Tool Beta
Is It Actually in the Bible?
Phrases people quote as Scripture. The real verse, or the honest answer that there is not one.
Colossians 2:23's "will worship" refers to worship offered willingly, out of eager devotion.
In 1611 English "will worship" meant religion you invent for yourself, not worship done with a willing heart.
Colossians 2:23, in every translation this tool compares.
Colossians 2:23 (KJV) reads: "Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh." The phrase translates the Greek ethelothrēskia, a compound coined from "self-chosen" plus "worship": religious rules a person makes up and imposes on themselves rather than ones God actually commanded. It's a rebuke, not a compliment.
The trap is that modern English defaults to reading "will" as intent or enthusiasm: "I'll do this gladly." But 1611 "will worship" used "will" in the older sense of self-willed or arbitrary: worship of your own devising. Paul isn't praising eager worshippers here; he's warning against man-made asceticism dressed up as spirituality.
