1 Kings 5:17-18

5:17 By royal order ¹  they supplied large valuable stones in order to build the temple’s foundation with chiseled stone. 5:18 Solomon’s and Hiram’s construction workers, ²  along with men from Byblos, ³  did the chiseling and prepared the wood and stones for the building of the temple. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 27:5-6

27:5 Then you must build an altar there to the Lord your God, an altar of stones – do not use an iron tool on them. 27:6 You must build the altar of the Lord your God with whole stones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God.

Proverbs 24:27

24:27 Establish your work outside and get your fields ready;

afterward build ⁵  your house. ⁶ 

Romans 9:23

9:23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects ⁷  of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory –

Romans 9:2

9:2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ⁸ 

Colossians 1:5

1:5 Your faith and love have arisen ⁹  from the hope laid up ¹⁰  for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel ¹¹ 

Colossians 1:12

1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share ¹²  in the saints’ ¹³  inheritance in the light.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁴  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 2:5

2:5 For though ¹⁵  I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing to see ¹⁶  your morale ¹⁷  and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

¹ tn Heb “and the king commanded.”

² tn Heb “builders.”

³ tn Heb “the Gebalites.” The reading is problematic and some emend to a verb form meaning, “set the borders.”

⁴ tc The LXX includes the words “for three years.”

³ tn The perfect tense with vav following the imperatives takes on the force of an imperative here.

⁴ sn If the term “house” is understood literally, the proverb would mean that one should be financially secure before building a house (cf. NLT). If “house” is figurative for household (metonymy of subject: children or family), the proverb would mean that one should have financial security and provision before starting a family. Some English versions suggest the latter meaning by using the word “home” for “house” (e.g., TEV, CEV).

⁴ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

⁵ tn Grk “my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart is unceasing.”

⁶ tn Col 1:3-8 form one long sentence in the Greek text and have been divided at the end of v. 4 and v. 6 and within v. 6 for clarity, in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English toward shorter sentences. Thus the phrase “Your faith and love have arisen from the hope” is literally “because of the hope.” The perfect tense “have arisen” was chosen in the English to reflect the fact that the recipients of the letter had acquired this hope at conversion in the past, but that it still remains and motivates them to trust in Christ and to love one another.

⁷ tn BDAG 113 s.v. ἀπόκειμαι 2 renders ἀποκειμένην (apokeimenhn) with the expression “reserved” in this verse.

⁸ tn The term “the gospel” (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, tou euangeliou) is in apposition to “the word of truth” (τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας, tw logw th" alhqeia") as indicated in the translation.

⁷ tn BDAG 473 s.v. ἱκανόω states, “τινὰ εἴς τι someone for someth. Col 1:12.” The point of the text is that God has qualified the saints for a “share” or “portion” in the inheritance of the saints.

⁸ tn Grk “the inheritance of the saints.” The genitive noun τῶν ἁγίων (twn Jagiwn) is a possessive genitive: “the saints’ inheritance.”

⁸ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

⁹ 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).

¹⁰ tn Grk “rejoicing and seeing.”

¹¹ tn The Greek word τάξις can mean “order,” “discipline,” or even “unbroken ranks” (REB).