Acts 9:13

9:13 But Ananias replied, ¹  “Lord, I have heard from many people ²  about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem,

Acts 9:41

9:41 He gave ³  her his hand and helped her get up. Then he called ⁴  the saints and widows and presented her alive.

Acts 26:10

26:10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem: Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received ⁵  from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote ⁶  against them when they were sentenced to death. ⁷ 

Psalms 16:3

16:3 As for God’s chosen people who are in the land,

and the leading officials I admired so much ⁸  –

Proverbs 2:8

2:8 to guard ⁹  the paths of the righteous ¹⁰ 

and to protect ¹¹  the way of his pious ones. ¹² 

Matthew 27:52

27:52 And tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had died ¹³  were raised.

Romans 1:7

1:7 To all those loved by God in Rome, ¹⁴  called to be saints: ¹⁵  Grace and peace to you ¹⁶  from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Ephesians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁷  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints [in Ephesus], ¹⁸  the faithful ¹⁹  in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul ²⁰  and Timothy, slaves ²¹  of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, ²²  with the overseers ²³  and deacons.

¹ sn Ananias replied. Past events might have suggested to Ananias that this was not good counsel, but like Peter in Acts 10, Ananias’ intuitions were wrong.

² tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

³ tn Grk “Giving her his hand, he helped her.” The participle δούς (dous) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁴ tn Grk “Then calling the saints…he presented her.” The participle φωνήσας (fwnhsa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style; it could also be taken temporally (“After he called”).

⁵ tn Grk “by receiving authority.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been taken instrumentally.

⁶ tn Grk “cast down a pebble against them.” L&N 30.103 states, “(an idiom, Grk ‘to bring a pebble against someone,’ a reference to a white or black pebble used in voting for or against someone) to make known one’s choice against someone – ‘to vote against.’ …‘when they were sentenced to death, I also voted against them’ Ac 26:10.”

⁷ tn Grk “when they were being executed”; but the context supports the sentencing rather than the execution itself (cf. L&N 30.103).

⁸ tn Heb “regarding the holy ones who [are] in the land, they; and the mighty [ones] in [whom is/was] all my desire.” The difficult syntax makes the meaning of the verse uncertain. The phrase “holy ones” sometimes refers to God’s angelic assembly (see Ps 89:5, 7), but the qualifying clause “who are in the land” suggests that here it refers to God’s people (Ps 34:9) or to their priestly leaders (2 Chr 35:3).

⁹ tn The infinitive construct לִנְצֹר (lintsor, “to guard”) designates the purpose of the Lord giving “effective counsel” and being a “shield” to the upright. The verb נָצַר (natsar, “to guard”) has a broad range of meanings: (1) to watch over, guard or protect a vineyard from theft (Prov 27:18); (2) to guard one’s lips or heart from evil (Prov 4:23; 13:3); (3) to protect a person from moral or physical danger (Prov 2:8, 11; 4:6; 13:6; 20:28; 22:12; 24:12) and (4) to guard with fidelity = to observe commands, law or covenant (Prov 3:1, 21; 4:13; 5:2; 6:20; 28:7; see BDB 665-66 s.v.). Here God guards the way of the just, that is, the course and conduct of life from the influence of evil.

¹⁰ tn Heb “paths of righteousness.” The word “righteousness” is a possessive genitive, signifying the ways that the righteous take.

¹¹ tn The imperfect tense verb יִשְׁמֹר (yishmor, “to protect”) continues the syntactical nuance of the preceding infinitive construct of purpose.

¹² tc The Kethib is the singular noun + 3rd person masculine singular suffix חֲסִידוֹ (khasido) “his pious one.” The Qere reads the plural noun + 3rd person masculine singular suffix חֲסִידָיו (khasidav) “his pious ones.” The LXX εὐλαβουμένων αὐτόν (eujlaboumenwn aujton) supports the Qere reading.

¹³ tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.

¹⁴ map For location see JP4-A1.

¹⁵ tn Although the first part of v. 7 is not a complete English sentence, it maintains the “From…to” pattern used in all the Pauline letters to indicate the sender and the recipients. Here, however, there are several intervening verses (vv. 2-6), which makes the first half of v. 7 appear as an isolated sentence fragment.

¹⁶ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

¹⁸ tc The earliest and most important mss omit “in Ephesus” (Ì⁴⁶ א* B* 6 1739 [Mcion^T,E]), yet the opening line of this epistle makes little sense without the phrase (“to the saints who are and are faithful…”? or perhaps “to the saints who are also faithful,” though with this sense the οὖσιν [ousin] is redundant and the καί [kai] is treated somewhat unnaturally). What is interesting is Marcion’s canon list which speaks of the letter to the Laodiceans among Paul’s authentic epistles. This, coupled with some internal evidence that the writer did not know his audience personally (cf. 1:15; 3:2; absence of personal names throughout), suggests that Ephesians was an encyclical letter, intended for more than one audience. Does this mean that the shorter reading is to be preferred? Yes and no. A plausible scenario is as follows, assuming Pauline authorship (though this is strongly contested today; for arguments on behalf of Pauline authorship, see M. Barth, Ephesians [AB 34], 1:36-50; P. T. O’Brien, Ephesians, 4-47; and H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 2-61): Paul sent the letter from Rome, intending it first to go to Ephesus. At the same time, Colossians was dispatched. Going counterclockwise through Asia Minor, this letter would first come to Ephesus, the port of entry, then to Laodicea, then Colossae. Tychicus’ instructions may well have been for each church to “fill in the blank” on the address line. The church at Ephesus would have certainly made the most copies, being Paul’s home base for nearly three years. Hence, most of the surviving copies have “in Ephesus” in v. 1 (so א² A B² D F G Ψ 0278 33 1881 Ï latt sy co). But one might expect a hint of evidence that Laodicea also made a few copies: Both Marcion’s list and Col 4:16 may well imply this. What is to account for the early Alexandrian evidence, then? These mss were perhaps made from a very early copy, one reflecting the blank line before each church filled it in. Although it is of course only speculation (as is necessary in a historical investigation lacking some of the pieces to the puzzle), this scenario accounts for all of the data: (1) “in Ephesus” in most mss; (2) Laodicea in Marcion’s list and Col 4:16; (3) the lack of an addressee in the earliest witnesses; (4) why the earliest witnesses’ reading must be rejected as too hard; and (5) why the author seems not to know the readership. In sum, is “in Ephesus” original? Yes and no. Some address belongs there; ἐν ᾿Εφέσῳ (en Efesw) is the predominant address, but several other churches also received this circular letter as their own. For this reason the phrase has been placed in single brackets in the translation. NA²⁷ also lists the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.

¹⁹ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style [and even if this letter is not by Paul it follows the general style of Paul’s letters, with some modifications]) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated. See M. Barth, Ephesians (AB 34), 1:68 and ExSyn 282.

²⁰ 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 Traditionally, “servants” or “bondservants.” 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.

²² map For location see JP1-C1; JP2-C1; JP3-C1; JP4-C1.

²³ sn The overseers (or “church leaders,” L&N 53.71) is another term for the same official position of leadership as the “elder.” This is seen in the interchange of the two terms in Titus 1:6-7 and in Acts 20:17, 28, as well as in the parallels between Titus 1:6-7 and 1 Tim 3:1-7.