1 John 1:3

1:3 What we have seen and heard we announce ¹  to you too, so that ²  you may have fellowship ³  with us (and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ).

Psalms 5:4-6

5:4 Certainly ⁴  you are not a God who approves of evil; ⁵ 

evil people ⁶  cannot dwell with you. ⁷ 

5:5 Arrogant people cannot stand in your presence; ⁸ 

you hate ⁹  all who behave wickedly. ¹⁰ 

5:6 You destroy ¹¹  liars; ¹² 

the Lord despises ¹³  violent and deceitful people. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 94:20

94:20 Cruel rulers ¹⁵  are not your allies,

those who make oppressive laws. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 94:2

94:2 Rise up, O judge of the earth!

Pay back the proud!

Colossians 1:14-16

1:14 in whom we have redemption, ¹⁷  the forgiveness of sins.

The Supremacy of Christ

1:15 ¹⁸ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn ¹⁹  over all creation, ²⁰ 

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ²¹  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

[1:3]  ¹ tn Or “proclaim.”

[1:3]  ² tn The ἵνα (Jina) here indicates purpose.

[1:3]  ³ tn Or “communion”; or “association” (a reality shared in common, so in this case, “genuine association”). This term also occurs in vv. 6, 7.

[5:4]  ⁴ tn Or “for.”

[5:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “not a God [who] delights [in] wickedness [are] you.”

[5:4]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text has simply the singular form רע, which may be taken as an abstract noun “evil” (the reference to “wickedness” in the preceding line favors this; cf. NEB, NASB, NRSV) or as a substantival adjective “evil one” (the references to evil people in the next two verses favor this; cf. NIV “with you the wicked cannot dwell”).

[5:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “cannot dwell as a resident alien [with] you.” The negated imperfect verbal form here indicates incapability or lack of permission. These people are morally incapable of dwelling in God’s presence and are not permitted to do so.

[5:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “before your eyes.”

[5:5]  ⁹ sn You hate. The Lord “hates” the wicked in the sense that he despises their wicked character and deeds and actively opposes and judges them for their wickedness. See Ps 11:5.

[5:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “all the workers of wickedness.”

[5:6]  ¹¹ tn The imperfect verbal form indicates God’s typical response to such individuals. Another option is to translate the verb as future (“You will destroy”); the psalmist may be envisioning a time of judgment when God will remove the wicked from the scene.

[5:6]  ¹² tn Heb “those who speak a lie.” In the OT a “lie” does not refer in a general philosophical sense to any statement that fails to correspond to reality. Instead it refers more specifically to a slanderous and/or deceitful statement that promotes one’s own selfish, sinful interests and/or exploits or harms those who are innocent. Note the emphasis on violence and deceit in the following line.

[5:6]  ¹³ tn The imperfect verbal form highlights the Lord’s characteristic attitude toward such individuals.

[5:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a man of bloodshed and deceit.” The singular אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) is used here in a collective or representative sense; thus the translation “people” is appropriate here. Note the plural forms in vv. 5-6a.

[94:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a throne of destruction.” “Throne” stands here by metonymy for rulers who occupy thrones.

[94:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Is a throne of destruction united to you, one that forms trouble upon a statute?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “Of course not!” The translation, while not preserving the interrogative form of the statement, reflects its rhetorical force.

[1:14]  ¹⁷ tc διὰ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ (dia tou {aimato" autou, “through his blood”) is read at this juncture by several minuscule mss (614 630 1505 2464 al) as well as a few, mostly secondary, versional and patristic witnesses. But the reading was prompted by the parallel in Eph 1:7 where the wording is solid. If these words had been in the original of Colossians, why would scribes omit them here but not in Eph 1:7? Further, the testimony on behalf of the shorter reading is quite overwhelming: {א A B C D F G Ψ 075 0150 6 33 1739 1881 Ï latt co as well as several other versions and fathers}. The conviction that “through his blood” is not authentic in Col 1:14 is as strong as the conviction that these words are authentic in Eph 1:7.

[1:15]  ¹⁸ sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[1:15]  ¹⁹ tn The Greek term πρωτότοκος (prwtotokos) could refer either to first in order of time, such as a first born child, or it could refer to one who is preeminent in rank. M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 43, expresses the meaning of the word well: “The ‘firstborn’ was either the eldest child in a family or a person of preeminent rank. The use of this term to describe the Davidic king in Ps 88:28 LXX (=Ps 89:27 EVV), ‘I will also appoint him my firstborn (πρωτότοκον), the most exalted of the kings of the earth,’ indicates that it can denote supremacy in rank as well as priority in time. But whether the πρωτό- element in the word denotes time, rank, or both, the significance of the -τοκος element as indicating birth or origin (from τίκτω, give birth to) has been virtually lost except in ref. to lit. birth.” In Col 1:15 the emphasis is on the priority of Jesus’ rank as over and above creation (cf. 1:16 and the “for” clause referring to Jesus as Creator).

[1:15]  ²⁰ tn The genitive construction πάσης κτίσεως (pash" ktisew") is a genitive of subordination and is therefore translated as “over all creation.” See ExSyn 103-4.

[1:16]  ²¹ tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.