turn back, so that your shortcomings may be wiped away, and the times of breathing again may come from the face of the LORD.And God wipes away every tear from their eyes, and there is no more death, nor mourning, nor crying, nor pain, for the first things have gone away.THE THREAD
Turn around, then, and turn back, so that your shortcomings may be wiped away, and the times of breathing again may come from the face of the LORD.Acts uses the same verb for “blotted out,” applying erasure to the reader’s missing. That shared wording makes the removal concrete: the written charge is erased from the person’s way.
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