1 Corinthians 7:17

The Circumstances of Your Calling

7:17 Nevertheless, ¹  as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each person, so must he live. I give this sort of direction in all the churches.

1 Corinthians 7:21-23

7:21 Were you called as a slave? ²  Do not worry about it. But if indeed you are able to be free, make the most of the opportunity. 7:22 For the one who was called in the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. In the same way, the one who was called as a free person is Christ’s slave. 7:23 You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men.

Proverbs 27:8

27:8 Like a bird that wanders ³  from its nest,

so is a person who wanders from his home. ⁴ 

Luke 3:10-14

3:10 So ⁵  the crowds were asking ⁶  him, “What then should we do?” 3:11 John ⁷  answered them, ⁸  “The person who has two tunics ⁹  must share with the person who has none, and the person who has food must do likewise.” 3:12 Tax collectors ¹⁰  also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 3:13 He told them, “Collect no more ¹¹  than you are required to.” ¹²  3:14 Then some soldiers ¹³  also asked him, “And as for us – what should we do?” ¹⁴  He told them, “Take money from no one by violence ¹⁵  or by false accusation, ¹⁶  and be content with your pay.”

Luke 3:1

The Ministry of John the Baptist

3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, ¹⁷  when Pontius Pilate ¹⁸  was governor of Judea, and Herod ¹⁹  was tetrarch ²⁰  of Galilee, and his brother Philip ²¹  was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ²²  was tetrarch of Abilene,

Luke 4:11

4:11 and ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” ²³ 

Luke 4:2

4:2 where for forty days he endured temptations ²⁴  from the devil. He ²⁵  ate nothing ²⁶  during those days, and when they were completed, ²⁷  he was famished.

Luke 3:12

3:12 Tax collectors ²⁸  also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?”

[7:17]  ¹ tn Or “only”; Grk “if not.”

[7:21]  ² tn Traditionally, “servant” (KJV), though almost all modern translations render the word as “slave” here.

[27:8]  ³ tn The form נוֹדֶדֶת (nodedet) is the Qal participle from נָדַד (nadad), “to wander; to stray; to flutter; to retreat; to depart”; cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT “strays.” It will be directly paralleled with the masculine participle in the second colon.

[27:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “place” (so KJV, ASV); most other English versions translate as “home.”

[3:10]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the people’s response.

[3:10]  ⁶ tn Though this verb is imperfect, in this context it does not mean repeated, ongoing questions, but simply a presentation in vivid style as the following verbs in the other examples are aorist.

[3:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:11]  ⁸ tn Grk “Answering, he said to them.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation to “answered them.”

[3:11]  ⁹ tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “Shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.

[3:12]  ¹⁰ sn The tax collectors would bid to collect taxes for the Roman government and then add a surcharge, which they kept. Since tax collectors worked for Rome, they were viewed as traitors to their own people and were not well liked. Yet even they were moved by John’s call.

[3:13]  ¹¹ tn In the Greek text μηδὲν πλέον (mhden pleon, “no more”) is in an emphatic position.

[3:13]  ¹² tn Or “than you are ordered to.”

[3:14]  ¹³ tn Grk “And soldiers.”

[3:14]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And what should we ourselves do?”

[3:14]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Rob no one.” The term διασείσητε (diaseishte) here refers to “shaking someone.” In this context it refers to taking financial advantage of someone through violence, so it refers essentially to robbery. Soldiers are to perform their tasks faithfully. A changed person is to carry out his tasks in life faithfully and without grumbling.

[3:14]  ¹⁶ tn The term translated “accusation” (συκοφαντήσητε, sukofanthshte) refers to a procedure by which someone could bring charges against an individual and be paid a part of the fine imposed by the court. Soldiers could do this to supplement their pay, and would thus be tempted to make false accusations.

[3:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or “Emperor Tiberius” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[3:1]  ¹⁸ sn The rule of Pontius Pilate is also described by Josephus, J. W. 2.9.2-4 (2.169-177) and Ant. 18.3.1 (18.55-59).

[3:1]  ¹⁹ sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. He ruled from 4 b.c.-a.d. 39, sharing the rule of his father’s realm with his two brothers. One brother, Archelaus (Matt 2:22) was banished in a.d. 6 and died in a.d. 18; the other brother, Herod Philip (mentioned next) died in a.d. 34.

[3:1]  ²⁰ sn A tetrarch was a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king, who ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. Several times in the NT, Herod tetrarch of Galilee is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage.

[3:1]  ²¹ sn Philip refers to Herod Philip, son of Herod the Great and brother of Herod Antipas. Philip ruled as tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis from 4 b.c.-a.d. 34.

[3:1]  ²² sn Nothing else is known about Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene.

[4:11]  ²³ sn A quotation from Ps 91:12.

[4:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “in the desert, for forty days being tempted.” The participle πειραζόμενος (peirazomeno") has been translated as an adverbial clause in English to avoid a run-on sentence with a second “and.” Here the present participle suggests a period of forty days of testing. Three samples of the end of the testing are given in the following verses.

[4:2]  ²⁵ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[4:2]  ²⁶ sn The reference to Jesus eating nothing could well be an idiom meaning that he ate only what the desert provided; see Exod 34:28. A desert fast simply meant eating only what one could obtain in the desert. The parallel in Matt 4:2 speaks only of Jesus fasting.

[4:2]  ²⁷ tn The Greek word here is συντελεσθείσων (suntelesqeiswn) from the verb συντελέω (suntelew).

[3:12]  ²⁸ sn The tax collectors would bid to collect taxes for the Roman government and then add a surcharge, which they kept. Since tax collectors worked for Rome, they were viewed as traitors to their own people and were not well liked. Yet even they were moved by John’s call.