19:15 A single witness may not testify 3 against another person for any trespass or sin that he commits. A matter may be legally established 4 only on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
1:1 From Paul, 9 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
1:1 From Paul, 10 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
1:19 For God 11 was pleased to have all his 12 fullness dwell 13 in the Son 14
1 tn Heb “the hand of the witnesses.” This means the two or three witnesses are to throw the first stones (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
2 tn Heb “the hand of all the people.”
3 tn Heb “rise up” (likewise in v. 16).
4 tn Heb “may stand.”
5 sn A quotation from Deut 19:15.
6 sn An allusion to Deut 17:6.
7 tn Grk “I am the one who testifies about myself.”
8 tn An ingressive sense for the imperfect fits well here following the aorist participle.
9 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
10 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
11 tn The noun “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but since God is the one who reconciles the world to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:19), he is clearly the subject of εὐδόκησεν (eudokhsen).
12 tn The Greek article τό (to), insofar as it relates to God, may be translated as a possessive pronoun, i.e., “his.” BDAG 404 s.v. εὐδοκέω 1 translates the phrase as “all the fullness willed to dwell in him” thus leaving the referent as impersonal. Insofar as Paul is alluding to the so-called emanations from God this is acceptable. But the fact that “the fullness” dwells in a person (i.e., “in him”) seems to argue for the translation “his fullness” where “his” refers to God.
13 tn The aorist verb κατοικῆσαι (katoikhsai) could be taken as an ingressive, in which case it refers to the incarnation and may be translated as “begin to dwell, to take up residence.” It is perhaps better, though, to take it as a constative aorist and simply a reference to the fact that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus Christ. This is a permanent dwelling, though, not a temporary one, as the present tense in 2:9 makes clear.
14 tn Grk “him”; the referent (the Son; see v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 tn Grk “dies.”
16 sn An allusion to Deut 17:6.
17 tn The word “authority” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. “Power” would be another alternative that could be supplied here.