2 Corinthians 8:2-3

8:2 that during a severe ordeal of suffering, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in the wealth ¹  of their generosity. 8:3 For I testify, they gave according to their means and beyond their means. They did so voluntarily, ² 

2 Corinthians 8:1

Completing the Collection for the Saints

8:1 Now we make known to you, brothers and sisters, ³  the grace of God given to the churches of Macedonia,

2 Corinthians 1:12-14

Paul Defends His Changed Plans

1:12 For our reason for confidence ⁴  is this: the testimony of our conscience, that with pure motives ⁵  and sincerity which are from God ⁶  – not by human wisdom ⁷  but by the grace of God – we conducted ourselves in the world, and all the more ⁸  toward you. 1:13 For we do not write you anything other than what ⁹  you can read and also understand. But I hope that you will understand completely ¹⁰  1:14 just as also you have partly understood us, that we are your source of pride just as you also are ours ¹¹  in the day of the Lord Jesus. ¹² 

2 Corinthians 1:2

1:2 Grace and peace to you ¹³  from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

2 Corinthians 1:10

1:10 He ¹⁴  delivered us from so great a risk of death, and he will deliver us. We have set our hope on him ¹⁵  that ¹⁶  he will deliver us yet again,

Proverbs 3:9-10

3:9 Honor ¹⁷  the Lord from your wealth

and from the first fruits of all your crops; ¹⁸ 

3:10 then your barns will be filled completely, ¹⁹ 

and your vats ²⁰  will overflow ²¹  with new wine.

Malachi 3:10-11

3:10 “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse ²²  so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter,” says the Lord who rules over all, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all. 3:11 Then I will stop the plague ²³  from ruining your crops, ²⁴  and the vine will not lose its fruit before harvest,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Malachi 3:1

3:1 “I am about to send my messenger, ²⁵  who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord ²⁶  you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger ²⁷  of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Malachi 1:1

Introduction and God’s Election of Israel

1:1 What follows is divine revelation. ²⁸  The word of the Lord came to Israel through Malachi: ²⁹ 

Malachi 1:1

Introduction and God’s Election of Israel

1:1 What follows is divine revelation. ³⁰  The word of the Lord came to Israel through Malachi: ³¹ 

[8:2]  ¹ tn Or “riches.”

[8:3]  ² tn Or “spontaneously.”

[8:1]  ³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:8.

[1:12]  ⁴ tn Or “for boasting.”

[1:12]  ⁵ tc Two viable variants exist at this place in the text: ἁγιότητι (Jagiothti, “holiness”) vs. ἁπλότητι (Japlothti, “pure motives”). A confusion of letters could well have produced the variant (TCGNT 507): In uncial script the words would have been written agiothti and aplothti. This, however, does not explain which reading created the other. Overall ἁπλότητι, though largely a Western-Byzantine reading (א² D F G Ï lat sy), is better suited to the context; it is also a Pauline word while ἁγιότης (Jagioth") is not. It also best explains the rise of the other variants, πραότητι (praothti, “gentleness”) and {σπλάγχνοις} (splancnoi", “compassion”). On the other hand, the external evidence in favor of ἁγιότητι is extremely strong (Ì⁴⁶ א* A B C K P Ψ 0121 0243 33 81 1739 1881 al co). This diversity of mss provides excellent evidence for authenticity, but because of the internal evidence listed above, ἁπλότητι is to be preferred, albeit only slightly.

[1:12]  ⁶ tn Grk “pure motives and sincerity of God.”

[1:12]  ⁷ tn Or “not by worldly wisdom.”

[1:12]  ⁸ tn Or “and especially.”

[1:13]  ⁹ tn Grk “than the things.”

[1:13]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “to the end,” a Greek idiom for “fully,” “totally,” “completely.”

[1:14]  ¹¹ tn Grk “that we are your boast even as you are our boast.”

[1:14]  ¹² tc ‡ On the wording “the Lord Jesus” (τοῦ κυρίου ᾿Ιησοῦ, tou kuriou Ihsou) there is some variation in the extant witnesses: ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “our”) is found after κυρίου in several significant witnesses (א B F G P 0121 0243 6 33 81 1739 1881 2464 al lat co); the pronoun is lacking from Ì^46vid A C D Ψ Ï. Although in Paul “our Lord Jesus Christ” is a common expression, “our Lord Jesus” is relatively infrequent (cf., e.g., Rom 16:20; 2 Cor 1:14; 1 Thess 2:19; 3:11, 13; 2 Thess 1:8, 12). “The Lord Jesus” occurs about as often as “our Lord Jesus” (cf. 1 Cor 11:23; 16:23; 2 Cor 4:14; 11:31; Eph 1:15; 1 Thess 4:2; 2 Thess 1:7; Phlm 5). Thus, on balance, since scribes would tend to expand on the text, it is probably best to consider the shorter reading as authentic. NA²⁷ places the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[1:2]  ¹³ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:10]  ¹⁴ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative clause “who delivered us…” was made a separate sentence in the translation.

[1:10]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “deliver us, on whom we have set our hope.”

[1:10]  ¹⁶ tc Several important witnesses, especially Alexandrian (Ì⁴⁶ B D* 0121 0243 1739 1881 pc Did), lack ὅτι ({oti, “that”) here, while others, most notably Western (D¹ F G 104 630 1505 pc ar b sy^h Or Ambst), lack ἔτι (eti, “yet”). Most mss, including important Alexandrians (א A C D² Ψ 33 Ï f t vg), have the full expression ὅτι καὶ ἔτι ({oti kai eti). Although the predominantly Alexandrian reading has much to commend it, the fact that either ὅτι or ἔτι has been dropped, while the καί has been retained, suggests that the original wording had ὅτι καὶ ἔτι, and that either particle dropped out intentionally for stylistic reasons. (F and G have the order καί ὅτι, suggesting that in their archetype the ἔτι was unintentionally dropped due to homoioteleuton.) If, however, ὅτι is not authentic, v. 10b should be translated “We have set our hope on him, and he will deliver us again.” Overall, a decision is difficult, but preference should be given to ὅτι καὶ ἔτι.

[3:9]  ¹⁷ tn The imperative כַּבֵּד (kabbed, “honor”) functions as a command, instruction, counsel or exhortation. To honor God means to give him the rightful place of authority by rendering to him gifts of tribute. One way to acknowledge God in one’s ways (v. 6) is to honor him with one’s wealth (v. 9).

[3:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “produce.” The noun תְּבוּאָה (tÿvu’ah) has a two-fold range of meaning: (1) “product; yield” of the earth (= crops; harvest) and (2) “income; revenue” in general (BDB 100 s.v.). The imagery in vv. 9-10 is agricultural; however, all Israelites – not just farmers – were expected to give the best portion (= first fruits) of their income to Lord.

[3:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “with plenty” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “to overflowing.” The noun שָׂבָע (sava’, “plenty; satiety”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner or contents: “completely.”

[3:10]  ²⁰ sn This pictures the process of pressing grapes in which the upper receptacle is filled with grapes and the lower one catches the juice. The harvest of grapes will be so plentiful that the lower vat will overflow with grape juice. The pictures in v. 10 are metonymies of effect for cause (= the great harvest that God will provide when they honor him).

[3:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “burst open.” The verb פָּרַץ (parats, “to burst open”) functions as hyperbole here to emphasize the fullness of the wine vats (BDB 829 s.v. 9).

[3:10]  ²² tn The Hebrew phrase בֵּית הָאוֹצָר (bet ha’otsar, here translated “storehouse”) refers to a kind of temple warehouse described more fully in Nehemiah (where the term לִשְׁכָּה גְדוֹלָה [lishkah gÿdolah, “great chamber”] is used) as a place for storing grain, frankincense, temple vessels, wine, and oil (Neh 13:5). Cf. TEV “to the Temple.”

[3:11]  ²³ tn Heb “the eater” (אֹכֵל, ’okhel), a general term for any kind of threat to crops and livelihood. This is understood as a reference to a locust plague by a number of English versions: NAB, NRSV “the locust”; NIV “pests”; NCV, TEV “insects.”

[3:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and I will rebuke for you the eater and it will not ruin for you the fruit of the ground.”

[3:1]  ²⁵ tn In Hebrew the phrase “my messenger” is מַלְאָכִי (mal’akhi), the same form as the prophet’s name (see note on the name “Malachi” in 1:1). However, here the messenger appears to be an eschatological figure who is about to appear, as the following context suggests. According to 4:5, this messenger is “Elijah the prophet,” whom the NT identifies as John the Baptist (Matt 11:10; Mark 1:2) because he came in the “spirit and power” of Elijah (Matt 11:14; 17:11-12; Lk 1:17).

[3:1]  ²⁶ tn Here the Hebrew term הָאָדוֹן (ha’adon) is used, not יְהוָה (yÿhvah, typically rendered Lord). Thus the focus is not on the Lord as the covenant God, but on his role as master.

[3:1]  ²⁷ sn This messenger of the covenant may be equated with my messenger (that is, Elijah) mentioned earlier in the verse, or with the Lord himself. In either case the messenger functions as an enforcer of the covenant. Note the following verses, which depict purifying judgment on a people that has violated the Lord’s covenant.

[1:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “The burden.” The Hebrew term III מַשָּׂא (massa’), usually translated “oracle” or “utterance” (BDB 672 s.v. מַשָּׂא), is a technical term in prophetic literature introducing a message from the Lord (see Zech 9:1; 12:1). Since it derives from a verb meaning “to carry,” its original nuance was that of a burdensome message, that is, one with ominous content. The grammatical structure here suggests that the term stands alone (so NAB, NRSV) and is not to be joined with what follows, “the burden [or “revelation”] of” (so KJV, NASB, ESV).

[1:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “The word of the Lord to Israel by the hand of Malachi.” There is some question as to whether מַלְאָכִי (mal’akhi) should be understood as a personal name (so almost all English versions) or as simply “my messenger” (the literal meaning of the Hebrew). Despite the fact that the word should be understood in the latter sense in 3:1 (where, however, it refers to a different person), to understand it that way here would result in the book being of anonymous authorship, a situation anomalous among all the prophetic literature of the OT.

[1:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “The burden.” The Hebrew term III מַשָּׂא (massa’), usually translated “oracle” or “utterance” (BDB 672 s.v. מַשָּׂא), is a technical term in prophetic literature introducing a message from the Lord (see Zech 9:1; 12:1). Since it derives from a verb meaning “to carry,” its original nuance was that of a burdensome message, that is, one with ominous content. The grammatical structure here suggests that the term stands alone (so NAB, NRSV) and is not to be joined with what follows, “the burden [or “revelation”] of” (so KJV, NASB, ESV).

[1:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “The word of the Lord to Israel by the hand of Malachi.” There is some question as to whether מַלְאָכִי (mal’akhi) should be understood as a personal name (so almost all English versions) or as simply “my messenger” (the literal meaning of the Hebrew). Despite the fact that the word should be understood in the latter sense in 3:1 (where, however, it refers to a different person), to understand it that way here would result in the book being of anonymous authorship, a situation anomalous among all the prophetic literature of the OT.