7:1 Now 1 the Pharisees 2 and some of the experts in the law 3 who came from Jerusalem 4 gathered around him.
1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, 5 have not ceased praying for you and asking God 6 to fill 7 you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live 8 worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects 9 – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,
5:6 Let nobody deceive you with empty words, for because of these things God’s wrath comes on the sons of disobedience. 23
1 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
2 sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.
3 tn Or “and some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.
4 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
1 tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.
2 tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.
3 tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.
1 tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”
2 tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”
1 tn See the note on the word “flesh” in Gal 5:13.
2 tn Or “clear,” “evident.”
1 tn Or “witchcraft.”
2 tn Or “enmities,” “[acts of] hatred.”
3 tn Or “discord” (L&N 39.22).
4 tn Or “discord(s)” (L&N 39.13).
1 tn This term is plural in Greek (as is “murder” and “carousing”), but for clarity these abstract nouns have been translated as singular.
2 tc ‡ φόνοι (fonoi, “murders”) is absent in such important
3 tn Or “revelings,” “orgies” (L&N 88.287).
1 tn The term “But” translates the δέ (de) in a contrastive way in light of the perfect obedience of Jesus in vv. 1-2 and the vices mentioned in v. 3.
2 tn Grk “all impurity.”
3 tn Grk “just as is fitting for saints.” The καθώς (kaqws) was rendered with “as” and the sense is causal, i.e., “for” or “because.” The negative particle “not” (“for these are not proper for the saints”) in this clause was supplied in English so as to make the sense very clear, i.e., that these vices are not befitting of those who name the name of Christ.
1 tn Grk “be knowing this.” See also 2 Pet 1:20 for a similar phrase: τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες (touto prwton ginwskonte").
1 sn The expression sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” In this context it refers to “all those who are disobedient.” Cf. Eph 2:2-3.