101:6 I will favor the honest people of the land, 3
and allow them to live with me. 4
Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me. 5
24:45 “Who then is the faithful and wise slave, 10 whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves 11 their food at the proper time?
16:10 “The one who is faithful in a very little 13 is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 16:11 If then you haven’t been trustworthy 14 in handling worldly wealth, 15 who will entrust you with the true riches? 16 16:12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy 17 with someone else’s property, 18 who will give you your own 19 ?
16:1 Jesus 20 also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations 21 that his manager 22 was wasting 23 his assets.
4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.
4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.
1 sn The title “my servant” or “servant of the
2 tn The word “faithful” is נֶאֱמָן (ne’eman), the Niphal participle of the verb אָמַן (’aman). This basic word has the sense of “support, be firm.” In the Niphal it describes something that is firm, reliable, dependable – what can be counted on. It could actually be translated “trustworthy.”
3 tn Heb “my eyes [are] on the faithful of the land.”
4 tn The Hebrew text simply reads, “in order to live with me.”
5 tn Heb “one who walks in the way of integrity, he will minister to me.”
6 tn Aram “looking to find.”
7 tn Aram “from the side of the kingdom.”
8 tn Aram “pretext and corruption.”
9 tn Aram “no negligence or corruption was found in him.” The Greek version of Theodotion lacks the phrase “and no negligence or corruption was found in him.”
10 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.
11 tn Grk “give them.”
12 tn Grk “His master said to him.”
13 sn The point of the statement faithful in a very little is that character is shown in how little things are treated.
14 tn Or “faithful.”
15 tn Grk “the unrighteous mammon.” See the note on the phrase “worldly wealth” in v. 9.
16 sn Entrust you with the true riches is a reference to future service for God. The idea is like 1 Cor 9:11, except there the imagery is reversed.
17 tn Or “faithful.”
18 tn Grk “have not been faithful with what is another’s.”
19 tn Grk “what is your own.”
20 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21 tn These are not formal legal charges, but reports from friends, acquaintances, etc.; Grk “A certain man was rich who had a manager, and this one was reported to him as wasting his property.”
22 sn His manager was the steward in charge of managing the house. He could have been a slave trained for the role.
23 tn Or “squandering.” This verb is graphic; it means to scatter (L&N 57.151).
24 tn Verse two begins a subordinate ἵνα (Jina) clause which was divided up into two sentences for the sake of clarity in English. Thus the phrase “My goal is that” is an attempt to reflect in the translation the purpose expressed through the ἵνα clauses.
25 tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβιβάζω 1.b reads “unite, knit together.” Some commentators take the verb as a reference to instruction, “instructed in love.” See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 93.
26 tn The phrase “and that” translates the first εἰς (eis) clause of v. 2 and reflects the second goal of Paul’s striving and struggle for the Colossians – the first is “encouragement” and the second is “full assurance.”
27 tc There are at least a dozen variants here, almost surely generated by the unusual wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ (tou qeou, Cristou, “of God, Christ”; so Ì46 B Hil). Scribes would be prone to conform this to more common Pauline expressions such as “of God, who is in Christ” (33), “of God, the Father of Christ” (א* A C 048vid 1175 bo), and “of the God and Father of Christ” (א2 Ψ 075 0278 365 1505 pc). Even though the external support for the wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ is hardly overwhelming, it clearly best explains the rise of the other readings and should thus be regarded as authentic.