1 tn Or “necessary.”
2 sn By referring to him as your brother, the father reminded the older brother that the younger brother was part of the family.
3 sn The theme he was lost and is found is repeated from v. 24. The conclusion is open-ended. The reader is left to ponder with the older son (who pictures the scribes and Pharisees) what the response will be. The parable does not reveal the ultimate response of the older brother. Jesus argued that sinners should be pursued and received back warmly when they returned.
4 tn Grk “Just as.” The sense here is probably, “So I give thanks (v. 3) just as it is right for me…”
5 tn Or possibly “because you have me in your heart.”
6 tn Grk “in my bonds.” The meaning “imprisonment” derives from a figurative extension of the literal meaning (“bonds,” “fetters,” “chains”), L&N 37.115.
7 tn The word “God’s” is supplied from the context (v. 2) to clarify the meaning.
8 tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”
9 tn Grk “so that the whole imperial guard.” The ὥστε (Jwste) clause that begins v. 13 indicates two results of the spread of the gospel: Outsiders know why Paul is imprisoned (v. 13) and believers are emboldened by his imprisonment (v. 14).
10 sn The whole imperial guard (Grk “praetorium”) can refer to the elite troops stationed in Rome or the headquarters of administrators in the provinces (cf. Matt 27:27; Mark 15:16; John 18:28, 33; 19:9; Acts 23:35). In either case a metonymy is involved, with the place (the praetorium) put for those (soldiers or government officials) who were connected with it or stationed in it.
11 tn Grk “it has become known by the whole imperial guard and all the rest.”
12 tn Grk “my bonds [are].”