Romans 5:6-10

5:6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 5:7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) ¹  5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 5:9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous ²  by his blood, ³  we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. ⁴  5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life?

Romans 11:21

11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you.

Genesis 22:12

22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” ⁵  the angel said. ⁶  “Do not do anything to him, for now I know ⁷  that you fear ⁸  God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”

Isaiah 53:10

53:10 Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill,

once restitution is made, ⁹ 

he will see descendants and enjoy long life, ¹⁰ 

and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him.

Matthew 3:17

3:17 And ¹¹  a voice from heaven said, ¹²  “This is my one dear Son; ¹³  in him ¹⁴  I take great delight.” ¹⁵ 

John 3:16

3:16 For this is the way ¹⁶  God loved the world: He gave his one and only ¹⁷  Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish ¹⁸  but have eternal life. ¹⁹ 

John 3:2

3:2 came to Jesus ²⁰  at night ²¹  and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs ²²  that you do unless God is with him.”

Colossians 1:21

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ²³  minds ²⁴  as expressed through ²⁵  your evil deeds,

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ²⁶  brothers and sisters ²⁷  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ²⁸  from God our Father! ²⁹ 

Colossians 2:4-5

2:4 I say this so that no one will deceive you through arguments ³⁰  that sound reasonable. ³¹  2:5 For though ³²  I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing to see ³³  your morale ³⁴  and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Colossians 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ³⁵  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ³⁶ 

Colossians 4:10

4:10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him).

[5:7]  ¹ sn Verse 7 forms something of a parenthetical comment in Paul’s argument.

[5:9]  ² tn Grk “having now been declared righteous.” The participle δικαιωθέντες (dikaiwqente") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[5:9]  ³ tn Or, according to BDF §219.3, “at the price of his blood.”

[5:9]  ⁴ tn Grk “the wrath,” referring to God’s wrath as v. 10 shows.

[22:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”

[22:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Do not extend…’”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the context for clarity. The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[22:12]  ⁷ sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).

[22:12]  ⁸ sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.

[53:10]  ⁹ tn The meaning of this line is uncertain. It reads literally, “if you/she makes, a reparation offering, his life.” The verb תָּשִׂים (tasim) could be second masculine singular,in which case it would have to be addressed to the servant or to God. However, the servant is only addressed once in this servant song (see 52:14a), and God either speaks or is spoken about in this servant song; he is never addressed. Furthermore, the idea of God himself making a reparation offering is odd. If the verb is taken as third feminine singular, then the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) at the end of the line is the likely subject. In this case one can take the suffixed form of the noun as equivalent to a pronoun and translate, “if he [literally, “his life”] makes a reparation offering.”

[53:10]  ¹⁰ sn The idiomatic and stereotypical language emphasizes the servant’s restoration to divine favor. Having numerous descendants and living a long life are standard signs of divine blessing. See Job 42:13-16.

[3:17]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated here.

[3:17]  ¹² tn Grk “behold, a voice from the cloud, saying.” This is an incomplete sentence in Greek which portrays intensity and emotion. The participle λέγουσα (legousa) was translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style.

[3:17]  ¹³ tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).

[3:17]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “in whom.”

[3:17]  ¹⁵ tn Or “with whom I am well pleased.”

[3:16]  ¹⁶ tn Or “this is how much”; or “in this way.” The Greek adverb οὕτως (Joutws) can refer (1) to the degree to which God loved the world, that is, to such an extent or so much that he gave his own Son (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:133-34; D. A. Carson, John, 204) or (2) simply to the manner in which God loved the world, i.e., by sending his own son (see R. H. Gundry and R. W. Howell, “The Sense and Syntax of John 3:14-17 with Special Reference to the Use of Οὕτως…ὥστε in John 3:16,” NovT 41 [1999]: 24-39). Though the term more frequently refers to the manner in which something is done (see BDAG 741-42 s.v. οὕτω/οὕτως), the following clause involving ὥστε (Jwste) plus the indicative (which stresses actual, but [usually] unexpected result) emphasizes the greatness of the gift God has given. With this in mind, then, it is likely (3) that John is emphasizing both the degree to which God loved the world as well as the manner in which He chose to express that love. This is in keeping with John’s style of using double entendre or double meaning. Thus, the focus of the Greek construction here is on the nature of God's love, addressing its mode, intensity, and extent.

[3:16]  ¹⁷ tn Although this word is often translated “only begotten,” such a translation is misleading, since in English it appears to express a metaphysical relationship. The word in Greek was used of an only child (a son [Luke 7:12, 9:38] or a daughter [Luke 8:42]). It was also used of something unique (only one of its kind) such as the mythological Phoenix (1 Clement 25:2). From here it passes easily to a description of Isaac (Heb 11:17 and Josephus, Ant. 1.13.1 [1.222]) who was not Abraham’s only son, but was one-of-a-kind because he was the child of the promise. Thus the word means “one-of-a-kind” and is reserved for Jesus in the Johannine literature of the NT. While all Christians are children of God (τέκνα θεοῦ, tekna qeou), Jesus is God’s Son in a unique, one-of-a-kind sense. The word is used in this way in all its uses in the Gospel of John (1:14, 1:18, 3:16, and 3:18).

[3:16]  ¹⁸ tn In John the word ἀπόλλυμι (apollumi) can mean either (1) to be lost (2) to perish or be destroyed, depending on the context.

[3:16]  ¹⁹ sn The alternatives presented are only two (again, it is typical of Johannine thought for this to be presented in terms of polar opposites): perish or have eternal life.

[3:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ²¹ tn Or “during the night.”

[3:2]  ²² sn The reference to signs (σημεῖα, shmeia) forms a link with John 2:23-25. Those people in Jerusalem believed in Jesus because of the signs he had performed. Nicodemus had apparently seen them too. But for Nicodemus all the signs meant is that Jesus was a great teacher sent from God. His approach to Jesus was well-intentioned but theologically inadequate; he had failed to grasp the messianic implications of the miraculous signs.

[1:21]  ²³ tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[1:21]  ²⁴ tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.

[1:21]  ²⁵ tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.

[1:2]  ²⁶ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ²⁷ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ²⁸ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ²⁹ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[2:4]  ³⁰ tn BDAG 812 s.v. πιθανολογία states, “persuasive speech, art of persuasion (so Pla., Theaet. 162e) in an unfavorable sense in its only occurrence in our lit. ἐν πιθανολογίᾳ by specious arguments Col 2:4 (cp. PLips 40 III, 7 διὰ πιθανολογίας).”

[2:4]  ³¹ sn Paul’s point is that even though the arguments seem to make sense (sound reasonable), they are in the end false. Paul is not here arguing against the study of philosophy or serious thinking per se, but is arguing against the uncritical adoption of a philosophy that is at odds with a proper view of Christ and the ethics of the Christian life.

[2:5]  ³² tn The conditional particle εἰ (ei) together with καί (kai) here indicates a first class condition in Greek and carries a concessive force, especially when seen in contrast to the following phrase which begins with ἀλλά (alla).

[2:5]  ³³ tn Grk “rejoicing and seeing.”

[2:5]  ³⁴ tn The Greek word τάξις can mean “order,” “discipline,” or even “unbroken ranks” (REB).

[2:1]  ³⁵ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ³⁶ tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”