1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, 12 God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. 13
1:1 From Paul, 14 a slave 15 of Christ Jesus, 16 called to be an apostle, 17 set apart for the gospel of God. 18
1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your 19 minds 20 as expressed through 21 your evil deeds,
1:1 From Paul, 22 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
4:8 Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all. 23
1 tn Or “your sanctuaries.” L&N 53.54 gives “sanctuary” (place of worship) as an alternate meaning for the word σεβάσματα (sebasmata).
2 tn Grk “on which was written,” but since it would have been carved in stone, it is more common to speak of an “inscription” in English. To simplify the English the relative construction with a passive verb (“on which was inscribed”) was translated as a prepositional phrase with a substantive (“inscription”).
3 tn BDAG 13 s.v. ἀγνοέω 1.b has “Abs. ὅ ἀγνοοῦντες εὐσεβεῖτε what you worship without knowing it (on the subject matter Maximus Tyr. 11, 5e: all sorts of philosophers ἴσασιν οὐκ ἑκόντες καὶ λέγουσιν ἄκοντες sc. τὸ θεῖον = they know and name God without intending to do so) Ac 17:23.” Paul, in typical Jewish Christian style, informs them of the true God, of whom their idols are an ignorant reflection.
4 tn Or “has deliberately paid no attention to.”
5 tn Or “times when people did not know.”
6 tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).
7 sn He now commands all people everywhere to repent. God was now asking all mankind to turn to him. No nation or race was excluded.
8 tn Or “fixed.”
9 sn The world refers to the whole inhabited earth.
10 tn Or “appointed.” BDAG 723 s.v. ὁρίζω 2.b has “of persons appoint, designate, declare: God judges the world ἐν ἀνδρὶ ᾧ ὥρισεν through a man whom he has appointed Ac 17:31.”
11 tn The participle ἀναστήσας (anasthsa") indicates means here.
12 tn Grk “and just as they did not approve to have God in knowledge.”
13 tn Grk “the things that are improper.”
14 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
15 tn Traditionally, “servant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
16 tc Many important
17 tn Grk “a called apostle.”
18 tn The genitive in the phrase εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ (euangelion qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as (1) a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or (2) an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself. However, in view of God’s action in v. 2 concerning this gospel, a subjective genitive notion (“the gospel which God brings”) is slightly preferred.
19 tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
20 tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.
21 tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.
22 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
23 tn Grk “those that by nature…” with the word “beings” implied. BDAG 1070 s.v. φύσις 2 sees this as referring to pagan worship: “Polytheists worship…beings that are by nature no gods at all Gal 4:8.”
24 tn Or “without Christ.” Both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Because the context refers to ancient Israel’s messianic expectation, “Messiah” was employed in the translation at this point rather than “Christ.”
25 tn Or “covenants of the promise.”
26 sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.
27 tn Grk “walked.”
28 tn Or possibly “Aeon.”
29 tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”
30 tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).
31 sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).
32 tn Grk “working in.”
33 sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.