The Meaning of Colossians 2:11 Explained

Colossians 2:11

KJV: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

YLT: in whom also ye were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh in the circumcision of the Christ,

Darby: in whom also ye have been circumcised with circumcision not done by hand, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of the Christ;

ASV: in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

In  whom  also  ye are circumcised  with the circumcision  made without hands,  in  putting off  the body  of the sins  of the flesh  by  the circumcision  of Christ: 

What does Colossians 2:11 Mean?

Study Notes

the sins of
Omit "the sins of."

Context Summary

Colossians 2:1-12 - Established In Their Faith
If you know Christ, you can lay your hand on the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. They are matters of daily experience. The Apostle's aim in this chapter is to put his converts on their guard against those who might divert them from their simple faith in Jesus, and their sufficiency in Him. The keynotes are Take heed and Let no one.
The first act of the Christian life is to receive Christ, and every moment afterward we must continue receiving Him. The act must become an attitude. Breathe in the love and power of Jesus. Take deep breaths. Then we shall be rooted in Him in secret, and built up in Him in our outward walk and behavior. If we have Christ, we have all God's fullness, and this is easily accessible. Like Jacob's ladder, He links us with God. What need have we for celestial beings, like those invented by the Gnostics, or for the rite of circumcision, as insisted on by the Jews? We have everything in Jesus. He has fulfilled the Law in all respects on our behalf. Let us put the waters of entire surrender and consecration between our past, our sins, and the world, and rise into His life, the life of resurrection glory and power. [source]

Chapter Summary: Colossians 2

1  Paul still exhorts them to be constant in Christ;
8  to beware of philosophy, and vain traditions;
18  worshipping of angels;
20  and legal ceremonies, which are ended in Christ

Greek Commentary for Colossians 2:11

Ye were also circumcised [και περιετμητητε]
First aorist passive indicative of περιτεμνω — peritemnō to circumcise. But used here as a metaphor in a spiritual sense as in Romans 2:29 “the circumcision of the heart.” [source]
Not made with hands [αχειροποιητωι]
This late and rare negative compound verbal occurs only in the N.T. (Mark 14:58; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Colossians 2:11) by merely adding α — a privative to the old verbal χειροποιητος — cheiropoiētos (Acts 7:48; Ephesians 2:11), possibly first in Mark 14:58 where both words occur concerning the temple. In 2 Corinthians 5:1 the reference is to the resurrection body. The feminine form of this compound adjective is the same as the masculine. In the putting off (εν τηι απεκδυσει — en tēi apekdusei). As if an old garment (the fleshly body). From απεκδυομαι — apekduomai (Colossians 2:15, possibly also coined by Paul) and occurring nowhere else so far as known. The word is made in a perfectly normal way by the perfective use of the two Greek prepositions (απο εκ — apoτου Χριστου — ek), “a resource available for and generally used by any real thinker writing Greek” (Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary). Paul had as much right to mint a Greek compound as any one and surely no one ever had more ideas to express and more power in doing it. Of Christ Specifying genitive, the kind of circumcision that belongs to Christ, that of the heart. [source]
In the putting off [εν τηι απεκδυσει]
As if an old garment (the fleshly body). From απεκδυομαι — apekduomai (Colossians 2:15, possibly also coined by Paul) and occurring nowhere else so far as known. The word is made in a perfectly normal way by the perfective use of the two Greek prepositions Paul had as much right to mint a Greek compound as any one and surely no one ever had more ideas to express and more power in doing it. [source]
Of Christ [tou Christou)]
Specifying genitive, the kind of circumcision that belongs to Christ, that of the heart. [source]
Not made with hands []
Compare Mark 14:58; 2 Corinthians 5:1. In allusion to the literal circumcision insisted on by the false teachers. [source]
In the putting off [ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει]
Only here in the New Testament; and the kindred verb ἀπεκδύομαι toput off only Colossians 2:15and Colossians 3:9. The verb ἐκδύομαι means to strip off from one's self, as clothes or armor; ἐκ outof, having the force of getting out of one's garments. By the addition to the verb of ἀπό fromthere is added to the idea of getting out of one's clothes that of getting away from them; so that the word is a strong expression for wholly putting away from one's self. In the putting off, is in the act or process of. Not by. [source]
The body of the sins of the flesh [τοῦ σώματος τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τῆς σαρκὸς]
Omit of the sins. The body of the flesh (compare on Colossians 1:22) is the body which consists of the flesh, flesh having its moral sense of that material part which is the seat and organ of sin, “the flesh with its passions and lusts” (Galatians 5:24; compare 1 John 2:16). See on Colossians 1:24. For the distinction between σῶμα bodyand σάρξ fleshsee on flesh, Romans 7:5, sec. 3. [source]
In the circumcision of Christ [ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ]
The spiritual circumcision effected through Christ. See Ephesians 2:11; Philemon 3:3; Romans 2:29. In, as above. The fleshly circumcision removed only a portion of the body. In spiritual circumcision, through Christ, the whole corrupt, carnal nature is put away like a garment which is taken off and laid aside. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Colossians 2:11

Mark 14:58 Made with hands [χειροποιητον]
In Mark alone. An old Greek word. The negative form αχειροποιητον — acheiropoiēton here occurs elsewhere only in 2 Corinthians 5:1; Colossians 2:11. In Hebrews 9:11 the negative ου — ou is used with the positive form. It is possible that a real λογιον — logion of Jesus underlies the perversion of it here. Mark and Matthew do not quote the witnesses precisely alike. Perhaps they quoted Jesus differently and therein is shown part of the disagreement, for Mark adds Mark 14:59 (not in Matthew). “And not even so did their witness agree together,” repeating the point of Mark 14:57. Swete observes that Jesus, as a matter of fact, did do what he is quoted as saying in Mark: “He said what the event has proved to be true; His death destroyed the old order, and His resurrection created the new.” But these witnesses did not mean that by what they said. The only saying of Jesus at all like this preserved to us is that in John 2:19, when he referred not to the temple in Jerusalem, but to the temple of his body, though no one understood it at the time. [source]
Romans 7:5 In the flesh [ἐν τῇ σαρκί]
Σάρξ fleshoccurs in the classics in the physical sense only. Homer commonly uses it in the plural as denoting all the flesh or muscles of the body. Later the singular occurs in the same sense. Paul's use of this and other psychological terms must be determined largely by the Old-Testament usage as it appears in the Septuagint. 1. In the physical sense. The literal flesh. In the Septuagint τὰ κρέα flesh(plural) is used where the reference is to the parts of animals slain, and αἱ σάρκες , flesh (plural) where the reference is to flesh as the covering of the living body. Hence Paul uses κρέα in Romans 14:21; 1 Corinthians 8:13, of the flesh of sacrificed animals. Compare also the adjective σάρκιμος fleshy 2 Corinthians 3:3; and Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26, Sept. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
2. Kindred. Denoting natural or physical relationship, Romans 1:3; Romans 9:3-8; Romans 11:14; Galatians 4:23, Galatians 4:29; 1 Corinthians 10:18; Philemon 1:16. This usage forms a transition to the following sense: the whole human body. Flesh is the medium in and through which the natural relationship of man manifests itself. Kindred is conceived as based on community of bodily substance. Therefore:-DIVIDER-
3. The body itself. The whole being designated by the part, as being its main substance and characteristic, 1 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Corinthians 7:28; 2 Corinthians 4:11; 2 Corinthians 7:5; 2 Corinthians 10:3; 2 Corinthians 12:7. Romans 2:28; Galatians 6:13, etc. Paul follows the Septuagint in sometimes using σῶμα bodyand sometimes σάρξ fleshin this sense, so that the terms occasionally seem to be practically synonymous. Thus 1 Corinthians 6:16, 1 Corinthians 6:17, where the phrase one body is illustrated and confirmed by one flesh. See Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:28, Ephesians 5:31, where the two are apparently interchanged. Compare 2 Corinthians 4:10, 2 Corinthians 4:11; 1 Corinthians 5:3, and Colossians 2:5. Σάρξ , however, differs from σῶμα in that it can only signify the organism of an earthly, living being consisting of flesh and bones, and cannot denote “either an earthly organism that is not living, or a living organism that is not earthly” (Wendt, in Dickson). Σῶμα not thus limited. Thus it may denote the organism of the plant (1 Corinthians 15:37, 1 Corinthians 15:38) or the celestial bodies (1 Corinthians 15:40). Hence the two conceptions are related as general and special: σῶμα bodybeing the material organism apart from any definite matter (not from any sort of matter), σάρξ , flesh, the definite, earthly, animal organism. The two are synonymons when σῶμα is used, from the context, of an earthly, animal body. Compare Philemon 1:22; 2 Corinthians 5:1-8. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Σῶμα bodyand not σάρξ fleshis used when the reference is to a metaphorical organism, as the church, Romans 12:4sqq.; 1 Corinthians 10:16; 12:12-27; Ephesians 1:23; Ephesians 2:16; Colossians 1:18, etc. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
The σάρξ is described as mortal (2 Corinthians 4:11); subject to infirmity (Galatians 4:13; 2 Corinthians 12:7); locally limited (Colossians 2:15); an object of fostering care (Ephesians 5:29). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
4. Living beings generally, including their mental nature, and with a correlated notion of weakness and perishableness. Thus the phrase πᾶσα σάρξ allflesh (Genesis 6:12; Isaiah 49:26; Isaiah 49:23). This accessory notion of weakness stands in contrast with God. In Paul the phrase all flesh is cited from the Old Testament (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16) and is used independently (1 Corinthians 1:29). In all these instances before God is added. So in Galatians 1:16, flesh and blood implies a contrast of human with divine wisdom. Compare 1 Corinthians 15:50; Ephesians 6:12. This leads up to-DIVIDER-
5. Man “either as a creature in his natural state apart from Christ, or the creaturely side or aspect of the man in Christ.” Hence it is correlated with ἄνθρωπος man 1 Corinthians 3:3; Romans 6:19; 2 Corinthians 5:17. Compare Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9; Galatians 5:24. Thus the flesh would seem to be interchangeable with the old man. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
It has affections and lusts (Galatians 5:24); willings (Ephesians 2:3; Romans 8:6, Romans 8:7); a mind (Colossians 2:18); a body (Colossians 2:11). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
It is in sharp contrast with πνεῦμα spirit(Galatians 3:3, Galatians 3:19; Galatians 5:16, Galatians 5:17, Galatians 5:19-24; Galatians 6:8; Romans 8:4). The flesh and the spirit are thus antagonistic. Σάρξ fleshbefore or in contrast with his reception of the divine element whereby he becomes a new creature in Christ: the whole being of man as it exists and acts apart from the influence of the Spirit. It properly characterizes, therefore, not merely the lower forms of sensual gratification, but all - the highest developments of the life estranged from God, whether physical, intellectual, or aesthetic. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
It must be carefully noted:-DIVIDER-
1. That Paul does not identify flesh and sin. Compare, flesh of sin, Romans 8:3. See Romans 7:17, Romans 7:18; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Galatians 2:20. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
2. That Paul does not identify σάρξ withthe material body nor associate sin exclusively and predominantly with the body. The flesh is the flesh of the living man animated by the soul ( ψυχή ) as its principle of life, and is distinctly used as coordinate with ἄνθρωπος manAs in the Old Testament, “it embraces in an emphatic manner the nature of man, mental and corporeal, with its internal distinctions.” The spirit as well as the flesh is capable of defilement (2 Corinthians 7:1; compare 1 Corinthians 7:34). Christian life is to be transformed by the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2; compare Ephesians 4:23). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
3. That Paul does not identify the material side of man with evil. The flesh is not the native seat and source of sin. It is only its organ, and the seat of sin's manifestation. Matter is not essentially evil. The logical consequence of this would be that no service of God is possible while the material organism remains. See Romans 12:1. The flesh is not necessarily sinful in itself; but as it has existed from the time of the introduction of sin through Adam, it is recognized by Paul as tainted with sin. Jesus appeared in the flesh, and yet was sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21).The motions of sins ( τὰ παθήματα τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν )Motions used in earlier English for emotions or impulses. Thus Bacon: “He that standeth at a stay where others rise, can hardly avoid motions of envy” (“Essay” xiv.). The word is nearly synonymous with πάθος passion(Romans 1:26, note). From πάθειν tosuffer; a feeling which the mind undergoes, a passion, desire. Rev., sinful passions: which led to sins.Did work ( ἐνηργεῖτο )Rev., wrought. See 2 Corinthians 1:6; 2 Corinthians 4:12; Ephesians 3:20; Galatians 5:6; Philemon 2:13; Colossians 1:29. Compare Mark 6:14, and see on power, John 1:12. [source]

Romans 12:1 Bodies []
Literally, but regarded as the outward organ of the will. So, expressly, Romans 6:13, Romans 6:19; 2 Corinthians 5:10. Compare Romans 7:5, Romans 7:23. Hence the exhortation to glorify God in the body (1 Corinthians 6:20; compare Philemon 1:20; 2 Corinthians 4:10). So the body is called the body of sin (Romans 6:6; compare Colossians 2:11). In later Greek usage slaves were called σώματα bodiesSee Revelation 18:13. [source]
Romans 2:29 Who is one inwardly [ο εν τωι κρυπτωι]
Repeat Ιουδαιος — Ioudaios (Jew) here also, “the in the inward part Jew” (circumcision of the heart περιτομη καρδιας — peritomē kardias and not a mere surgical operation as in Colossians 2:11, in the spirit εν πνευματι — en pneumati with which compare 2 Corinthians 3:3, 2 Corinthians 3:6). This inward or inside Jew who lives up to his covenant relation with God is the high standard that Paul puts before the merely professional Jew described above. [source]
2 Corinthians 5:1 The earthly house of our tabernacle [η επιγειος ημων οικια του σκηνους]
Rather, “If our earthly (see note on 1 Corinthians 15:40 for επιγειος — epigeios) house of the tent Present indicative. We possess the title to it now by faith. “Faith is the title-deed (υποστασις — hupostasis) to things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:7). A building from God This οικοδομη — oikodomē (found in Aristotle, Plutarch, lxx, etc., and papyri, though condemned by Atticists) is more substantial than the σκηνος — skēnos Not made with hands (αχειροποιητον — acheiropoiēton). Found first in Mark 14:58 in charge against Jesus before the Sanhedrin (both the common verbal χειροποιητον — cheiropoiēton and the newly made vernacular αχειροποιητον — acheiropoiēton same verbal with α — a privative). Elsewhere only here and Colossians 2:11. Spiritual, eternal home. [source]
2 Corinthians 5:1 A building from God [οικοδομην εκ τεου]
This οικοδομη — oikodomē (found in Aristotle, Plutarch, lxx, etc., and papyri, though condemned by Atticists) is more substantial than the σκηνος — skēnos Not made with hands (αχειροποιητον — acheiropoiēton). Found first in Mark 14:58 in charge against Jesus before the Sanhedrin (both the common verbal χειροποιητον — cheiropoiēton and the newly made vernacular αχειροποιητον — acheiropoiēton same verbal with α — a privative). Elsewhere only here and Colossians 2:11. Spiritual, eternal home. [source]
2 Corinthians 5:1 Not made with hands [αχειροποιητον]
Found first in Mark 14:58 in charge against Jesus before the Sanhedrin (both the common verbal χειροποιητον — cheiropoiēton and the newly made vernacular αχειροποιητον — acheiropoiēton same verbal with α — a privative). Elsewhere only here and Colossians 2:11. Spiritual, eternal home. [source]
Galatians 5:12 They were cut off [ἀποκόψονται]
More correctly, would cut themselves off. Perhaps the severest expression in Paul's Epistles. It turns on the practice of circumcision. Paul says in effect: “These people are disturbing you by insisting on circumcision. I would that they would make thorough work of it in their own case, and, instead of merely amputating the foreskin, would castrate themselves, as heathen priests do. Perhaps that would be even a more powerful help to salvation.” With this passage should be compared Philemon 3:2, Philemon 3:3, also aimed at the Judaisers: “Beware of the concision ” ( τὴν κατατομήν ), the word directing attention to the fact that these persons had no right to claim circumcision in the true sense. Unaccompanied by faith, love, and obedience, circumcision was no more than physical mutilation. They belonged in the category of those referred to in Leviticus 21:5. Comp. Paul's words on the true circumcision, Romans 2:28, Romans 2:29; Philemon 3:3; Colossians 2:11. [source]
Ephesians 2:11 That aforetime ye [οτι ποτε υμεις]
No verb is expressed, but in Ephesians 2:12 Paul repeats οτι εν τωι καιρωι εκεινωι — hoti en tōi kairōi ekeinōi (for ποτε — pote) “that at that time” and inserts ητε — ēte (ye were). Uncircumcision (ακροβυστια — akrobustia), circumcision (περιτομης — peritomēs). The abstract words are used to describe Gentiles and Jews as in Galatians 5:6; Romans 2:27. Made by hands Agreeing with περιτομης — peritomēs Verbal (Mark 14:58) from χειροποιεω — cheiropoieō like αχειροποιητος — acheiropoiētos in Colossians 2:11. [source]
Ephesians 2:11 Made by hands [χειροποιητου]
Agreeing with περιτομης — peritomēs Verbal (Mark 14:58) from χειροποιεω — cheiropoieō like αχειροποιητος — acheiropoiētos in Colossians 2:11. [source]
Philippians 3:2 Concision [κατατομήν]
Only here in the New Testament. The kindred verb occurs in the Septuagint only, of mutilations forbidden by the Mosaic law. See Leviticus 21:5. The noun here is a play upon περιτομή circumcisionIt means mutilation. Paul bitterly characterizes those who were not of the true circumcision (Romans 2:28, Romans 2:29; Colossians 2:11; Ephesians 2:11) as merely mutilated. Compare Galatians 5:12, where he uses ἀποκόπτειν tocut off, of those who would impose circumcision upon the Christian converts: “I would they would cut themselves off who trouble you;” that is, not merely circumcise, but mutilate themselves like the priests of Cybele. [source]
Philippians 3:3 For we [ημεις γαρ]
We believers in Christ, the children of Abraham by faith, whether Jew or Gentile, the spiritual circumcision in contrast to the merely physical (Romans 2:25-29; Colossians 2:11; Ephesians 2:11). See note on Galatians 5:12 for αποτεμνειν — apotemnein (to cut off) in sense of mutilation also. [source]
Colossians 2:8 Rudiments [στοιχεῖα]
See on 2 Peter 3:10. Rudimentary teachings, as in Hebrews 5:12; applicable alike to Jewish and to Gentile teaching. Ceremonialism - meats, drinks, washings, Essenic asceticism, pagan symbolic mysteries and initiatory rites - all belonged to a rudimentary moral stage. Compare Colossians 2:11, Colossians 2:21, and Galatians 4:9. [source]
Colossians 2:15 Having spoiled principalities and powers [ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας]
For the verb spoiled, see on putting off, Colossians 2:11. The principalities and powers are the angelic hosts through whose ministry the law was given. See Deuteronomy 33:2; Acts 7:53; Hebrews 2:2; Galatians 3:19. Great importance was attached, in the later rabbinical schools, to the angels who assisted in giving the law; and that fact was not without influence in shaping the doctrine of angelic mediators, one of the elements of the Colossian heresy, which was partly Judaic. This doctrine Paul strikes at in Colossians 1:16; Colossians 2:10; here, and Colossians 2:18. God put off from himself, when the bond of the law was rendered void in Christ's crucifixion, that ministry of angels which waited on the giving of the law, revealing Christ as the sole mediator, the head of every principality and power (Colossians 2:10). The directness of the gospel ministration, as contrasted with the indirectness of the legal ministration, is touched upon by Paul in Galatians 3:19sqq.; 2 Corinthians 3:12sqq.; Hebrews 2:2. [source]
Colossians 2:12 Through the faith of the operation of God []
Not the faith which God works, but your faith in God's working: faith in God's energy as displayed in Christ's resurrection. Hence the emphasis which is laid on faith in the resurrection. See 1 Corinthians 15:3, 1 Corinthians 15:4(note); Romans 10:9; Ephesians 1:19. Colossians 2:11, Colossians 2:12should be compared with Romans 6:2-6. [source]
Colossians 1:22 In the body of his flesh [εν τωι σωματι της σαρκος αυτου]
See the same combination in Colossians 2:11 though in Ephesians 2:14 only σαρκι — sarki (flesh). Apparently Paul combines both σωμα — sōma and σαρχ — sarx to make plain the actual humanity of Jesus against incipient Docetic Gnostics who denied it. [source]
Colossians 1:22 Hath he reconciled [αποκατηλλαχεν]
First aorist (effective, timeless) active indicative (a sort of parenthetical anacoluthon). Here B reads αποκαταλλαγητε — apokatallagēte be ye reconciled like καταλλαγητε — katallagēte in 2 Corinthians 5:20 while D has αποκαταλλαγεντες — apokatallagentes Lightfoot prefers to follow B here (the hard reading), though Westcott and Hort only put it in the margin. On the word see Colossians 1:20. In the body of his flesh (εν τωι σωματι της σαρκος αυτου — en tōi sōmati tēs sarkos autou). See the same combination in Colossians 2:11 though in Ephesians 2:14 only σαρκι — sarki (flesh). Apparently Paul combines both σωμα — sōma and σαρχ — sarx to make plain the actual humanity of Jesus against incipient Docetic Gnostics who denied it. Through death The reconciliation was accomplished by means of Christ‘s death on the cross (Colossians 1:20) and not just by the Incarnation (the body of his flesh) in which the death took place. To present (παραστησαι — parastēsai). First aorist active (transitive) infinitive (of purpose) of παριστημι — paristēmi old verb, to place beside in many connections. See it used of presenting Paul and the letter from Lysias to Felix (Acts 23:33). Repeated in Colossians 1:28. See also 2 Corinthians 11:2; 2 Corinthians 4:14. Paul has the same idea of his responsibility in rendering an account for those under his influence seen in Hebrews 13:17. See note on Romans 12:1 for use of living sacrifice. Holy Positively consecrated, separated unto God. Common in N.T. for believers. Haupt holds that all these terms have a religious and forensic sense here. Without blemish (αμωμους — amōmous). Without spot (Philemon 2:15). Old word α — a privative and μωμος — mōmos (blemish). Common in the lxx for ceremonial purifications. Unreproveable Old verbal adjective from α — a privative and εγκαλεω — egkaleō to call to account, to pick flaws in. These three adjectives give a marvellous picture of complete purity (positive and negative, internal and external). This is Paul‘s ideal when he presents the Colossians “before him” (κατενωπιον αυτου — katenōpion autou), right down in the eye of Christ the Judge of all. [source]
Colossians 2:11 Not made with hands [αχειροποιητωι]
This late and rare negative compound verbal occurs only in the N.T. (Mark 14:58; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Colossians 2:11) by merely adding α — a privative to the old verbal χειροποιητος — cheiropoiētos (Acts 7:48; Ephesians 2:11), possibly first in Mark 14:58 where both words occur concerning the temple. In 2 Corinthians 5:1 the reference is to the resurrection body. The feminine form of this compound adjective is the same as the masculine. In the putting off (εν τηι απεκδυσει — en tēi apekdusei). As if an old garment (the fleshly body). From απεκδυομαι — apekduomai (Colossians 2:15, possibly also coined by Paul) and occurring nowhere else so far as known. The word is made in a perfectly normal way by the perfective use of the two Greek prepositions (απο εκ — apoτου Χριστου — ek), “a resource available for and generally used by any real thinker writing Greek” (Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary). Paul had as much right to mint a Greek compound as any one and surely no one ever had more ideas to express and more power in doing it. Of Christ Specifying genitive, the kind of circumcision that belongs to Christ, that of the heart. [source]

What do the individual words in Colossians 2:11 mean?

in whom also you were circumcised with [the] circumcision made without hands the removal of the body of the flesh circumcision - of Christ
ἐν καὶ περιετμήθητε περιτομῇ ἀχειροποιήτῳ τῇ ἀπεκδύσει τοῦ σώματος τῆς σαρκός περιτομῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ

  whom 
Parse: Personal / Relative Pronoun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: ὅς 
Sense: who, which, what, that.
καὶ  also 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: καί  
Sense: and, also, even, indeed, but.
περιετμήθητε  you  were  circumcised 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Passive, 2nd Person Plural
Root: περιτέμνω  
Sense: to cut around.
περιτομῇ  with  [the]  circumcision 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: περιτομή  
Sense: circumcised.
ἀχειροποιήτῳ  made  without  hands 
Parse: Adjective, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: ἀχειροποίητος  
Sense: not made with hands.
ἀπεκδύσει  removal 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: ἀπέκδυσις  
Sense: a putting off, laying aside.
τοῦ  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Neuter Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
σώματος  body 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Singular
Root: σῶμα  
Sense: the body both of men or animals.
τῆς  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
σαρκός  flesh 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: σάρξ  
Sense: flesh (the soft substance of the living body, which covers the bones and is permeated with blood) of both man and beasts.
περιτομῇ  circumcision 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: περιτομή  
Sense: circumcised.
τοῦ  - 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Χριστοῦ  of  Christ 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: Χριστός  
Sense: Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God.