What are we to make of the mention of “sabbaths” in Colossians 2:16? Opponents of the Christian celebration of the seventh-day Sabbath often regard this as the pivotal passage that speaks against the Sabbath. Since the passage has significant implications for how we view the Sabbath, it is important to consider it carefully.
An examination of the passage begins with several critical initial questions. Is the word plural, “sabbaths,” as in the KJV and NKJV? Or is it singular, “a Sabbath” or “a Sabbath Day” as in other translations? Though the precise form in Greek looks plural (sabbatÅn), it is used elsewhere in the New Testament with a singular meaning (e.g., Matt. 28:1; Luke 4:16; Acts 13:14; 16:13) and, in the company of the singular terms “festival” and “new moon,” should be regarded as singular here. That does not answer the more central question, however. Is the “sabbath” or “sabbath day” in question the weekly Sabbath or a yearly, ceremonial one?
Another initial question has to do with what situation Paul has in mind when he counsels, “So let no one judge you …” Are the “judges” to whom Paul alludes criticizing the believers in Colossae for engaging in these practices, for not engaging in them or, in their view, for participating in them incorrectly? It is clear that whatever judgment they are offering, Paul opposes it. The precise nature of that critique, however, is less clear.
A common view among Christians is that this is a negative mention of the weekly seventh-day Sabbath and that Paul is advocating that Christians should no longer observe it. This view is an unlikely option for essential reasons, including the following:
(1) A negative mention of the Sabbath in the New Testament, which portrays both Jesus (Luke 4:16) and Paul (Acts 17:2) as regular Sabbath-keepers, would be unique. Sabbath-keeping is essential to Paul’s mission strategy and the congregations he founds (Acts 13:14, 27, 42, 44; 16:13; 18:4; 24:14; 28:17). And when early Christians worship, they sometimes do so in the language of the Sabbath Commandment (Acts 4:23-24). If this were to change, one would expect an extended and stormy controversy to erupt (as it does with circumcision, see Acts 15:1-29 and the Epistle to the Galatians). However, we find only oblique and ambiguous references to holy days (Gal. 4:10; Rom. 14:5) and this mention of “Sabbath.” It seems unlikely that this would be the only direct evidence that early Christians had moved away from worshiping on the Sabbath.
(2) The Sabbath did not emerge at the time of the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai (Exod. 19–31) but is a creation ordinance, with universal applicability (Gen. 2:1-3). Paul is aware of this as he composes Colossians since, as is suggested in the treatment of Colossians 1:15-20, he alludes to the creation story and draws on the language of the Sabbath Commandment (Exod. 20:8-11) to describe Christ as the Creator of “all things … that are in heaven, and that are on earth” (v. 16). Having placed Christ at the heart of the drama of creation, it would be strange for him to argue then that the weekly Sabbath is abolished.
If this does not represent a negative mention of the Sabbath in which Paul argues that it has been abolished, what is it? Three views, which are in harmony with the commitment of Paul and other early Christians to worship Christ on the Sabbath, are worthy of consideration.
First, a longstanding view is that the “sabbaths” mentioned here are the ceremonial sabbaths of the Jewish calendar (Lev. 23:4-44) rather than the weekly Sabbath. With the arrival of Christ, Christians no longer need to observe these “sabbaths,” which are a “shadow of things to come” (Col. 2:17). In this view, Paul is writing against inappropriate advocacy for observing Jewish ceremonial “sabbaths” such as Passover and the Day of Atonement. A major criticism of this view is that it discounts Paul’s list of yearly (“festival”), monthly (“new moon”), and weekly (“sabbaths”) observances, which are frequently reflected in the Old Testament (see 1 Chron. 23:29-31; 2 Chron. 2:4; 8:12-13; 31:3; Neh. 10:33; Isa. 1:13-14; Ezek. 45:13-17; 46:1-15; Hosea 2:11).
However, this understanding of the Old Testament background for Paul’s three terms simplifies the Old Testament evidence, which often does not present a very exact parallel. Hosea 2:11, where the annual sabbaths rather than the seventh-day Sabbath may be under discussion, may offer the closest parallel to Colossians 2:16. It should be noted that this view, in which the “sabbaths” of Colossians 2:16 were understood as annual, ceremonial ones rather than the weekly seventh-day Sabbath, was the common view of the passage among Christians in the United States during the nineteenth century and has been the traditional position advocated by Seventh-day Adventists.
A second view identifies what is under discussion in the passage, not as the festivals themselves but the sacrifices to be offered during them. The weekly seventh-day Sabbath is indeed mentioned, but Paul refers narrowly to the ritual sacrifices that were to be offered on it. This view is possible since Old Testament passages closely associate the yearly, monthly, and weekly observances with the sacrifices offered on them (see the passages listed above as well as Num. 28–29, esp. 28:1-2, 9-10; 29:39). The mention of food and drink (v. 16) aligns with this perspective since these terms refer more naturally to food and drink offerings mentioned in the Old Testament (Num. 28–29; Neh. 10:33; Ezek. 45:17) than to any Old Testament dietary laws. Also, the phrase translated “or regarding” is more accurately translated “or in part of,” suggesting that Paul is referring to only “a part of a feast, or new moon, or Sabbath.” That “part” is best identified as the ritual sacrifices. Paul, then, speaks against continuing practice of the sacrificial system, which is no longer to be observed by Christians since Christ’s death as it was “a shadow of things to come” that has now given way to Christ, “the substance” (2:17; cf. Heb. 10:1-10, which may be seen as expanding the thought of Col. 2:16-17).
A third view holds that Paul, in the passage, is reflecting the Old Testament sequence of yearly, monthly, and weekly observances (see the passages listed above) and that “Sabbaths” or “a Sabbath” is a mention of the seventh-day Sabbath. However, Paul mentions the Sabbath in the light of the controversy at hand in which he opposes a heresy that honors “the basic principles [or elemental spirits] of the world” (v. 8) instead of Christ who is “the head of all principality and power,” spiritual forces that have been conquered by Christ (v. 15). The word “so,” which begins in verse 16, points back to this context. Having mentioned the Sabbath, Paul again argues against the “worship of angels” (v. 18) and obeisance to “the basic principles [or elemental spirits] of the world” (v. 20) and for “holding fast to the Head” (Christ; v. 19). Paul is not opposed to keeping the Sabbath, but he is opposed to keeping it as an occasion to honor “the principalities and powers,” who have already been defeated by Christ and are not worthy of reverence. It is not the use of festivals, new moon celebrations, or the Sabbath but their misuse that he decries.
As does Jesus (e.g., Matt. 12:1-8; Luke 13:10-17; cf. Mark 7:1-12), Paul weighs in against human perversion of God-given laws, which in their sullied form reflect “philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men” (v. 8), that is “the commandments and doctrines of men” (v. 22). When celebrated in honor of “the powers,” these observances become “a shadow of things to come” instead of a celebration of Christ, as should be the case (“… but the substance is of Christ,” v. 17). In this view, Paul is not addressing rituals attached to the temple that have been fulfilled in Christ, a topic that is addressed elsewhere in the New Testament (see Heb. 8:1-5; 10:1-10; John 4:19-26; Matt. 26:26-28). If in Colossians 1:15-20, Paul is drawing on the language of the Sabbath Commandment (Exod. 20:8-11) to place Christ as Creator and Redeemer at the heart of the Sabbath, he has already offered a corrective to the erroneous use of the Sabbath he now addresses.
In the setting of a complex passage that presents challenging questions and where only tentative conclusions seem prudent, this last option is the most defensible since it reflects most clearly the core dispute, which concerns the worship of Christ over against the powers. It is difficult to see the direct connection of “sabbath,” understood as annual ceremonial sabbaths or as Sabbath sacrifices, to this central controversy that Paul is so keen to address (see 2:6–4:6; see also “The Heresy in Colossae” in Col. 2:3-4).
Whichever view is adopted, the seventh-day Sabbath as a day to look back to God’s creation of the world and to celebrate Christ’s work both as Creator and Redeemer should be affirmed: “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him” (Col. 1:16). The Sabbath is now a memorial of both creation and salvation and should be kept, not with any attempt to earn one’s salvation, but with thanksgiving for all that God has done for us through Christ Jesus, Creator, and Redeemer.