He responded with:[Col 2:16 NLT] (16) So don't let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.
[Col 2:16 MGNT] (16) μὴ οὖν τις ὑμᾶς κρινέτω ἐν βρώσει καὶ ἐν πόσει ἢ ἐν μέρει ἑορτῆς ἢ νεομηνίας ἢ σαββάτων
I see that BDAG shows μέρει with the preposition ἐν to have the meaning of "in the matter of, with regard to":The word "respect" in the KJV is the Greek word "meros" and is frequently translated as "part." So, we could read it this way: "let no man judge you (for your) part in a holy day.
He then refers to this section:—ἐν μέρει in the matter of, with regard to (Antig. Car. 24; Diod S 20, 58, 5; Plut., Mor. 102e; Horapollo 1, 57 ἐν τροφῆς μέρει=‘as food’; GDI 5185, 30 [Crete] ἐν χάριτος μέρει; Philo, Det. Pot. Ins. 5 ἐν μέρει λόγου al.) ἐν μέρει ἑορτῆς with regard to a festival Col 2:16 (cp. ApcrEzk [Epiph. 70, 14] ἐν τῷ μέρει τῆς ἀδυναμίας ‘in connection with my disability’. See bθ above).
Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Exported from Logos Bible Software, 12:28 AM March 3, 2020.
Since this is listed under "specialized uses" I thought I should run it by the pros to make sure that this is not in any way controversial before I respond. Is it at all ambiguous?μέρος, ους, τό (Pind., Hdt.+).
...
ⓑ specialized uses
...
θ. matter, affair (Menand., Epitr. 234 S. [58 Kö.], Per. 297 S. [107 Kö.]; Diod S 2, 27, 1; Περὶ ὕψους 12, 5 [μέρη=objects]; Jos., Ant. 15, 61 τούτῳ τῷ μέρει; PRyl 127, 12 [29 A.D.] ἀναζητῆσαι ὑπὲρ τοῦ μέρους=‘begin an investigation concerning the matter’) ἐν τούτῳ τῷ μέρει in this case, in this matter (cp. Polyb. 18, 18, 2 τ. πίστιν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ μέρει διαφυλάττειν) 2 Cor 3:10; 9:3 (s. also ἐν μέρει in c below). Cp. 1 Pt 4:16 v.l....
Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Exported from Logos Bible Software, 12:32 AM March 3, 2020.
Thanks.