Ecclesiastes 12:7

12:7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was,

and the life’s breath ¹  returns to God who gave it.

Luke 16:22-23

16:22 “Now ²  the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. ³  The ⁴  rich man also died and was buried. ⁵  16:23 And in hell, ⁶  as he was in torment, ⁷  he looked up ⁸  and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. ⁹ 

John 14:3

14:3 And if I go and make ready ¹⁰  a place for you, I will come again and take you ¹¹  to be with me, ¹²  so that where I am you may be too.

Acts 1:25

1:25 to assume the task ¹³  of this service ¹⁴  and apostleship from which Judas turned aside ¹⁵  to go to his own place.” ¹⁶ 

Acts 1:2

1:2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, ¹⁷  after he had given orders ¹⁸  by ¹⁹  the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁰  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 1:8

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

Philippians 1:23

1:23 I feel torn between the two, ²¹  because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far,

¹ tn Or “spirit.” The likely referent is the life’s breath that originates with God. See Eccl 3:19, as well as Gen 2:7; 6:17; 7:22.

² tn Grk “Now it happened that the.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

³ tn Grk “to Abraham’s bosom.” The phrase “carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” describes being gathered to the fathers and is a way to refer to heaven (Gen 15:15; 47:30; Deut 31:16).

⁴ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁵ sn The shorter description suggests a different fate, which is confirmed in the following verses.

⁶ sn The Greek term Hades stands for the Hebrew concept of Sheol. It is what is called hell today. This is where the dead were gathered (Ps 16:10; 86:13). In the NT Hades has an additional negative force of awaiting judgment (Rev 20:13).

⁷ sn Hades is a place of torment, especially as one knows that he is separated from God.

⁸ tn Grk “he lifted up his eyes” (an idiom).

⁹ tn Grk “in his bosom,” the same phrase used in 16:22. This idiom refers to heaven and/or participation in the eschatological banquet. An appropriate modern equivalent is “at Abraham’s side.”

¹⁰ tn Or “prepare.”

¹¹ tn Or “bring you.”

¹² tn Grk “to myself.”

¹³ tn Grk “to take the place.”

¹⁴ tn Or “of this ministry.”

¹⁵ tn Or “the task of this service and apostleship which Judas ceased to perform.”

¹⁶ sn To go to his own place. This may well be a euphemism for Judas’ judged fate. He separated himself from them, and thus separated he would remain.

¹⁷ tn The words “to heaven” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied from v. 11. Several modern translations (NIV, NRSV) supply the words “to heaven” after “taken up” to specify the destination explicitly mentioned later in 1:11.

¹⁸ tn Or “commands.” Although some modern translations render ἐντειλάμενος (enteilameno") as “instructions” (NIV, NRSV), the word implies authority or official sanction (G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:545), so that a word like “orders” conveys the idea more effectively. The action of the temporal participle is antecedent (prior) to the action of the verb it modifies (“taken up”).

¹⁹ tn Or “through.”

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 Grk “I am hard-pressed between the two.” Cf. L&N 30.18.