Matthew 28:20

28:20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, ¹  I am with you ²  always, to the end of the age.” ³ 

Romans 16:20

16:20 The God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Romans 16:2

16:2 so that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and provide her with whatever help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many, including me.

Colossians 1:14

1:14 in whom we have redemption, ⁴  the forgiveness of sins.

Galatians 6:18

6:18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be ⁵  with your spirit, brothers and sisters. ⁶  Amen.

Philemon 1:25

1:25 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be ⁷  with your spirit. ⁸ 

¹ tn The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has been translated here as “remember” (BDAG 468 s.v. 1.c).

² sn I am with you. Matthew’s Gospel begins with the prophecy that the Savior’s name would be “Emmanuel, that is, ‘God with us,’” (1:23, in which the author has linked Isa 7:14 and 8:8, 10 together) and it ends with Jesus’ promise to be with his disciples forever. The Gospel of Matthew thus forms an inclusio about Jesus in his relationship to his people that suggests his deity.

³ tc Most mss (A^c Θ Ë¹³ Ï it sy) have ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”) at the end of v. 20. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, no good reason exists for the omission of the particle in significant and early witnesses such as א A* B D W ˹ 33 al lat sa.

⁴ tc διὰ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ (dia tou {aimato" autou, “through his blood”) is read at this juncture by several minuscule mss (614 630 1505 2464 al) as well as a few, mostly secondary, versional and patristic witnesses. But the reading was prompted by the parallel in Eph 1:7 where the wording is solid. If these words had been in the original of Colossians, why would scribes omit them here but not in Eph 1:7? Further, the testimony on behalf of the shorter reading is quite overwhelming: {א A B C D F G Ψ 075 0150 6 33 1739 1881 Ï latt co as well as several other versions and fathers}. The conviction that “through his blood” is not authentic in Col 1:14 is as strong as the conviction that these words are authentic in Eph 1:7.

⁵ tn Or “is.” No verb is stated, but a wish (“be”) rather than a declarative statement (“is”) is most likely in a concluding greeting such as this.

⁶ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

⁷ tn Grk “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ with your spirit.” The elided verb, normally an optative, has been rendered as “be.”

⁸ tc Most witnesses, including several excellent ones (א C D¹ Ψ 0278 Ï lat sy), conclude this letter with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”). Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, several good witnesses (Ì⁸⁷ A D* 048^vid 6 33 81 1739* 1881 sa) lack the ἀμήν, rendering the omission the preferred reading.