Luke 10:21

10:21 On that same occasion Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will.

Matthew 11:25-27

Jesus’ Invitation

11:25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise 10  you, Father, Lord 11  of heaven and earth, because 12  you have hidden these things from the wise 13  and intelligent, and revealed them to little children. 11:26 Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will. 14  11:27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. 15  No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides 16  to reveal him.

Ephesians 1:5-9

1:5 He did this by predestining 17  us to adoption as his 18  sons 19  through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure 20  of his will – 1:6 to the praise of the glory of his grace 21  that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son. 22  1:7 In him 23  we have redemption through his blood, 24  the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 1:8 that he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight. 1:9 He did this when he revealed 25  to us the secret 26  of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth 27  in Christ, 28 

Philippians 2:13

2:13 for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God.

Philippians 2:2

2:2 complete my joy and be of the same mind, 29  by having the same love, being united in spirit, 30  and having one purpose.

Philippians 1:11

1:11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.


tn Grk “In that same hour” (L&N 67.1).

tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

sn Jesus rejoiced. The account of the mission in 10:1-24 ends with several remarks about joy.

tn Or “thank.”

sn The title Lord is an important name for God, showing his sovereignty, but it is interesting that it comes next to a reference to the Father, a term indicative of God’s care. The two concepts are often related in the NT; see Eph 1:3-6.

tn Or “that.”

sn See 1 Cor 1:26-31.

tn Grk “for (to do) thus was well pleasing before you,” BDAG 325 s.v. ἔμπροσθεν 1.δ; speaking of something taking place “before” God is a reverential way of avoiding direct connection of the action to him.

tn Grk “At that time, answering, Jesus said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

10 tn Or “thank.”

11 sn The title Lord is an important name for God, showing his sovereignty, but it is interesting that it comes next to a reference to the Father, a term indicative of God’s care. The two concepts are often related in the NT; see Eph 1:3-6.

12 tn Or “that.”

13 sn See 1 Cor 1:26-31.

14 tn Grk “for (to do) thus was well-pleasing before you,” BDAG 325 s.v. ἔμπροσθεν 1.b.δ; speaking of something taking place “before” God is a reverential way of avoiding direct connection of the action to him.

15 sn This verse has been noted for its conceptual similarity to teaching in John’s Gospel (10:15; 17:2). The authority of the Son and the Father are totally intertwined.

16 tn Or “wishes”; or “intends”; or “plans” (cf. BDAG 182 s.v. βούλομαι 2.b). Here it is the Son who has sovereignty.

17 tn Grk “by predestining.” Verse 5 begins with an aorist participle dependent on the main verb in v. 4 (“chose”).

18 tn Grk “to himself” after “through Jesus Christ.”

19 tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).” Although some modern translations remove the filial sense completely and render the term merely “adoption” (cf. NAB, ESV), the retention of this component of meaning was accomplished in the present translation by the phrase “as…sons.”

20 tn Or “good pleasure.”

21 tn Or “to the praise of his glorious grace.” Many translations translate δόξης τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ (doxh" th" carito" autou, literally “of the glory of his grace”) with τῆς χάριτος as an attributed genitive (cf., e.g., NIV, NRSV, ESV). The translation above has retained a literal rendering in order to make clear the relationship of this phrase to the other two similar phrases in v. 12 and 14, which affect the way one divides the material in the passage.

22 tn Grk “the beloved.” The term ἠγαπημένῳ (hgaphmenw) means “beloved,” but often bears connotations of “only beloved” in an exclusive sense. “His dearly loved Son” picks up this connotation.

23 tn Grk “in whom” (the relative clause of v. 7 is subordinate to v. 6). The “him” refers to Christ.

24 sn In this context his blood, the blood of Jesus Christ, refers to the price paid for believers’ redemption, which is the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross.

25 tn Or “He did this by revealing”; Grk “making known, revealing.” Verse 9 begins with a participle dependent on “lavished” in v. 8; the adverbial participle could be understood as temporal (“when he revealed”), which would be contemporaneous to the action of the finite verb “lavished,” or as means (“by revealing”). The participle has been translated here with the temporal nuance to allow for means to also be a possible interpretation. If the translation focused instead upon means, the temporal nuance would be lost as the time frame for the action of the participle would become indistinct.

26 tn Or “mystery.” In the NT μυστήριον (musthrion) refers to a divine secret previously undisclosed.

27 tn Or “purposed,” “publicly displayed.” Cf. Rom 3:25.

28 tn Grk “in him”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

29 tn Or “and feel the same way,” “and think the same thoughts.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated “and be of the same mind” to reflect its epexegetical force to the imperative “complete my joy.”

30 tn The Greek word here is σύμψυχοι (sumyucoi, literally “fellow souled”).