2 Kings 4:8

Elisha Gives Life to a Boy

4:8 One day Elisha traveled to Shunem, where a prominent woman lived. She insisted that he stop for a meal. So whenever he was passing through, he would stop in there for a meal.

Luke 14:23

14:23 So the master said to his slave, ‘Go out to the highways and country roads and urge people to come in, so that my house will be filled. 10 

Luke 24:29

24:29 but they urged him, 11  “Stay with us, because it is getting toward evening and the day is almost done.” So 12  he went in to stay with them.

Acts 16:15

16:15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, 13  “If 14  you consider me to be a believer in the Lord, 15  come and stay in my house.” And she persuaded 16  us.

Acts 16:2

16:2 The brothers in Lystra 17  and Iconium 18  spoke well 19  of him. 20 

Colossians 1:14

1:14 in whom we have redemption, 21  the forgiveness of sins.


tn Heb “great,” perhaps “wealthy.”

tn Or “she urged him to eat some food.”

tn Or “he would turn aside there to eat some food.”

tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the master’s response to the slave’s report.

tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

sn Go out to the highways and country roads. This suggests the inclusion of people outside the town, even beyond the needy (poor, crippled, blind, and lame) in the town, and so is an allusion to the inclusion of the Gentiles.

tn The Greek word φραγμός (fragmo") refers to a fence, wall, or hedge surrounding a vineyard (BDAG 1064 s.v. 1). “Highways” and “country roads” probably refer not to separate places, but to the situation outside the town where the rural roads run right alongside the hedges or fences surrounding the fields (cf. J. A. Fitzmyer, Luke [AB], 1057).

tn Traditionally “force” or “compel,” but according to BDAG 60 s.v. ἀναγκάζω 2 this is a weakened nuance: “strongly urge/invite.” The meaning in this context is more like “persuade.”

tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

10 sn So that my house will be filled. God will bless many people.

11 tn Grk “urged him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes, “saying”) has not been translated because it is redundant in contemporary English.

12 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the disciples’ request.

13 tn Grk “urged us, saying.” The participle λέγουσα (legousa) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

14 tn This is a first class condition in Greek, with the statement presented as real or true for the sake of the argument.

15 tn Or “faithful to the Lord.” BDAG 821 s.v. πίστος 2 states concerning this verse, “Of one who confesses the Christian faith believing or a believer in the Lord, in Christ, in God πιστ. τῷ κυρίῳ Ac 16:15.” L&N 11.17 has “one who is included among the faithful followers of Christ – ‘believer, Christian, follower.’”

16 tn Although BDAG 759 s.v. παραβιάζομαι has “urge strongly, prevail upon,” in contemporary English “persuade” is a more frequently used synonym for “prevail upon.”

17 sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 25 mi (40 km) south of Iconium.

18 sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 110 mi (175 km) east of Pisidian Antioch.

19 tn For this sense of μαρτυρέω (marturew), see BDAG 618 s.v. 2.b.

20 tn Grk “who was well spoken of by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium.” Because of the awkwardness in English of having two relative clauses follow one another (“who was a believer…who was well spoken of”) and the awkwardness of the passive verb (“was well spoken of”), the relative pronoun at the beginning of 16:2 (“who”) has been translated as a pronoun (“him”) and the construction converted from passive to active at the same time a new sentence was started in the translation.

21 tc διὰ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ (dia tou {aimato" autou, “through his blood”) is read at this juncture by several minuscule mss (614 630 1505 2464 al) as well as a few, mostly secondary, versional and patristic witnesses. But the reading was prompted by the parallel in Eph 1:7 where the wording is solid. If these words had been in the original of Colossians, why would scribes omit them here but not in Eph 1:7? Further, the testimony on behalf of the shorter reading is quite overwhelming: {א A B C D F G Ψ 075 0150 6 33 1739 1881 Ï latt co as well as several other versions and fathers}. The conviction that “through his blood” is not authentic in Col 1:14 is as strong as the conviction that these words are authentic in Eph 1:7.