1 Corinthians 9:22

9:22 To the weak I became weak in order to gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I may save some.

Proverbs 11:30

11:30 The fruit of the righteous is like ¹  a tree producing life, ² 

and the one who wins souls ³  is wise. ⁴ 

Luke 15:10

15:10 In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels ⁵  over one sinner who repents.”

Luke 15:1

The Parable of the Lost Sheep and Coin

15:1 Now all the tax collectors ⁶  and sinners were coming ⁷  to hear him.

Luke 4:16

Rejection at Nazareth

4:16 Now ⁸  Jesus ⁹  came to Nazareth, ¹⁰  where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue ¹¹  on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. ¹²  He ¹³  stood up to read, ¹⁴ 

James 5:19-20

5:19 My brothers and sisters, ¹⁵  if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, 5:20 he should know that the one who turns a sinner back from his wandering path ¹⁶  will save that person’s ¹⁷  soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

James 5:1

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ¹⁸  over the miseries that are coming on you.

James 3:1-2

The Power of the Tongue

3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, ¹⁹  because you know that we will be judged more strictly. ²⁰  3:2 For we all stumble ²¹  in many ways. If someone does not stumble ²²  in what he says, ²³  he is a perfect individual, ²⁴  able to control the entire body as well.

[11:30]  ¹ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[11:30]  ² tn Heb “tree of life” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV). The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “life”) is genitive of product. What the righteous produce (“fruit”) is like a tree of life – a long and healthy life as well as a life-giving influence and provision for others.

[11:30]  ³ tc The Leningrad Codex mistakenly vocalized ש (sin or shin) as שׂ (sin) instead of שׁ (shin) in the term נְפָשׂוֹת (nefashot) which is vocalized as נְפָשׁוֹת (nefasot, “souls”) in the other medieval Hebrew mss and early printed editions of the Masoretic Text.

[11:30]  ⁴ tc The MT reads חָכָם (khakham, “wise”) and seems to refer to capturing (לָקַח, laqakh; “to lay hold of; to seize; to capture”) people with influential ideas (e.g., 2 Sam 15:6). An alternate textual tradition reads חָמָס (khamas) “violent” (reflected in the LXX and Syriac) and refers to taking away lives: “but the one who takes away lives (= kills people) is violent” (cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV). The textual variant was caused by orthographic confusion of ס (samek) and כ (kaf), and metathesis of מ (mem) between the 2nd and 3rd consonants. If the parallelism is synonymous, the MT reading fits; if the parallelism is antithetical, the alternate tradition fits. See D. C. Snell, “‘Taking Souls’ in Proverbs 11:30,” VT 33 (1083): 362-65.

[15:10]  ⁵ sn The whole of heaven is said to rejoice. Joy in the presence of God’s angels is a way of referring to God’s joy as well without having to name him explicitly. Contemporary Judaism tended to refer to God indirectly where possible out of reverence or respect for the divine name.

[15:1]  ⁶ sn See the note on tax collectors in 3:12.

[15:1]  ⁷ tn Grk “were drawing near.”

[4:16]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[4:16]  ⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:16]  ¹⁰ sn Nazareth was Jesus’ hometown (which is why he is known as Jesus of Nazareth) about 20 miles (30 km) southwest from Capernaum.

[4:16]  ¹¹ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:15.

[4:16]  ¹² tn Grk “according to his custom.”

[4:16]  ¹³ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[4:16]  ¹⁴ sn In normative Judaism of the period, the OT scripture was read and discussed in the synagogue by the men who were present. See the Mishnah, m. Megillah 3-4; m. Berakhot 2. First came the law, then the prophets, then someone was asked to speak on the texts. Normally one stood up to read out of respect for the scriptures, and then sat down (v. 20) to expound them.

[5:19]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[5:20]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “from the error of his way” (using the same root as the verb “to wander, to err” in the first part of the verse).

[5:20]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “his soul”; the referent (the sinner mentioned at the beginning of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:1]  ¹⁸ tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”

[3:1]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[3:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “will receive a greater judgment.”

[3:2]  ²¹ tn Or “fail.”

[3:2]  ²² tn Or “fail.”

[3:2]  ²³ tn Grk “in speech.”

[3:2]  ²⁴ tn The word for “man” or “individual” is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” But it sometimes is used generically to mean “anyone,” “a person,” as here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 2).