Hosea 8:12

8:12 I spelled out my law for him in great detail,

but they regard it as something totally unknown ¹  to them!

Matthew 19:23-25

19:23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, ²  it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven! 19:24 Again I say, ³  it is easier for a camel ⁴  to go through the eye of a needle ⁵  than for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God.” 19:25 The ⁶  disciples were greatly astonished when they heard this and said, “Then who can be saved?” ⁷ 

Mark 10:24-26

10:24 The disciples were astonished at these words. But again Jesus said to them, ⁸  “Children, how hard it is ⁹  to enter the kingdom of God! 10:25 It is easier for a camel ¹⁰  to go through the eye of a needle ¹¹  than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 10:26 They were even more astonished and said ¹²  to one another, “Then ¹³  who can be saved?” ¹⁴ 

John 6:60

6:60 Then many of his disciples, when they heard these things, ¹⁵  said, “This is a difficult ¹⁶  saying! ¹⁷  Who can understand it?” ¹⁸ 

John 7:35-36

7:35 Then the Jewish leaders ¹⁹  said to one another, “Where is he ²⁰  going to go that we cannot find him? ²¹  He is not going to go to the Jewish people dispersed ²²  among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? ²³  7:36 What did he mean by saying, ²⁴  ‘You will look for me ²⁵  but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

John 7:1

The Feast of Tabernacles

7:1 After this ²⁶  Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. ²⁷  He ²⁸  stayed out of Judea ²⁹  because the Jewish leaders ³⁰  wanted ³¹  to kill him.

Colossians 1:18

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ³²  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ³³ 

Colossians 1:23

1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ³⁴  without shifting ³⁵  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³⁶  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 2:14

2:14 He has destroyed ³⁷  what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness ³⁸  expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.

Hebrews 5:11

The Need to Move on to Maturity

5:11 On this topic we have much to say ³⁹  and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish ⁴⁰  in hearing.

Hebrews 5:1

5:1 For every high priest is taken from among the people ⁴¹  and appointed ⁴²  to represent them before God, ⁴³  to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

Hebrews 4:4

4:4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,” ⁴⁴ 

[8:12]  ¹ tn Heb “foreign” or “alien”; NASB, NRSV “as a strange thing.”

[19:23]  ² tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[19:24]  ³ tn Grk “I say to you.”

[19:24]  ⁴ tc A few late witnesses (579 1424 pc) read κάμιλον (kamilon, “rope”) for κάμηλον (kamhlon, “camel”), either through accidental misreading of the text or intentionally so as to soften Jesus’ words.

[19:24]  ⁵ sn The eye of a needle refers to a sewing needle. (The gate in Jerusalem known as “The Needle’s Eye” was built during the middle ages and was not in existence in Jesus’ day.) Jesus was saying rhetorically that it is impossible for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom, unless God (v. 26) intervenes.

[19:25]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[19:25]  ⁷ sn The assumption is that the rich are blessed, so if they risk exclusion, who is left to be saved?

[10:24]  ⁸ tn Grk “But answering, Jesus again said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

[10:24]  ⁹ tc Most mss (A C D Θ Ë^1,13 28 565 2427 Ï lat sy) have here “for those who trust in riches” (τοὺς πεποιθότας ἐπὶ [τοῖς] χρήμασιν, tou" pepoiqota" epi [toi"] crhmasin); W has πλούσιον (plousion) later in the verse, producing the same general modification on the dominical saying (“how hard it is for the rich to enter…”). But such qualifications on the Lord’s otherwise harsh and absolute statements are natural scribal expansions, intended to soften the dictum. Further, the earliest and best witnesses, along with a few others (א B Δ Ψ sa), lack any such qualifications. That W lacks the longer expansion and only has πλούσιον suggests that its archetype agreed with א B here; its voice should be heard with theirs. Thus, both on external and internal grounds, the shorter reading is preferred.

[10:25]  ¹⁰ tc A few witnesses (˹³ 28 579 pc) read κάμιλον (kamilon, “rope”) for κάμηλον (kamhlon, “camel”), either through accidental misreading of the text or intentionally so as to soften Jesus’ words.

[10:25]  ¹¹ sn The referent of the eye of a needle is a sewing needle. (The gate in Jerusalem known as “The Needle’s Eye” was built during the middle ages and was not in existence in Jesus’ day.) Jesus was speaking rhetorically to point out that apart from God’s intervention, salvation is impossible (v. 27).

[10:26]  ¹² tn Grk “But they were even more astonished, saying.” The participle λέγονες (legontes) has been translated here as a finite verb to emphasize the sequence of events: The disciples were astonished, then they spoke.

[10:26]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of thought.

[10:26]  ¹⁴ sn The assumption is that the rich are blessed, so if they risk exclusion, who is left to be saved?

[6:60]  ¹⁵ tn The words “these things” are not present in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, and must be supplied for the English reader.

[6:60]  ¹⁶ tn Or “hard,” “demanding.”

[6:60]  ¹⁷ tn Or “teaching”; Grk “word.”

[6:60]  ¹⁸ tn Or “obey it”; Grk “hear it.” The Greek word ἀκούω (akouw) could imply hearing with obedience here, in the sense of “obey.” It could also point to the acceptance of what Jesus had just said, (i.e., “who can accept what he said?” However, since the context contains several replies by those in the crowd of hearers that suggest uncertainty or confusion over the meaning of what Jesus had said (6:42; 6:52), the meaning “understand” is preferred here.

[7:35]  ¹⁹ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase is understood to refer to the Jewish authorities or leaders, since the Jewish leaders are mentioned in this context both before and after the present verse (7:32, 45).

[7:35]  ²⁰ tn Grk “this one.”

[7:35]  ²¹ tn Grk “will not find him.”

[7:35]  ²² sn The Jewish people dispersed (Grk “He is not going to the Diaspora”). The Greek term diaspora (“dispersion”) originally meant those Jews not living in Palestine, but dispersed or scattered among the Gentiles.

[7:35]  ²³ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “is he?”).

[7:36]  ²⁴ tn Grk “What is this word that he said.”

[7:36]  ²⁵ tn Grk “seek me.”

[7:1]  ²⁶ sn Again, the transition is indicated by the imprecise temporal indicator After this. Clearly, though, the author has left out much of the events of Jesus’ ministry, because chap. 6 took place near the Passover (6:4). This would have been the Passover between winter/spring of a.d. 32, just one year before Jesus’ crucifixion (assuming a date of a.d. 33 for the crucifixion), or the Passover of winter/spring a.d. 29, assuming a date of a.d. 30 for the crucifixion.

[7:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “Jesus was traveling around in Galilee.”

[7:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “For he.” Here γάρ (gar, “for”) has not been translated.

[7:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “he did not want to travel around in Judea.”

[7:1]  ³⁰ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase should be restricted to the Jewish authorities or leaders who were Jesus’ primary opponents.

[7:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “were seeking.”

[1:18]  ³² tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.

[1:18]  ³³ tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

[1:23]  ³⁴ tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

[1:23]  ³⁵ tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.

[1:1]  ³⁶ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[2:14]  ³⁷ tn The participle ἐξαλείψας (exaleiyas) is a temporal adverbial participle of contemporaneous time related to the previous verb συνεζωοποίησεν (sunezwopoihsen), but has been translated as a finite verb because of the complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences. For the meaning “destroy” see BDAG 344-45 s.v. ἐξαλείφω 2.

[2:14]  ³⁸ tn On the translation of χειρόγραφον (ceirografon), see BDAG 1083 s.v. which refers to it as “a certificate of indebtedness.”

[5:11]  ³⁹ tn Grk “concerning which the message for us is great.”

[5:11]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “dull.”

[5:1]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “from among men,” but since the point in context is shared humanity (rather than shared maleness), the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) has been translated “people.”

[5:1]  ⁴² tn Grk “who is taken from among people is appointed.”

[5:1]  ⁴³ tn Grk “appointed on behalf of people in reference to things relating to God.”

[4:4]  ⁴⁴ sn A quotation from Gen 2:2.