1:1 From Paul, 21 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, 23 kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.
1 tn Grk “if you were of the world.”
2 tn The words “you as” are not in the original but are supplied for clarity.
3 tn Grk “because you are not of the world.”
4 tn Or “world, therefore.”
5 sn I chose you out of the world…the world hates you. Two themes are brought together here. In 8:23 Jesus had distinguished himself from the world in addressing his Jewish opponents: “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.” In 15:16 Jesus told the disciples “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you.” Now Jesus has united these two ideas as he informs the disciples that he has chosen them out of the world. While the disciples will still be “in” the world after Jesus has departed, they will not belong to it, and Jesus prays later in John 17:15-16 to the Father, “I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” The same theme also occurs in 1 John 4:5-6: “They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us.” Thus the basic reason why the world hates the disciples (as it hated Jesus before them) is because they are not of the world. They are born from above, and are not of the world. For this reason the world hates them.
6 tn Grk “Remember the word that I said to you.”
7 tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.
8 sn A slave is not greater than his master. Jesus now recalled a statement he had made to the disciples before, in John 13:16. As the master has been treated, so will the slaves be treated also. If the world had persecuted Jesus, then it would also persecute the disciples. If the world had kept Jesus’ word, it would likewise keep the word of the disciples. In this statement there is the implication that the disciples would carry on the ministry of Jesus after his departure; they would in their preaching and teaching continue to spread the message which Jesus himself had taught while he was with them. And they would meet with the same response, by and large, that he encountered.
9 tn Or “if they kept.”
10 tn Or “they will keep.”
11 tn Or “because of.”
12 tn Jesus is referring to God as “the one who sent me.”
16 tn Grk “to Antioch, strengthening.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here. This participle (ἐπιστηρίζοντες, episthrizonte") and the following one (παρακαλοῦντες, parakalounte") have been translated as finite verbs connected by the coordinating conjunction “and.”
17 sn And encouraged them to continue. The exhortations are like those noted in Acts 11:23; 13:43. An example of such a speech is found in Acts 20:18-35. Christianity is now characterized as “the faith.”
18 sn This reference to the kingdom of God clearly refers to its future arrival.
19 tn Or “sufferings.”
21 sn A quotation from Ps 44:22.
26 tn Grk “for the law of the Spirit of life.”
27 tc Most
31 tn The adverbial participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") is understood to be temporal and translated with “since.” A causal idea may also be in the apostle’s mind, but the context emphasizes temporal ideas, e.g., “from the day” (v. 6).
36 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
41 tc Certain
46 tn If the genitive construct σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ (splancna oiktirmou) is a hendiadys then it would be “compassion” or “tenderheartedness.” See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 161.
51 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous question.
52 tn Though the expression “the answer” is not in the Greek text, it is clearly implied. Direct objects in Greek were frequently omitted when clear from the context.
53 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
54 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.