Colossians 3:5
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
Mortify therefore your members which are on the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
American King James Version (AKJV)
Mortify therefore your members which are on the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
American Standard Version (ASV)
Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;
Basic English Translation (BBE)
Then put to death your bodies which are of the earth; wrong use of the flesh, unclean things, passion, evil desires and envy, which is the worship of strange gods;
Webster's Revision
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; lewdness, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
World English Bible
Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;
English Revised Version (ERV)
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, the which is idolatry;
Definitions for Colossians 3:5
Clarke's Colossians 3:5 Bible Commentary
Mortify, therefore, you members - Νεκρωσατε· Put them to death: the verb is used metaphorically to signify, to deprive a thing of its power, to destroy its strength. Use no member of your body to sin against God; keep all under dominion; and never permit the beast to run away with the man. To gratify any sensual appetite is to give it the very food and nourishment by which it lives, thrives, and is active. However the body may suffer by excessive sensual indulgences, the appetite increases with the indulgence. Deny yourselves, and let reason rule; and the animal will not get the ascendency over the rational man. See the notes on Romans 6:11, etc.
Inordinate affection - Παθος· Unnatural and degrading passion; bestial lusts. See Romans 1:26, Romans 1:27; and the notes there.
Evil concupiscence - Επιθυμιαν κακην. As επιθυμια signifies strong and vehement desire of any kind, it is here joined with κακη, evil, to show the sense more particularly in which the apostle uses it.
Covetousness, which is idolatry - For the covetous man makes his money his god. Now, it is the prerogative of God to confer happiness; every godly man seeks his happiness in God; the covetous man seeks that in his money which God alone can give; therefore his covetousness is properly idolatry. It is true his idol is of gold and silver, but his idolatry is not the less criminal on that account.
Barnes's Colossians 3:5 Bible Commentary
Mortify therefore your members - Since you are dead to sin and the world, and are to appear with Christ in the glories of his kingdom, subdue every carnal and evil propensity of your nature. The word mortify means to put to death (Romans 8:13, note; Galatians 5:24, note), and the meaning here is that they were entirely to subdue their evil propensities, so that they would have no remains of life; that is, they were not at all to indulge them. The word "members" here, refers to the different members of the body - as the seat of evil desires and passions; compare the notes at Romans 6:13. They were wholly to extirpate those evil passions which he specifies as having their seat in the various members of the earthly body.
Fornication - Notes, Romans 1:2.
Uncleanness - Notes, Romans 1:24.
Inordinate affection - πάθος pathos. Rendered in Romans 1:26, "vile affections;" see the notes at that verse. In 1 Thessalonians 4:5, the word is rendered "lust" - which is its meaning here.
Evil concupiscence - Evil desires; licentious passions; Romans 1:24. Greek.
And covetousness, which is idolatry - It is remarkable that the apostle always ranks covetousness with these base and detestable passions. The meaning here is:
(1) that it is a low and debasing passion, like those which he had specified; and,
(2) that it secures the affections which properly belong to God, and is, therefore, idolatry. Of all base passions, this is the one that most dethrones God from the soul. See this whole passage more fully explained in the notes at Ephesians 5:3-5.
Wesley's Colossians 3:5 Bible Commentary
3:5 Mortify therefore - Put to death, slay with a continued stroke. Your members - Which together make up the body of sin.Which are upon the earth - Where they find their nourishment.Uncleanness - In act, word, or thought. Inordinate affection - Every passion which does not flow from and lead to the love ofGod. Evil desire - The desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of life. Covetousness - According to the derivation of the word, means the desire of having more, or of any thing independent on God. Which is idolatry - Properly and directly; for it is giving the heart to a creature.