15:1 But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves. 4
1:1 From Paul, 9 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
1:3 We always 10 give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
6:1 Therefore we must progress beyond 20 the elementary 21 instructions about Christ 22 and move on 23 to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God,
1 tn The phrase ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ (Jh agaph tou qeou, “the love of God”) could be interpreted as either an objective genitive (“our love for God”), subjective genitive (“God’s love for us”), or both (M. Zerwick’s “general” genitive [Biblical Greek, §§36-39]; D. B. Wallace’s “plenary” genitive [ExSyn 119-21]). The immediate context, which discusses what God has done for believers, favors a subjective genitive, but the fact that this love is poured out within the hearts of believers implies that it may be the source for believers’ love for God; consequently an objective genitive cannot be ruled out. It is possible that both these ideas are meant in the text and that this is a plenary genitive: “The love that comes from God and that produces our love for God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (ExSyn 121).
2 sn On the OT background of the Spirit being poured out, see Isa 32:15; Joel 2:28-29.
1 tn Grk “in the believing” or “as [you] believe,” with the object “him” supplied from the context. The referent could be God (15:13a) or Christ (15:12).
1 tn Grk “and not please ourselves.” NT Greek negatives used in contrast like this are often not absolute, but relative: “not so much one as the other.”
1 tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).
1 tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”
2 tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.
1 tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”
1 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
1 tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).
1 tn Grk “the blessed hope and glorious appearing.”
2 tn The terms “God and Savior” both refer to the same person, Jesus Christ. This is one of the clearest statements in the NT concerning the deity of Christ. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. The only issue is whether terms such as “God” and “Savior” could be considered common nouns as opposed to proper names. Sharp and others who followed (such as T. F. Middleton in his masterful The Doctrine of the Greek Article) demonstrated that a proper name in Greek was one that could not be pluralized. Since both “God” (θεός, qeos) and “savior” (σωτήρ, swthr) were occasionally found in the plural, they did not constitute proper names, and hence, do fit Sharp’s rule. Although there have been 200 years of attempts to dislodge Sharp’s rule, all attempts have been futile. Sharp’s rule stands vindicated after all the dust has settled. For more information on Sharp’s rule see ExSyn 270-78, esp. 276. See also 2 Pet 1:1 and Jude 4.
1 sn The Greek makes the contrast between v. 5 and v. 6a more emphatic and explicit than is easily done in English.
2 tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.
3 tn Grk “whose house we are,” continuing the previous sentence.
4 tc The reading adopted by the translation is found in Ì13,46 B sa, while the vast majority of
5 tn Grk “the pride of our hope.”
1 tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.
1 sn The curtain refers to the veil or drape in the temple that separated the holy place from the holy of holies.
1 tn Grk “Therefore leaving behind.” The implication is not of abandoning this elementary information, but of building on it.
2 tn Or “basic.”
3 tn Grk “the message of the beginning of Christ.”
4 tn Grk “leaving behind…let us move on.”