1 Corinthians 14:4

14:4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, ¹  but the one who prophesies builds up the church.

1 Corinthians 14:12

14:12 It is the same with you. Since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, ²  seek to abound in order to strengthen the church.

1 Corinthians 14:26

Church Order

14:26 What should you do then, brothers and sisters? ³  When you come together, each one has a song, has a lesson, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all these things be done for the strengthening of the church.

1 Corinthians 8:1

Food Sacrificed to Idols

8:1 With regard to food sacrificed to idols, we know that “we all have knowledge.” ⁴  Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

1 Corinthians 10:23

Live to Glorify God

10:23 “Everything is lawful,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is lawful,” ⁵  but not everything builds others up. ⁶ 

Acts 9:31

9:31 Then ⁷  the church throughout Judea, Galilee, ⁸  and Samaria experienced ⁹  peace and thus was strengthened. ¹⁰  Living ¹¹  in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, the church ¹²  increased in numbers.

Romans 14:19

14:19 So then, let us pursue what makes for peace and for building up one another.

Romans 15:2

15:2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up.

Ephesians 4:12-16

4:12 to equip ¹³  the saints for the work of ministry, that is, ¹⁴  to build up the body of Christ, 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God – a mature person, attaining to ¹⁵  the measure of Christ’s full stature. ¹⁶  4:14 So ¹⁷  we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes. ¹⁸  4:15 But practicing the truth in love, ¹⁹  we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. 4:16 From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together ²⁰  through every supporting ligament. ²¹  As each one does its part, the body grows in love.

Ephesians 4:29

4:29 You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, ²²  that it may give grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 4:1

Live in Unity

4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, ²³  urge you to live ²⁴  worthily of the calling with which you have been called, ²⁵ 

Ephesians 5:11

5:11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather ²⁶  expose them. ²⁷ 

Ephesians 5:1

Live in Love

5:1 Therefore, be ²⁸  imitators of God as dearly loved children

Ephesians 1:4

1:4 For ²⁹  he chose us in Christ ³⁰  before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished ³¹  in his sight ³²  in love. ³³ 

Jude 1:20

1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, ³⁴ 

[14:4]  ¹ sn The Greek term builds (himself) up does not necessarily bear positive connotations in this context.

[14:12]  ² tn Grk “eager for spirits.” The plural is probably a shorthand for the Spirit’s gifts, especially in this context, tongues.

[14:26]  ³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

[8:1]  ⁴ sn “We all have knowledge.” Here and in v. 4 Paul cites certain slogans the Corinthians apparently used to justify their behavior (cf. 6:12-13; 7:1; 10:23). Paul agrees with the slogans in part, but corrects them to show how the Corinthians have misused these ideas.

[10:23]  ⁵ sn “Everything is lawful.” Here again Paul cites certain slogans the Corinthians used to justify their behavior (cf. 6:12-13; 7:1; 8:1, 4). Paul agrees with the slogans in part, but corrects them to show how the Corinthians have misused these ideas.

[10:23]  ⁶ tn Grk “builds up.” The object “others” is not expressed but is implied, as v. 24 shows. Paul picks up a theme he introduced at the start of this section of the letter (8:1).

[9:31]  ⁷ tn Or “Therefore.” This verse is another summary text in Acts (cf. 2:41-47; 4:32-37; 5:12-16; 6:7).

[9:31]  ⁸ tn Grk “and Galilee,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[9:31]  ⁹ tn Grk “had.”

[9:31]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Built up.” The participle οἰκοδομουμένη (oikodomoumenh) has been translated as a participle of result related to εἶχεν (eicen). It could also be understood as adverbial to ἐπληθύνετο (eplhquneto): “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced peace. Strengthened and living in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.” Although some scholars do not regard the participle of result as a legitimate category, it is actually fairly common (see ExSyn 637-39).

[9:31]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And living.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[9:31]  ¹² tn Grk “it”; the referent (the church) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:12]  ¹³ tn On the translation of πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων (pro" ton katartismon twn Jagiwn) as “to equip the saints” see BDAG 526 s.v. καταρτισμός. In this case the genitive is taken as objective and the direct object of the verbal idea implied in καταρτισμός (katartismo").

[4:12]  ¹⁴ tn The εἰς (eis) clause is taken as epexegetical to the previous εἰς clause, namely, εἰς ἔργον διακονίας (ei" ergon diakonia").

[4:13]  ¹⁵ tn The words “attaining to” were supplied in the translation to pick up the καταντήσωμεν (katanthswmen) mentioned earlier in the sentence and the εἰς (eis) which heads up this clause.

[4:13]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” On this translation of ἡλικία (Jhlikia, “stature”) see BDAG 436 s.v. 3.

[4:14]  ¹⁷ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:14]  ¹⁸ tn While the sense of the passage is clear enough, translation in English is somewhat difficult. The Greek says: “by the trickery of men, by craftiness with the scheme of deceit.” The point is that the author is concerned about Christians growing into maturity. He is fearful that certain kinds of very cunning people, who are skilled at deceitful scheming, should come in and teach false doctrines which would in turn stunt the growth of the believers.

[4:15]  ¹⁹ tn The meaning of the participle ἀληθεύοντες (alhqeuonte"; from the verb ἀληθεύω [alhqeuw]) is debated. In classical times the verb could mean “to speak the truth,” or “to be true, to prove true.” In the LXX it appears five times (Gen 20:16; 42:16; Prov 21:3; Isa 44:26; Sir 34:4) and translates four different Hebrew words; there it is an ethical term used of proving or being true, not with the idea of speaking the truth. In the NT the only other place the verb appears is in Gal 4:16 where it means “to speak the truth.” However, in Ephesians the concept of “being truthful” is the best sense of the word. In contrast to the preceding verse, where there are three prepositional phrases to denote falsehood and deceit, the present word speaks of being real or truthful in both conduct and speech. Their deceit was not only in their words but also in their conduct. In other words, the believers’ conduct should be transparent, revealing the real state of affairs, as opposed to hiding or suppressing the truth through cunning and deceit. See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 564-65, and R. Bultmann, TDNT 1:251.

[4:16]  ²⁰ tn The Greek participle συμβιβαζόμενον (sumbibazomenon) translated “held together” also has in different contexts, the idea of teaching implied in it.

[4:16]  ²¹ tn Grk “joint of supply.”

[4:29]  ²² tn Grk “but if something good for the building up of the need.” The final genitive τῆς χρείας (th" creia") may refer to “the need of the moment” or it may refer to the need of a particular person or group of people as the next phrase “give grace to those who hear” indicates.

[4:1]  ²³ tn Grk “prisoner in the Lord.”

[4:1]  ²⁴ tn Grk “walk.” The verb “walk” in the NT letters refers to the conduct of one’s life, not to physical walking.

[4:1]  ²⁵ sn With which you have been called. The calling refers to the Holy Spirit’s prompting that caused them to believe. The author is thus urging his readers to live a life that conforms to their saved status before God.

[5:11]  ²⁶ tn The Greek conjunction καὶ (kai) seems to be functioning here ascensively, (i.e., “even”), but is difficult to render in this context using good English. It may read something like: “but rather even expose them!”

[5:11]  ²⁷ tn Grk “rather even expose.”

[5:1]  ²⁸ tn Or “become.”

[1:4]  ²⁹ tn Grk “just as.” Eph 1:3-14 are one long sentence in Greek that must be broken up in English translation. Verse 4 expresses the reason why God the Father is blessed (cf. BDAG 494 s.v. καθώς 3).

[1:4]  ³⁰ tn Grk “in him.”

[1:4]  ³¹ sn The Greek word translated unblemished (ἀμώμους, amwmous) is often used of an acceptable paschal lamb. Christ, as our paschal lamb, is also said to be unblemished (Heb 9:14; 1 Pet 1:19). Since believers are in Christ, God views them positionally and will make them ultimately without blemish as well (Jude 24; Eph 5:27; Col 1:22).

[1:4]  ³² tn Grk “before him.”

[1:4]  ³³ tn The prepositional phrase ἐν ἀγάπῃ (en agaph, “in love”) may modify one of three words or phrases: (1) “chose,” (2) “holy and unblemished,” both in v. 4, or (3) “by predestining” in v. 5. If it modifies “chose,” it refers to God’s motivation in that election, but this option is unlikely because of the placement of the prepositional phrase far away from the verb. The other two options are more likely. If it modifies “holy and unblemished,” it specifies that our holiness cannot be divorced from love. This view is in keeping with the author’s use of ἀγάπη to refer often to human love in Ephesians, but the placement of the prepositional phrase not immediately following the words it modifies would be slightly awkward. If it modifies “by predestining” (v. 5), again the motivation of God’s choice is love. This would fit the focus of the passage on God’s gracious actions toward believers, but it could be considered slightly redundant in that God’s predestination itself proves his love.

[1:20]  ³⁴ tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.