10:12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him, 1 to obey all his commandments, 2 to love him, to serve him 3 with all your mind and being, 4 10:13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes that I am giving 5 you today for your own good?
11:8 Now pay attention to all the commandments 7 I am giving 8 you today, so that you may be strong enough to enter and possess the land where you are headed, 9
6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,
and what the Lord really wants from you: 10
He wants you to 11 promote 12 justice, to be faithful, 13
and to live obediently before 14 your God.
3:10 So 22 the crowds were asking 23 him, “What then should we do?” 3:11 John 24 answered them, 25 “The person who has two tunics 26 must share with the person who has none, and the person who has food must do likewise.” 3:12 Tax collectors 27 also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 3:13 He told them, “Collect no more 28 than you are required to.” 29 3:14 Then some soldiers 30 also asked him, “And as for us – what should we do?” 31 He told them, “Take money from no one by violence 32 or by false accusation, 33 and be content with your pay.”
4:17 So I say this, and insist 34 in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility 35 of their thinking. 36
4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, 37 urge you to live 38 worthily of the calling with which you have been called, 39
1:15 For this reason, 46 because I 47 have heard 48 of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love 49 for all the saints, 1:16 I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you 50 in my prayers.
1 tn Heb “the
2 tn Heb “to walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “follow his ways exactly”; NLT “to live according to his will.”
3 tn Heb “the
4 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being”; NCV “with your whole being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
5 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.
6 tn On the addition of these words in the translation see note on “They did not see” in v. 3.
7 tn Heb “the commandment.” The singular מִצְוָה (mitsvah, “commandment”) speaks here as elsewhere of the whole corpus of covenant stipulations in Deuteronomy (cf. 6:1, 25; 7:11; 8:1).
8 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in vv. 13, 27).
9 tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”
10 sn What the
11 tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”
12 tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”
13 tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”
14 tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”
15 tn The verb here is ποιέω (poiew; see v. 4).
16 tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit” (so NIV; cf. Matt 3:8 where the singular καρπός is found). Some other translations render the plural καρπούς as “fruits” (e.g., NRSV, NASB, NAB, NKJV).
17 tn In other words, “do not even begin to think this.”
18 sn We have Abraham as our father. John’s warning to the crowds really assumes two things: (1) A number of John’s listeners apparently believed that simply by their physical descent from Abraham, they were certain heirs of the promises made to the patriarch, and (2) God would never judge his covenant people lest he inadvertently place the fulfillment of his promises in jeopardy. In light of this, John tells these people two things: (1) they need to repent and produce fruit in keeping with repentance, for only that saves from the coming wrath, and (2) God will raise up “children for Abraham from these stones” if he wants to. Their disobedience will not threaten the realization of God’s sovereign purposes.
19 sn The point of the statement God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham is that ancestry or association with a tradition tied to the great founder of the Jewish nation is not an automatic source of salvation.
20 sn Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees. The imagery of an “ax already laid at the root of the trees” is vivid, connoting sudden and catastrophic judgment for the unrepentant and unfruitful. The image of “fire” serves to further heighten the intensity of the judgment referred to. It is John’s way of summoning all people to return to God with all their heart and avoid his unquenchable wrath soon to be poured out. John’s language and imagery is probably ultimately drawn from the OT where Israel is referred to as a fruitless vine (Hos 10:1-2; Jer 2:21-22) and the image of an “ax” is used to indicate God’s judgment (Ps 74:5-6; Jer 46:22).
21 tn Grk “is”; the present tense (ἐκκόπτεται, ekkoptetai) has futuristic force here.
22 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the people’s response.
23 tn Though this verb is imperfect, in this context it does not mean repeated, ongoing questions, but simply a presentation in vivid style as the following verbs in the other examples are aorist.
24 tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25 tn Grk “Answering, he said to them.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation to “answered them.”
26 tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “Shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.
27 sn The tax collectors would bid to collect taxes for the Roman government and then add a surcharge, which they kept. Since tax collectors worked for Rome, they were viewed as traitors to their own people and were not well liked. Yet even they were moved by John’s call.
28 tn In the Greek text μηδὲν πλέον (mhden pleon, “no more”) is in an emphatic position.
29 tn Or “than you are ordered to.”
30 tn Grk “And soldiers.”
31 tn Grk “And what should we ourselves do?”
32 tn Or “Rob no one.” The term διασείσητε (diaseishte) here refers to “shaking someone.” In this context it refers to taking financial advantage of someone through violence, so it refers essentially to robbery. Soldiers are to perform their tasks faithfully. A changed person is to carry out his tasks in life faithfully and without grumbling.
33 tn The term translated “accusation” (συκοφαντήσητε, sukofanthshte) refers to a procedure by which someone could bring charges against an individual and be paid a part of the fine imposed by the court. Soldiers could do this to supplement their pay, and would thus be tempted to make false accusations.
34 tn On the translation of μαρτύρομαι (marturomai) as “insist” see BDAG 619 s.v. 2.
35 tn On the translation of ματαιότης (mataioth") as “futility” see BDAG 621 s.v.
36 tn Or “thoughts,” “mind.”
37 tn Grk “prisoner in the Lord.”
38 tn Grk “walk.” The verb “walk” in the NT letters refers to the conduct of one’s life, not to physical walking.
39 sn With which you have been called. The calling refers to the Holy Spirit’s prompting that caused them to believe. The author is thus urging his readers to live a life that conforms to their saved status before God.
40 tn Grk “in whom you also, when…” (continuing the sentence from v. 12).
41 tn Grk “in whom also having believed.” The relative pronoun “whom” has been replaced in the translation with its antecedent (“Christ”) to improve the clarity.
42 tn Or “you were sealed.”
43 tn Grk “the Holy Spirit of promise.” Here ἐπαγγελίας (epangelias, “of promise”) has been translated as an attributive genitive.
44 tn Or “first installment,” “pledge,” “deposit.”
45 tn Grk “the possession.”
46 sn The conjunctive phrase For this reason points back to the preceding section, vv. 3-14, which is also summed up in this verse in the expression because I have heard of your faith. In other words, the author’s prayer can be made for his audience because he knows that they are true believers.
47 tn Grk “even I.”
48 tn Grk “having also heard.”
49 tc Ì46 א* A B P 33 1739 1881 2464 Hier lack “your love” (τὴν ἀγάπην, thn agaphn), while various other groups of
50 tn Grk “making mention [of you].”