1 Corinthians 4:5

4:5 So then, do not judge anything before the time. Wait until the Lord comes. He will ¹  bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the motives of hearts. Then each will receive recognition ²  from God.

1 Corinthians 4:2

4:2 Now what is sought in stewards is that one be found faithful.

1 Corinthians 12:16-23

12:16 And if the ear says, “Since I am not an eye, I am not part of the body,” it does not lose its membership in the body because of that. 12:17 If the whole body were an eye, what part would do the hearing? If the whole were an ear, what part would exercise the sense of smell? 12:18 But as a matter of fact, God has placed each of the members in the body just as he decided. 12:19 If they were all the same member, where would the body be? 12:20 So now there are many members, but one body. 12:21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” nor in turn can the head say to the foot, “I do not need you.” 12:22 On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential, 12:23 and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity, ³ 

Acts 15:1-5

The Jerusalem Council

15:1 Now some men came down from Judea ⁴  and began to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised ⁵  according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 15:2 When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate ⁶  with them, the church ⁷  appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with ⁸  the apostles and elders in Jerusalem ⁹  about this point of disagreement. ¹⁰  15:3 So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia ¹¹  and Samaria, they were relating at length ¹²  the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy ¹³  to all the brothers. 15:4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received ¹⁴  by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported ¹⁵  all the things God had done with them. ¹⁶  15:5 But some from the religious party of the Pharisees ¹⁷  who had believed stood up and said, “It is necessary ¹⁸  to circumcise the Gentiles ¹⁹  and to order them to observe ²⁰  the law of Moses.”

Acts 16:3

16:3 Paul wanted Timothy ²¹  to accompany him, and he took ²²  him and circumcised ²³  him because of the Jews who were in those places, ²⁴  for they all knew that his father was Greek. ²⁵ 

Galatians 2:3-5

2:3 Yet ²⁶  not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, although he was a Greek. 2:4 Now this matter arose ²⁷  because of the false brothers with false pretenses ²⁸  who slipped in unnoticed to spy on ²⁹  our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves. ³⁰  2:5 But ³¹  we did not surrender to them ³²  even for a moment, ³³  in order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. ³⁴ 

[4:5]  ¹ tn Grk “time, until the Lord comes, who will bring to light.”

[4:5]  ² tn Or “praise.”

[12:23]  ³ tn Grk “have greater propriety (or decorum, presentability).”

[15:1]  ⁴ sn That is, they came down from Judea to Antioch in Syria.

[15:1]  ⁵ tc Codex Bezae (D) and a few other witnesses have “and walk” here (i.e., instead of τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως [tw eqei tw Mwu>sew"] they read καὶ τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως περιπατῆτε [kai tw eqei tw Mwu>sew" peripathte]). This is a decidedly stronger focus on obedience to the Law. As well, D expands vv. 1-5 in various places with the overall effect of being “more sympathetic to the local tradition of the church at Jerusalem” while the Alexandrian witnesses are more sympathetic to Paul (TCGNT 377). Codex D is well known for having a significantly longer text in Acts, but modern scholarship is generally of the opinion that the text of D expands on the original wording of Acts, with a theological viewpoint that especially puts Peter in a more authoritarian light. The expansion in these five verses is in keeping with that motif even though Peter is not explicitly in view.

[15:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “no little argument and debate” (an idiom).

[15:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the church, or the rest of the believers at Antioch) has been specified to avoid confusion with the Judaizers mentioned in the preceding clause.

[15:2]  ⁸ tn Grk “go up to,” but in this context a meeting is implied.

[15:2]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “point of controversy.” It is unclear whether this event parallels Gal 2:1-10 or that Gal 2 fits with Acts 11:30. More than likely Gal 2:1-10 is to be related to Acts 11:30.

[15:3]  ¹¹ sn Phoenicia was an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine in ancient Syria.

[15:3]  ¹² tn L&N 33.201 indicates that ἐκδιηγέομαι (ekdihgeomai) means to provide detailed information in a systematic manner, “to inform, to relate, to tell fully.” “Relating at length” conveys this effectively in the present context.

[15:3]  ¹³ tn For ἐποίουν (epoioun) in this verse BDAG 839 s.v. ποιέω 2.c has “they brought joy to the members.”

[15:4]  ¹⁴ tn BDAG 761 s.v. παραδέχομαι 2 has “receive, accept” for the meaning here.

[15:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “announced.”

[15:4]  ¹⁶ tn “They reported all the things God had done with them” – an identical phrase occurs in Acts 14:27. God is always the agent.

[15:5]  ¹⁷ sn See the note on Pharisee in 5:34.

[15:5]  ¹⁸ sn The Greek word used here (δεῖ, dei) is a strong term that expresses divine necessity. The claim is that God commanded the circumcision of Gentiles.

[15:5]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the Gentiles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:5]  ²⁰ tn Or “keep.”

[16:3]  ²¹ tn Grk “this one”; the referent (Timothy) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:3]  ²² tn Grk “and taking him he circumcised him.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Paul’s cultural sensitivity showed in his action here. He did not want Timothy’s lack of circumcision to become an issue (1 Cor 9:15-23).

[16:3]  ²³ tn The verb περιέτεμεν (perietemen) here may be understood as causative (cf. ExSyn 411-12) if Paul did not personally perform the circumcision.

[16:3]  ²⁴ tn Or “who lived in the area.”

[16:3]  ²⁵ tn The anarthrous predicate nominative has been translated as qualitative (“Greek”) rather than indefinite (“a Greek”).

[2:3]  ²⁶ tn Grk “But,” translated here as “Yet” for stylistic reasons (note the use of “but” in v. 2).

[2:4]  ²⁷ tn No subject and verb are expressed in vv. 4-5, but the phrase “Now this matter arose,” implied from v. 3, was supplied to make a complete English sentence.

[2:4]  ²⁸ tn The adjective παρεισάκτους (pareisaktou"), which relates to someone joining a group with false motives or false pretenses, applies to the “false brothers.” Although the expression “false brothers with false pretenses” is somewhat redundant, it captures the emphatic force of Paul’s expression, which labels both these “brothers” as false (ψευδαδέλφους, yeudadelfou") as well as their motives. See L&N 34.29 for more information.

[2:4]  ²⁹ tn The verb translated here as “spy on” (κατασκοπέω, kataskopew) can have a neutral nuance, but here the connotation is certainly negative (so F. F. Bruce, Galatians [NIGTC], 112-13, and E. Burton, Galatians [ICC], 83).

[2:4]  ³⁰ tn Grk “in order that they might enslave us.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause with the subjunctive verb καταδουλώσουσιν (katadoulwsousin) has been translated as an English infinitival clause.

[2:5]  ³¹ tn Grk “slaves, nor did we…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, οὐδέ (oude) was translated as “But…even” and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 5.

[2:5]  ³² tn Or “we did not cave in to their demands.”

[2:5]  ³³ tn Grk “even for an hour” (an idiom for a very short period of time).

[2:5]  ³⁴ sn In order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. Paul evidently viewed the demands of the so-called “false brothers” as a departure from the truth contained in the gospel he preached. This was a very serious charge (see Gal 1:8).