34:13 Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully when they spoke because Shechem 6 had violated their sister Dinah.
52:2 Your tongue carries out your destructive plans; 7
it is as effective as a sharp razor, O deceiver. 8
11:18 The wicked person 9 earns 10 deceitful wages, 11
but the one who sows 12 righteousness reaps 13 a genuine 14 reward. 15
17:16 “‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, surely in the city 20 of the king who crowned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke – in the middle of Babylon he will die! 17:17 Pharaoh with his great army and mighty horde will not help 21 him in battle, when siege ramps are erected and siege-walls are built to kill many people. 17:18 He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Take note 22 – he gave his promise 23 and did all these things – he will not escape!
17:19 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will certainly repay him 24 for despising my oath and breaking my covenant!
1:3 We always 28 give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
1 tn The Hebrew term has a primary meaning of “skill, insight,” but here it has the connotation “cunning, treachery.” See BDB 968 s.v. שֵׂכֶל, שֶׂכֶל.
2 tn Heb “he will cause deceit to succeed by his hand.”
3 tn Heb “in his heart he will act arrogantly.”
4 tn Heb “in peace.” The Hebrew word used here is difficult. It may refer to the security felt by those who did not realize the danger of imminent attack, or it may refer to the condition of being unaware of the impending danger. The latter idea is reflected in the present translation. See further, BDB 1017 s.v. שַׁלְוָה.
5 tn Heb “with nothingness of hand.”
6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “destruction your tongue devises.”
8 tn Heb “like a sharpened razor, doer of deceit.” The masculine participle עָשָׂה (’asah) is understood as a substantival vocative, addressed to the powerful man.
9 tn The form is the masculine singular adjective used as a substantive.
10 tn Heb “makes” (so NAB).
11 tn Heb “wages of deception.”
12 sn The participle “sowing” provides an implied comparison (the figure is known as hypocatastasis) with the point of practicing righteousness and inspiring others to do the same. What is sown will yield fruit (1 Cor 9:11; 2 Cor 9:6; Jas 3:18).
13 tn The term “reaps” does not appear in the Hebrew but has been supplied in the translation from context for the sake of smoothness.
14 tn Heb “true” (so NASB, NRSV); KJV, NAB, NIV “sure.”
15 sn A wordplay (paronomasia) occurs between “deceptive” (שָׁקֶר, shaqer) and “reward” (שֶׂכֶר, sekher), underscoring the contrast by the repetition of sounds. The wages of the wicked are deceptive; the reward of the righteous is sure.
16 tn Or “descendants”; Heb “seed” (cf. v. 5).
17 tn Heb “caused him to enter into an oath.”
18 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the member of the royal family, v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 tn Heb “place.”
21 tn Heb “deal with” or “work with.”
22 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates being aware of or taking notice of something.
23 sn Heb “hand.” “Giving one’s hand” is a gesture of promise (2 Kgs 10:15).
24 tn Heb “place it on his head.”
25 tn Grk “being filled” or “having been filled,” referring to those described in v. 28. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
26 tn Grk “malice, full of,” continuing the description. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
27 tn Grk “the gospel of God, which he promised.” Because of the length and complexity of this sentence in Greek, it was divided into shorter English sentences in keeping with contemporary English style. To indicate the referent of the relative pronoun (“which”), the word “gospel” was repeated at the beginning of v. 2.
28 tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).
29 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.
30 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).
31 tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”
32 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
33 sn In him all the fullness of deity lives. The present tense in this verse (“lives”) is significant. Again, as was stated in the note on 1:19, this is not a temporary dwelling, but a permanent one. Paul’s point is polemical against the idea that the fullness of God dwells anywhere else, as the Gnostics believed, except in Christ alone. At the incarnation, the second person of the Trinity assumed humanity, and is forever the God-man.