Matthew 5:45

5:45 so that you may be like ¹  your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Luke 16:21

16:21 who longed to eat ²  what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs ³  came and licked ⁴  his sores.

Romans 3:29

3:29 Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles too? Yes, of the Gentiles too!

Romans 10:12

10:12 For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him.

Ephesians 3:8

3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ⁵  – this grace was given, ⁶  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

Ephesians 3:19

3:19 and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to ⁷  all the fullness of God.

¹ tn Grk “be sons of your Father in heaven.” Here, however, the focus is not on attaining a relationship (becoming a child of God) but rather on being the kind of person who shares the characteristics of God himself (a frequent meaning of the Semitic idiom “son of”). See L&N 58.26.

² tn Grk “to eat his fill,” but this phrase has been simplified as “to eat” for stylistic reasons.

³ tn The term κύνες (kunes) refers to “wild” dogs (either “street” dogs or watchdogs), not house pets (L&N 4.34).

⁴ sn When the dogs came and licked his sores it meant that he was unclean. See the negative image of Rev 22:15 that draws on this picture.

⁵ sn In Pauline writings saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.

⁶ sn The parallel phrases to proclaim and to enlighten which follow indicate why God’s grace was manifested to Paul. Grace was not something just to be received, but to be shared with others (cf. Acts 13:47).

⁷ tn Or “with.”