1 tc ‡ Although most witnesses have either δέ (de; Ì49 א A D2 Ψ 33 1739mg Ï lat) or οὖν (oun; D* F G 1175) here, a few important
2 tn Or “forgiving.”
3 tn Or possibly “to the Aeons who are about to come.”
4 tn Or “upon.”
5 sn Greediness refers to an increasing desire for more and more. The point is that sinful passions and desires are never satisfied.
7 tn The term “But” translates the δέ (de) in a contrastive way in light of the perfect obedience of Jesus in vv. 1-2 and the vices mentioned in v. 3.
8 tn Grk “all impurity.”
9 tn Grk “just as is fitting for saints.” The καθώς (kaqws) was rendered with “as” and the sense is causal, i.e., “for” or “because.” The negative particle “not” (“for these are not proper for the saints”) in this clause was supplied in English so as to make the sense very clear, i.e., that these vices are not befitting of those who name the name of Christ.
9 tn Grk “by predestining.” Verse 5 begins with an aorist participle dependent on the main verb in v. 4 (“chose”).
10 tn Grk “to himself” after “through Jesus Christ.”
11 tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).” Although some modern translations remove the filial sense completely and render the term merely “adoption” (cf. NAB, ESV), the retention of this component of meaning was accomplished in the present translation by the phrase “as…sons.”
12 tn Or “good pleasure.”
11 tn Or “to the praise of his glorious grace.” Many translations translate δόξης τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ (doxh" th" carito" autou, literally “of the glory of his grace”) with τῆς χάριτος as an attributed genitive (cf., e.g., NIV, NRSV, ESV). The translation above has retained a literal rendering in order to make clear the relationship of this phrase to the other two similar phrases in v. 12 and 14, which affect the way one divides the material in the passage.
12 tn Grk “the beloved.” The term ἠγαπημένῳ (hgaphmenw) means “beloved,” but often bears connotations of “only beloved” in an exclusive sense. “His dearly loved Son” picks up this connotation.
13 tn Grk “in whom” (the relative clause of v. 7 is subordinate to v. 6). The “him” refers to Christ.
14 sn In this context his blood, the blood of Jesus Christ, refers to the price paid for believers’ redemption, which is the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross.
15 tn Or “He did this by revealing”; Grk “making known, revealing.” Verse 9 begins with a participle dependent on “lavished” in v. 8; the adverbial participle could be understood as temporal (“when he revealed”), which would be contemporaneous to the action of the finite verb “lavished,” or as means (“by revealing”). The participle has been translated here with the temporal nuance to allow for means to also be a possible interpretation. If the translation focused instead upon means, the temporal nuance would be lost as the time frame for the action of the participle would become indistinct.
16 tn Or “mystery.” In the NT μυστήριον (musthrion) refers to a divine secret previously undisclosed.
17 tn Or “purposed,” “publicly displayed.” Cf. Rom 3:25.
18 tn Grk “in him”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.
17 tc Several
18 tn Grk “in.” The idea is that the fruit of the light is “expressed in” or “consists of.”
19 tn Both “pray” and “be alert” are participles in the Greek text (“praying…being alert”). Both are probably instrumental, loosely connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.
20 tn Grk “and toward it.”