J. L. Terveen Colossians 2
11
physical circumcision to apply to the removal of Jesus whole physical body in death
no longer cutting off a small piece of flesh, but the whole flesh. As such, the phrase then
becomes the most vivid expression of the death of Jesus that believers experience at
conversion by their incorporation "in him."
37
Pauls summary of the churchs kerygma in
1Cor.15:3-4 affirms that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third
day, a kerygmatic pattern he reproduced here also in Col. 2:11-12.
The final phrase
concludes the 2:11 circumcision
metaphor, though not without exegetical controversy. Of greatest significance is the way
one construes the genitive
.
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Given our interpretive direction to this point,
an objective genitive understanding would concisely refer to Jesus being "circumcised,"
summarizing the preceding clauses by once again pointing to his death a condensed
vivid "gruesome figure for death."
39
The question of why Paul would use the circumcision imagery raises the specter
of the Colossian antagonist once again. Such a metaphor would particularly suit a
Pauline polemical purpose if the false teaching at Colossae had predominantly Jewish
origins
40
and had made circumcision a factor in religious debate. Physical circumcision
marked off the Jewish people as the "people of God" in the old covenant, though the
prophets clearly understood the necessity of matching that with heart circumcision. Now
Paul wants the Colossian believers to see their incorporation in Christ, thereby sharing in
the "circumcision" of his death, as identifying them as the "people of God." Proceeding
from the foundationally significant "in him/Christ" christology (
), Paul used the
vivid circumcision metaphorical imagery to cut the circumcision ground out from under
those seeking to undermine the confidence of the Colossian believers.