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Colossians 2:21

in Colossians 2

“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”?

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Handle not, nor taste, nor touch

KJV

(Touch not; taste not; handle not;

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This verse in Colossians 2

Commentary

9 notes on this verse
Tough not; taste not; handle not - These words seem intended as a specimen of the kind of ordinances which the apostle refers to, or an imitation of the language of the Jewish teachers in regard to various kinds of food and drink. “Why are ye subject to ordinances of various kinds, such as this - Touch not, taste not, handle not?” That is, such as prohibit you from even touching certain kinds of food, or tasting certain kinds of drink, or handling certain prohibited things.

This site's exposition

dead with Christ from the rudiments

on Colossians 2:20-23

Dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world reaches back to verse 8 and asks why men risen into a new life would submit again to a system of ordinances, touch not, taste not, handle not, that belongs to what has already died with them. Such rules carry a shew of wisdom in will worship, ethelothreskeia, a self-devised religion of a man's own choosing rather than one God commanded, paired with humility and neglecting of the body, yet the verse itself calls the whole program worthless against the indulgence of the flesh it claims to conquer. The text neither commends the flesh's appetites nor commends punishing the body into holiness; both the indulgence and the harsh discipline miss the one thing that actually changes a man, union with Christ already accomplished.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Colossians 7 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

"Handle not, nor taste, nor touch; all which things are to perish with the using; after the precepts and doctrines of men." Ye are not in the world, he saith, how is it ye are subject to its elements? how to its observances? And mark how he makes sport of them, "touch not, handle not, taste not," as though they were cowards and keeping themselves clear of some great matters, "all which things are to perish with the using." He has taken down the swollenness of the many, and added, "after the precepts and doctrines of men." What sayest thou? Dost thou speak even of the Law? Henceforth it is but a doctrine of men, after the time is come. Or, because they adulterated it, or else, he alludes to the Gentile institutions. The doctrine, he says, is altogether of man.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Colossians · Written before 1274.

proposed

Then (v. 20), he rebukes those who have already been deceived. First, he bases the reason for his rebuke on the condition of those who have been deceived; and secondly, on the matters about which they were misled (v. 22). Their condition was one of …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Christians are freed by Christ from the ritual observances of Moses's law, and delivered from that yoke of bondage which God himself had laid upon them. Subjection to ordinances, or human appointments in the worship of God, is highly blamable, and contrary to the freedom and liberty of the gospel.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; 3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

Touch not, taste not, handle not.
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

There is an ascending climax of superstitious prohibitions. The first Greek word (hapse) is distinguished from the third (thiges), in that the former means close contact and retention: the latter, momentary contact (compare 1Co 7:1; Joh 20:17, Greek, "Hold me not"; cling not to me").

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Touch not; taste not; handle not - These are forms of expression very frequent among the Jews. In Maccoth, fol. xxi. 1: “If they say to a Nazarite, Don’t drink, don’t drink; and he, notwithstanding, drinks; he is guilty. If they say, Don’t shave, don’t shave; and he shaves, notwithstanding; he is guilty. If they say, Don’t put on these clothes, don’t put on these clothes; and he, notwithstanding, puts on heterogeneous garments; he is guilty.” See more in Schoettgen.

The words behind it

6 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    2 Corinthians 6:17

    “Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 52:11

      Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing; come out from it, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD.

    • Revelation 18:4

      Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues.

    • 2 Corinthians 7:1

      Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

    • Psalms 1:1–3

      Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.

    • Numbers 16:26

      And he warned the congregation, “Move away now from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.”

  • Through

    Isaiah 52:11

    Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing; come out from it, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD.

    it leads to

    • 2 Corinthians 6:17

      “Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    1 Timothy 4:3

    They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

    it leads to

    • 1 Timothy 4:4

      For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,

    • Hebrews 13:4

      Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

Where this verse is studied

About Colossians

The Word Made Flesh, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Word Made Flesh, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Colossians: the study guide →Read Colossians 2 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Colossians 7; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Colossians.

Read on in Colossians 2 →