19:15 “‘You 8 must not deal unjustly in judgment: 9 you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. 10 You must judge your fellow citizen fairly. 11
24:23 These sayings also are from the wise:
To show partiality 18 in judgment is terrible: 19
28:21 To show partiality 20 is terrible, 21
for a person will transgress over the smallest piece of bread. 22
1:1 From Paul, 27 a slave 28 of Christ Jesus, 29 called to be an apostle, 30 set apart for the gospel of God. 31
1 tn Grk “and you pay attention…and say,” continuing the “if” clauses from v. 2. In the Greek text, vv. 2-4 form one long sentence.
2 tn Or “sit here, please.”
3 tn Grk “sit under my footstool.” The words “on the floor” have been supplied in the translation to clarify for the modern reader the undesirability of this seating arrangement (so also TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). Another option followed by a number of translations is to replace “under my footstool” with “at my feet” (NAB, NIV, NRSV).
4 tn Or “transgressors.”
7 tn Or “willing to yield,” “open to persuasion.”
8 tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit.”
9 tn Or “sincere.”
10 tc Smr has the singular rather than the plural “you” of the MT, which brings this verb form into line with the ones surrounding it.
11 tn Heb “You shall not do injustice in judgment” (NASB similar); cf. NIV “do not pervert justice.”
12 tn Heb “You shall not lift up faces of poor [people] and you shall not honor faces of great.”
13 tn Heb “In righteousness you shall judge your fellow citizen.”
13 tn Heb “you,” and throughout the verse (cf. NASB, NRSV).
14 tn Heb “the small,” but referring to social status, not physical stature.
16 tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”
17 tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”
19 tn Heb “sacrifice the Passover” (so NASB). The word “animal” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
20 tn Heb “the
22 tn Heb “to recognize faces”; KJV, ASV “to have respect of persons”; NLT “to show favoritism.”
23 tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure known as tapeinosis – a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is terrible!”
25 tn The construction uses the Hiphil infinitive הַכֵּר (hakken) as the subject of the sentence: “to have respect for [or, recognize] persons is not good” (e.g., 24:23; 18:5; Deut 1:17; Lev 19:15). Such favoritism is “not good”; instead, it is a miscarriage of justice and is to be avoided.
26 tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure of speech known as tapeinosis – a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is terrible!”
27 tn The meaning and connection of the line is not readily clear. It could be taken in one of two ways: (1) a person can steal even a small piece of bread if hungry, and so the court should show some compassion, or it should show no partiality even in such a pathetic case; (2) a person could be bribed for a very small price (a small piece of bread being the figure representing this). This second view harmonizes best with the law.
28 sn The Herodians are mentioned in the NT only once in Matt (22:16 = Mark 12:13) and twice in Mark (3:6; 12:13; some
29 sn Teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Very few comments are as deceitful as this one; they did not really believe this at all. The question of the Pharisees and Herodians was specifically designed to trap Jesus.
30 tn Grk “And it is not a concern to you about anyone because you do not see the face of men.”
31 sn Paul does not mean here that he is going to bestow upon the Roman believers what is commonly known as a “spiritual gift,” that is, a special enabling for service given to believers by the Holy Spirit. Instead, this is either a metonymy of cause for effect (Paul will use his own spiritual gifts to edify the Romans), or it simply means something akin to a blessing or benefit in the spiritual realm. It is possible that Paul uses this phrase to connote specifically the broader purpose of his letter, which is for the Romans to understand his gospel, but this seems less likely.
34 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
35 tn Traditionally, “servant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
36 tc Many important
37 tn Grk “a called apostle.”
38 tn The genitive in the phrase εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ (euangelion qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as (1) a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or (2) an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself. However, in view of God’s action in v. 2 concerning this gospel, a subjective genitive notion (“the gospel which God brings”) is slightly preferred.
37 tn “And” is not in Greek, but is supplied for the sake of English style.
38 tn Or “going.” Though the participle is anarthrous, so also is the subject. Thus, the participle could be either adverbial or adjectival.
39 tn Grk “(who go/going) according to their own lusts.”
40 tn Grk “and their mouth speaks bombastic things.”
41 sn Enchanting folks (Grk “awing faces”) refers to the fact that the speeches of these false teachers are powerful and seductive.
42 tn Or “to their own advantage.”