31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed,
and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth, 1
2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, 14 and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. 15
2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, 16 and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. 17
2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, 18 and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. 19
2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, 20 and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. 21
1 tn Heb “and my hand kissed my mouth.” The idea should be that of “my mouth kissed my hand.” H. H. Rowley suggests that the hand was important in waving or throwing the kisses of homage to the sun and the moon, and so it receives the focus. This is the only place in the OT that refers to such a custom. Outside the Bible it was known, however.
2 tn No subject and verb are expressed in vv. 4-5, but the phrase “Now this matter arose,” implied from v. 3, was supplied to make a complete English sentence.
3 tn The adjective παρεισάκτους (pareisaktou"), which relates to someone joining a group with false motives or false pretenses, applies to the “false brothers.” Although the expression “false brothers with false pretenses” is somewhat redundant, it captures the emphatic force of Paul’s expression, which labels both these “brothers” as false (ψευδαδέλφους, yeudadelfou") as well as their motives. See L&N 34.29 for more information.
4 tn The verb translated here as “spy on” (κατασκοπέω, kataskopew) can have a neutral nuance, but here the connotation is certainly negative (so F. F. Bruce, Galatians [NIGTC], 112-13, and E. Burton, Galatians [ICC], 83).
5 tn Grk “in order that they might enslave us.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause with the subjunctive verb καταδουλώσουσιν (katadoulwsousin) has been translated as an English infinitival clause.
6 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
7 tn While the sense of the passage is clear enough, translation in English is somewhat difficult. The Greek says: “by the trickery of men, by craftiness with the scheme of deceit.” The point is that the author is concerned about Christians growing into maturity. He is fearful that certain kinds of very cunning people, who are skilled at deceitful scheming, should come in and teach false doctrines which would in turn stunt the growth of the believers.
8 tn BDAG 812 s.v. πιθανολογία states, “persuasive speech, art of persuasion (so Pla., Theaet. 162e) in an unfavorable sense in its only occurrence in our lit. ἐν πιθανολογίᾳ by specious arguments Col 2:4 (cp. PLips 40 III, 7 διὰ πιθανολογίας).”
9 sn Paul’s point is that even though the arguments seem to make sense (sound reasonable), they are in the end false. Paul is not here arguing against the study of philosophy or serious thinking per se, but is arguing against the uncritical adoption of a philosophy that is at odds with a proper view of Christ and the ethics of the Christian life.
10 tn Verse two begins a subordinate ἵνα (Jina) clause which was divided up into two sentences for the sake of clarity in English. Thus the phrase “My goal is that” is an attempt to reflect in the translation the purpose expressed through the ἵνα clauses.
11 tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβιβάζω 1.b reads “unite, knit together.” Some commentators take the verb as a reference to instruction, “instructed in love.” See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 93.
12 tn The phrase “and that” translates the first εἰς (eis) clause of v. 2 and reflects the second goal of Paul’s striving and struggle for the Colossians – the first is “encouragement” and the second is “full assurance.”
13 tc There are at least a dozen variants here, almost surely generated by the unusual wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ (tou qeou, Cristou, “of God, Christ”; so Ì46 B Hil). Scribes would be prone to conform this to more common Pauline expressions such as “of God, who is in Christ” (33), “of God, the Father of Christ” (א* A C 048vid 1175 bo), and “of the God and Father of Christ” (א2 Ψ 075 0278 365 1505 pc). Even though the external support for the wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ is hardly overwhelming, it clearly best explains the rise of the other readings and should thus be regarded as authentic.
14 tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”
15 tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”
16 tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”
17 tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”
18 tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”
19 tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”
20 tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”
21 tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”
22 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the war in heaven.
23 tn Grk “earth, telling.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in Greek.
24 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel introduced in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
26 tn Or “and shut.” While the lexical force of the term is closer to “shut,” it is acceptable to render the verb ἔκλεισεν (ekleisen) as “locked” here in view of the mention of the key in the previous verse.