3:1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, 24 partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess, 25
2:5 For he did not put the world to come, 26 about which we are speaking, 27 under the control of angels.
1 tn Grk “in whom” (v. 21 is a relative clause, subordinate to v. 20).
2 tc Although several important witnesses (א1 A C P 6 81 326 1739c 1881) have πᾶσα ἡ οἰκοδομή (pasa Jh oikodomh), instead of πᾶσα οἰκοδομή (the reading of א* B D F G Ψ 33 1739* Ï), the article is almost surely a scribal addition intended to clarify the meaning of the text, for with the article the meaning is unambiguously “the whole building.”
3 sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.
4 tn Grk “walked.”
5 tn Or possibly “Aeon.”
6 tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”
7 tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).
8 sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).
9 tn Grk “working in.”
10 sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.
5 tn Grk “having been built.”
6 sn Apostles and prophets. Because the prophets appear after the mention of the apostles and because they are linked together in 3:5 as recipients of revelation about the church, they are to be regarded not as Old Testament prophets, but as New Testament prophets.
7 tn Grk “while Christ Jesus himself is” or “Christ Jesus himself being.”
8 tn Or perhaps “capstone” (NAB). The meaning of ἀκρογωνιαῖος (akrogwniaio") is greatly debated. The meaning “capstone” is proposed by J. Jeremias (TDNT 1:792), but the most important text for this meaning (T. Sol. 22:7-23:4) is late and possibly not even an appropriate parallel. The only place ἀκρογωνιαῖος is used in the LXX is Isa 28:16, and there it clearly refers to a cornerstone that is part of a foundation. Furthermore, the imagery in this context has the building growing off the cornerstone upward, whereas if Christ were the capstone, he would not assume his position until the building was finished, which vv. 21-22 argue against.
7 tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.
8 tc ‡ The reading adopted by the translation follows a few early
9 tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.
10 sn A quotation from Num 12:7.
11 sn The Greek makes the contrast between v. 5 and v. 6a more emphatic and explicit than is easily done in English.
12 tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.
13 tn Grk “whose house we are,” continuing the previous sentence.
14 tc The reading adopted by the translation is found in Ì13,46 B sa, while the vast majority of
15 tn Grk “the pride of our hope.”
13 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.
14 tn Grk “of our confession.”
15 sn The phrase the world to come means “the coming inhabited earth,” using the Greek term which describes the world of people and their civilizations.
16 sn See the previous reference to the world in Heb 1:6.