1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together 8 in him.
21:5 And the one seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new!” Then 18 he said to me, “Write it down, 19 because these words are reliable 20 and true.”
1 tc The MT reads “you”; many Hebrew
2 tn Heb “their flesh.”
3 tn Heb “heart of flesh.”
4 sn In Ezek 11:19, 36:26 the new heart and new spirit are promised as future blessings.
7 sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is stubborn and unresponsive (see 1 Sam 25:37). In Rabbinic literature a “stone” was associated with an evil inclination (b. Sukkah 52a).
8 sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is responsive and obedient to God.
10 tn Or “high places.”
13 tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.
16 tc The phrase “in Christ Jesus” is found after “For” in some
17 tn Grk “is.”
18 tn Grk “but a new creation”; the words “the only thing that matters” have been supplied to reflect the implied contrast with the previous clause (see also Gal 5:6).
19 tn Grk “so that we might walk in them” (or “by them”).
22 tn Or “rendered inoperative.” This is a difficult text to translate because it is not easy to find an English term which communicates well the essence of the author’s meaning, especially since legal terminology is involved. Many other translations use the term “abolish” (so NRSV, NASB, NIV), but this term implies complete destruction which is not the author’s meaning here. The verb καταργέω (katargew) can readily have the meaning “to cause someth. to lose its power or effectiveness” (BDAG 525 s.v. 2, where this passage is listed), and this meaning fits quite naturally here within the author’s legal mindset. A proper English term which communicates this well is “nullify” since this word carries the denotation of “making something legally null and void.” This is not, however, a common English word. An alternate term like “rendered inoperative [or ineffective]” is also accurate but fairly inelegant. For this reason, the translation retains the term “nullify”; it is the best choice of the available options, despite its problems.
23 tn In this context the author is not referring to a new individual, but instead to a new corporate entity united in Christ (cf. BDAG 497 s.v. καινός 3.b: “All the Christians together appear as κ. ἄνθρωπος Eph 2:15”). This is clear from the comparison made between the Gentiles and Israel in the immediately preceding verses and the assertion in v. 14 that Christ “made both groups into one.” This is a different metaphor than the “new man” of Eph 4:24; in that passage the “new man” refers to the new life a believer has through a relationship to Christ.
24 tn Grk “in order to create the two into one new man.” Eph 2:14-16 is one sentence in Greek. A new sentence was started here in the translation for clarity since contemporary English is less tolerant of extended sentences.
25 tn Or “in God’s likeness.” Grk “according to God.” The preposition κατά used here denotes a measure of similarity or equality (BDAG 513 s.v. B.5.b.α).
26 tn Or “in righteousness and holiness which is based on truth” or “originated from truth.”
28 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
29 tn The words “it down” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
30 tn Grk “faithful.”