120:7 I am committed to peace, 1
but when I speak, they want to make war. 2
12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, 4 by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God 5 – which is your reasonable service.
12:14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, 10 for without it no one will see the Lord.
3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct he should show his works done in the gentleness that wisdom brings. 11 3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth. 3:15 Such 12 wisdom does not come 13 from above but is earthly, natural, 14 demonic. 3:16 For where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice. 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, 15 full of mercy and good fruit, 16 impartial, and not hypocritical. 17 3:18 And the fruit that consists of righteousness 18 is planted 19 in peace among 20 those who make peace.
3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, 21 because you know that we will be judged more strictly. 22
1 tn Heb “I, peace.”
2 tn Heb “they [are] for war.”
3 tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic and refers to both men and women.
4 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.
5 tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.
6 tn Or “learned it.” The Greek text simply has “you learned” without the reference to “the gospel,” but “the gospel” is supplied to clarify the sense of the clause. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
7 tn The Greek word translated “fellow slave” is σύνδουλος (sundoulo"); the σύν- prefix here denotes association. Though δοῦλος is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
8 tn The Greek text has “who (ὅς, Jos) is a faithful minister.” The above translation conveys the antecedent of the relative pronoun quite well and avoids the redundancy with the following substantival participle of v. 8, namely, “who told” (ὁ δηλώσας, Jo dhlwsa").
9 tc ‡ Judging by the superior witnesses for the first person pronoun ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “us”; Ì46 א* A B D* F G 326* 1505 al) vs. the second person pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “you”; found in א2 C D1 Ψ 075 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co), ἡμῶν should be regarded as original. Although it is possible that ἡμῶν was an early alteration of ὑμῶν (either unintentionally, as dittography, since it comes seventeen letters after the previous ἡμῶν; or intentionally, to conform to the surrounding first person pronouns), this supposition is difficult to maintain in light of the varied and valuable witnesses for this reading. Further, the second person is both embedded in the verb ἐμάθετε (emaqete) and is explicit in v. 8 (ὑμῶν). Hence, the motivation to change to the first person pronoun is counterbalanced by such evidence. The second person pronoun may have been introduced unintentionally via homoioarcton with the ὑπέρ (Juper) that immediately precedes it. As well, the second person reading is somewhat harder for it seems to address Epaphras’ role only in relation to Paul and his colleagues, rather than in relation to the Colossians. Nevertheless, the decision must be based ultimately on external evidence (because the internal evidence can be variously interpreted), and this strongly supports ἡμῶν.
10 sn The references to peace and holiness show the close connection between this paragraph and the previous one. The pathway toward “holiness” and the need for it is cited in Heb 12:10 and 14. More importantly Prov 4:26-27 sets up the transition from one paragraph to the next: It urges people to stay on godly paths (Prov 4:26, quoted here in v. 13) and promises that God will lead them in peace if they do so (Prov 4:27 [LXX], quoted in v. 14).
11 tn Grk “works in the gentleness of wisdom.”
12 tn Grk “This.”
13 tn Grk “come down”; “descend.”
14 tn Grk “soulish,” which describes life apart from God, characteristic of earthly human life as opposed to what is spiritual. Cf. 1 Cor 2:14; 15:44-46; Jude 19.
15 tn Or “willing to yield,” “open to persuasion.”
16 tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit.”
17 tn Or “sincere.”
18 tn Grk “the fruit of righteousness,” meaning righteous living as a fruit, as the thing produced.
19 tn Grk “is sown.”
20 tn Or “for,” or possibly “by.”
21 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
22 tn Grk “will receive a greater judgment.”
23 tc Most
24 tc Most later
25 tn Grk “men”; but here ἀνθρώπους (anqrwpous) has generic force, referring to both men and women.
26 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
27 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.