Acts 6:3

6:3 But carefully select from among you, brothers, ¹  seven ²  men who are well-attested, ³  full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge ⁴  of this necessary task. ⁵ 

Acts 10:22

10:22 They said, “Cornelius the centurion, ⁶  a righteous ⁷  and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, ⁸  was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear a message ⁹  from you.”

Acts 10:2

10:2 He ¹⁰  was a devout, God-fearing man, ¹¹  as was all his household; he did many acts of charity for the people ¹²  and prayed to God regularly.

Colossians 1:8

1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹³  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 3:7

3:7 You also lived your lives ¹⁴  in this way at one time, when you used to live among them.

Hebrews 11:2-3

11:2 For by it the people of old ¹⁵  received God’s commendation. ¹⁶  11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds ¹⁷  were set in order at God’s command, ¹⁸  so that the visible has its origin in the invisible. ¹⁹ 

Hebrews 1:12

1:12 and like a robe you will fold them up

and like a garment ²⁰  they will be changed,

but you are the same and your years will never run out.” ²¹ 

¹ tn It is not clear from a historical standpoint (but it is unlikely) that women would have been involved in the selection process too. For this reason the translation “brothers” has been retained, rather than “brothers and sisters” (used in contexts where both male and female believers are clearly addressed).

² sn Seven. Jewish town councils often had seven members (Josephus, Ant. 4.18.14 [4.214]).

³ tn Or “are of good reputation” (BDAG 618 s.v. μαρτυρέω 2.b).

⁴ tn The translation “put in charge” is given by BDAG 492 s.v. καθίστημι 2.

⁵ tn Grk “of this need”; translated “necessary work” or “needed task” by L&N 42.22.

⁶ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

⁷ tn Or “just.”

⁸ tn The phrase τοῦ ἔθνους τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων (tou eqnou" twn Ioudaiwn) is virtually a technical term for the Jewish nation (1 Macc 10:25; 11:30, 33; Josephus, Ant. 14.10.22 [14.248]). “All the Jewish people,” while another possible translation of the Greek phrase, does not convey the technical sense of a reference to the nation in English.

⁹ tn Grk “hear words.”

¹¹ tn In the Greek text this represents a continuation of the previous sentence. Because of the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

¹² sn The description of Cornelius as a devout, God-fearing man probably means that he belonged to the category called “God-fearers,” Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 43-44, and Sir 11:17; 27:11; 39:27.

¹³ tn Or “gave many gifts to the poor.” This was known as “giving alms,” or acts of mercy (Sir 7:10; BDAG 315-16 s.v. ἐλεημοσύνη).

¹⁶ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

²¹ tn Grk “you also walked.” The verb περιπατέω (peripatew) is commonly used in the NT to refer to behavior or conduct of one’s life (L&N 41.11).

²⁶ tn Or “the elders,” “the ancients.”

²⁷ tn Grk “were attested,” “received commendation”; and Heb 11:4-6 shows this to be from God.

³¹ tn Grk “ages.” The temporal (ages) came to be used of the spatial (what exists in those time periods). See Heb 1:2 for same usage.

³² tn Grk “by God’s word.”

³³ sn The Greek phrasing emphasizes this point by negating the opposite: “so that what is seen did not come into being from things that are visible.”

³⁶ tc The words “like a garment” (ὡς ἱμάτιον, Jw" Jimation) are found in excellent and early mss (Ì⁴⁶ א A B D* 1739) though absent in a majority of witnesses (D¹ Ψ 0243 0278 33 1881 Ï lat sy bo). Although it is possible that longer reading was produced by overzealous scribes who wanted to underscore the frailty of creation, it is much more likely that the shorter reading was produced by scribes who wanted to conform the wording to that of Ps 102:26 (101:27 LXX), which here lacks the second “like a garment.” Both external and internal considerations decidedly favor the longer reading, and point to the author of Hebrews as the one underscoring the difference between the Son and creation.

³⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 102:25-27.