20:26 On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, where 5 they praised the Lord. So that place is called the Valley of Berachah 6 to this very day. 20:27 Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem with Jehoshaphat leading them; the Lord had given them reason to rejoice over their enemies.
25:8 he will swallow up death permanently. 7
The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from every face,
and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.
Indeed, the Lord has announced it! 8
25:1 O Lord, you are my God! 9
I will exalt you in praise, I will extol your fame. 10
For you have done extraordinary things,
and executed plans made long ago exactly as you decreed. 11
1:1 From Paul, 12 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
1:1 From Paul, 13 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 1:2 to the saints, the faithful 14 brothers and sisters 15 in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you 16 from God our Father! 17
1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, 20 have not ceased praying for you and asking God 21 to fill 22 you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
1:19 For God 23 was pleased to have all his 24 fullness dwell 25 in the Son 26
1:1 From Paul, 27 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
7:9 After these things I looked, and here was 33 an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, 34 people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. 7:10 They were shouting out in a loud voice,
“Salvation belongs to our God, 35
to the one seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
12:11 But 50 they overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
and they did not love their lives 51 so much that they were afraid to die.
1 tn Or “army.”
2 tc The MT reads פְגָרִים (fÿgarim, “corpses”), but this seems odd among a list of plunder. A few medieval Hebrew
3 tn Heb “and they snatched away for themselves so that there was no carrying away.”
4 tn Heb “and they were three days looting the plunder for it was great.”
5 tn Heb “for there.”
6 sn The name Berachah, which means “blessing” in Hebrew, is derived from the verbal root “to praise [or “to bless”],” which appears earlier in the verse.
7 sn The image of the Lord “swallowing” death would be especially powerful, for death was viewed in Canaanite mythology and culture as a hungry enemy that swallows its victims. See the note at 5:14.
8 tn Heb “has spoken” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
9 sn The prophet speaks here as one who has observed the coming judgment of the proud.
10 tn Heb “name.” See the note at 24:15.
11 tn Heb “plans from long ago [in] faithfulness, trustworthiness.” The feminine noun אֱמוּנָה (’emunah, “faithfulness”) and masculine noun אֹמֶן (’omen, “trustworthiness”), both of which are derived from the root אָמַן (’aman), are juxtaposed to emphasize the basic idea conveyed by the synonyms. Here they describe the absolute reliability of the divine plans.
12 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
13 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
14 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.
15 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).
16 tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”
17 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
18 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.
19 tn On the translation of χειρόγραφον (ceirografon), see BDAG 1083 s.v. which refers to it as “a certificate of indebtedness.”
20 tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.
21 tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.
22 tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.
23 tn The noun “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but since God is the one who reconciles the world to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:19), he is clearly the subject of εὐδόκησεν (eudokhsen).
24 tn The Greek article τό (to), insofar as it relates to God, may be translated as a possessive pronoun, i.e., “his.” BDAG 404 s.v. εὐδοκέω 1 translates the phrase as “all the fullness willed to dwell in him” thus leaving the referent as impersonal. Insofar as Paul is alluding to the so-called emanations from God this is acceptable. But the fact that “the fullness” dwells in a person (i.e., “in him”) seems to argue for the translation “his fullness” where “his” refers to God.
25 tn The aorist verb κατοικῆσαι (katoikhsai) could be taken as an ingressive, in which case it refers to the incarnation and may be translated as “begin to dwell, to take up residence.” It is perhaps better, though, to take it as a constative aorist and simply a reference to the fact that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus Christ. This is a permanent dwelling, though, not a temporary one, as the present tense in 2:9 makes clear.
26 tn Grk “him”; the referent (the Son; see v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
28 tn The phrase begins with the ἵνα (Jina) clause and is subordinate to the imperative προσκαρτερεῖτε (proskartereite) in v. 2. The reference to the idea that Paul must make it known indicates that this clause is probably best viewed as purpose and not content, like the ἵνα of v. 3. It is the second purpose stated in the context; the first is expressed through the infinitive λαλῆσαι (lalhsai) in v. 3. The term “pray” at the beginning of the sentence is intended to pick up the imperative of v. 3.
29 tn The adverbial participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") is understood to be temporal and translated with “since.” A causal idea may also be in the apostle’s mind, but the context emphasizes temporal ideas, e.g., “from the day” (v. 6).
30 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.
31 tn BDAG 113 s.v. ἀπόκειμαι 2 renders ἀποκειμένην (apokeimenhn) with the expression “reserved” in this verse.
32 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.
33 tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).
34 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
35 tn The dative here has been translated as a dative of possession.
36 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
37 tn Or “be victorious over”; traditionally, “overcome.”
38 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
39 tn The Greek word πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to a major (broad) street (L&N 1.103).
40 tn Grk “spiritually.”
41 tn The word “every” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the following list.
42 tn The Greek term καί (kai) has not been translated before this and the following items in the list, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
43 tn Or “to be buried.”
44 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
45 tn Grk “fell upon.”
46 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
47 tn Though the nearest antecedent to the subject of ἤκουσαν (hkousan) is the people (“those who were watching them”), it could also be (based on what immediately follows) that the two prophets are the ones who heard the voice.
48 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the two prophets) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
49 tn The conjunction καί (kai) seems to be introducing a temporal clause contemporaneous in time with the preceding clause.
50 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast.
51 sn They did not love their lives. See Matt 16:25; Luke 17:33; John 12:25.
52 tn See BDAG 636 s.v. μετά A.2.a.α.
53 tn Or “who is victorious”; traditionally, “who overcomes.”