1 Corinthians 14:21

14:21 It is written in the law: “By people with strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, yet not even in this way will they listen to me,” ¹  says the Lord.

Acts 28:2

28:2 The local inhabitants ²  showed us extraordinary ³  kindness, for they built a fire and welcomed us all because it had started to rain ⁴  and was cold.

Acts 28:4

28:4 When the local people ⁵  saw the creature hanging from Paul’s ⁶  hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer! Although he has escaped from the sea, Justice herself ⁷  has not allowed him to live!” ⁸ 

Romans 1:14

1:14 I am a debtor ⁹  both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

Colossians 3:11

3:11 Here there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave ¹⁰  or free, but Christ is all and in all.

¹ sn A quotation from Isa 28:11-12.

² tn Although this is literally βάρβαροι (barbaroi; “foreigners, barbarians”) used for non-Greek or non-Romans, as BDAG 166 s.v. βάρβαρος 2.b notes, “Of the inhabitants of Malta, who apparently spoke in their native language Ac 28:2, 4 (here β. certainly without derogatory tone…).”

³ tn BDAG 1019 s.v. τυγχάνω 2.d states, “δυνάμεις οὐ τὰς τυχούσας extraordinary miracles Ac 19:11. Cp. 28:2.”

⁴ tn Or “because it was about to rain.” BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 4 states, “διὰ τ. ὑετὸν τὸν ἐφεστῶτα because it had begun to rain Ac 28:2…But the mng. here could also be because it threatened to rain (s. 6).”

⁵ tn Although this is literally βάρβαροι (barbaroi; “foreigners, barbarians”) used for non-Greek or non-Romans, as BDAG 166 s.v. βάρβαρος 2.b notes, “Of the inhabitants of Malta, who apparently spoke in their native language Ac 28:2, 4 (here β. certainly without derogatory tone…).”

⁶ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn That is, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live. BDAG 250 s.v. δίκη 2 states, “Justice personified as a deity Ac 28:4”; L&N 12.27, “a goddess who personifies justice in seeking out and punishing the guilty – ‘the goddess Justice.’ ἡ δίκη ζῆν οὐκ εἴασεν ‘the goddess Justice would not let him live’ Ac 28:4.” Although a number of modern English translations have rendered δίκη (dikh) “justice,” preferring to use an abstraction, in the original setting it is almost certainly a reference to a pagan deity. In the translation, the noun “justice” was capitalized and the reflexive pronoun “herself” was supplied to make the personification clear. This was considered preferable to supplying a word like ‘goddess’ in connection with δίκη.

⁸ sn The entire scene is played out initially as a kind of oracle from the gods resulting in the judgment of a guilty person (Justice herself has not allowed him to live). Paul’s survival of this incident without ill effects thus spoke volumes about his innocence.

⁹ tn Or “obligated.”

¹⁰ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.