14:1 The same thing happened in Iconium 16 when Paul and Barnabas 17 went into the Jewish synagogue 18 and spoke in such a way that a large group 19 of both Jews and Greeks believed.
1:1 From Paul, 21 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2:16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days –
2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, 24 and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. 25
3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, 26 kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
1:9 I, John, your brother and the one who shares 27 with you in the persecution, kingdom, and endurance that 28 are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. 29
1 tn Grk “in which you exult.”
2 tc ‡ The oldest and best witnesses lack the verb (א* B, along with 1505 pc), but most
3 sn The Greek construction here implies that such suffering was not the norm, even though it could happen, and in fact may well have happened to some of the readers (cf. 4:4, 12-19).
4 tn Grk “because of righteousness.”
5 tn Grk “do not fear their fear,” referring to those who cause their suffering. The phrase “their fear” may mean “what they fear” (subjective genitive), but in a situation of persecution it more likely means “fear of them” (objective genitive).
6 sn A quotation from Isa 8:12.
7 tn Grk “in the revelation of his glory.”
8 tn The verb “be glad” is used also in 1:6 and 1:8. The verbs of v. 13b are used together in Matt 5:12 and Rev 19:7.
9 tn The one Greek term θλῖψις (qliyis) has been translated by an English hendiadys (two terms that combine for one meaning) “trouble and suffering.” For modern English readers “tribulation” is no longer clearly understandable.
10 tn Or “but be courageous.”
11 tn Or “I am victorious over the world,” or “I have overcome the world.”
12 tn Grk “to Antioch, strengthening.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here. This participle (ἐπιστηρίζοντες, episthrizonte") and the following one (παρακαλοῦντες, parakalounte") have been translated as finite verbs connected by the coordinating conjunction “and.”
13 sn And encouraged them to continue. The exhortations are like those noted in Acts 11:23; 13:43. An example of such a speech is found in Acts 20:18-35. Christianity is now characterized as “the faith.”
14 sn This reference to the kingdom of God clearly refers to its future arrival.
15 tn Or “sufferings.”
16 sn Iconium. See the note in 13:51.
17 tn Grk “they”; the referents (Paul and Barnabas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.
19 tn Or “that a large crowd.”
20 tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).
21 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
22 tn See BDAG 100 s.v. ἀπεκδύομαι 2.
23 tn The antecedent of the Greek pronoun αὐτῷ (autw) could either be “Christ” or the “cross.” There are several reasons for choosing “the cross” as the antecedent for αὐτῷ in verse 15: (1) The nearest antecedent is τῷ σταυρῷ (tw staurw) in v. 14; (2) the idea of ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησία (edeigmatisen en parrhsia, “made a public disgrace”) seems to be more in keeping with the idea of the cross; (3) a reference to Christ seems to miss the irony involved in the idea of triumph – the whole point is that where one would expect defeat, there came the victory; (4) if Christ is the subject of the participles in v. 15 then almost certainly the cross is the referent for αὐτῷ. Thus the best solution is to see αὐτῷ as a reference to the cross and the preposition ἐν (en) indicating “means” (i.e., by means of the cross) or possibly (though less likely) location (on the cross).
24 tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”
25 tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”
26 tn If the genitive construct σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ (splancna oiktirmou) is a hendiadys then it would be “compassion” or “tenderheartedness.” See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 161.
27 tn The translation attempts to bring out the verbal idea in συγκοινωνός (sunkoinwno", “co-sharer”); John was suffering for his faith at the time he wrote this.
28 tn The prepositional phrase ἐν ᾿Ιησοῦ (en Ihsou) could be taken with ὑπομονῇ (Jupomonh) as the translation does or with the more distant συγκοινωνός (sunkoinwno"), in which case the translation would read “your brother and the one who shares with you in Jesus in the persecution, kingdom, and endurance.”
29 tn The phrase “about Jesus” has been translated as an objective genitive.
30 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
31 tn Grk “until they had been completed.” The idea of a certain “number” of people is implied by the subject of πληρωθῶσιν (plhrwqwsin).
32 tn Though σύνδουλος (sundoulos) has been translated “fellow servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
33 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous question.
34 tn Though the expression “the answer” is not in the Greek text, it is clearly implied. Direct objects in Greek were frequently omitted when clear from the context.
35 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
36 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.