1 Kings 17:4

17:4 Drink from the stream; I have already told ¹  the ravens to bring you food ²  there.”

Jude 1:2

1:2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you! ³ 

Jude 1:4

1:4 For certain men ⁴  have secretly slipped in among you ⁵  – men who long ago ⁶  were marked out ⁷  for the condemnation I am about to describe ⁸  – ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil ⁹  and who deny our only Master ¹⁰  and Lord, ¹¹  Jesus Christ.

Romans 4:17-21

4:17 (as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”). ¹²  He is our father ¹³  in the presence of God whom he believed – the God who ¹⁴  makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do. ¹⁵  4:18 Against hope Abraham ¹⁶  believed ¹⁷  in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations ¹⁸  according to the pronouncement, ¹⁹  “so will your descendants be.” ²⁰  4:19 Without being weak in faith, he considered ²¹  his own body as dead ²²  (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 4:20 He ²³  did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 4:21 He was ²⁴  fully convinced that what God ²⁵  promised he was also able to do.

Romans 4:2

4:2 For if Abraham was declared righteous ²⁶  by the works of the law, he has something to boast about – but not before God.

Colossians 4:7

Personal Greetings and Instructions

4:7 Tychicus, a dear brother, faithful minister, and fellow slave ²⁷  in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. ²⁸ 

[17:4]  ¹ tn Heb “commanded.”

[17:4]  ² tn Heb “to provide for you.”

[1:2]  ³ tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

[1:4]  ⁴ tn Grk “people.” However, if Jude is indeed arguing that Peter’s prophecy about false teachers has come true, these are most likely men in the original historical and cultural setting. See discussion of this point in the note on the phrase “these men” in 2 Pet 2:12.

[1:4]  ⁵ tn “Among you” is not in the Greek text, but is obviously implied.

[1:4]  ⁶ tn Or “in the past.” The adverb πάλαι (palai) can refer to either, though the meaning “long ago” is more common.

[1:4]  ⁷ tn Grk “written about.”

[1:4]  ⁸ tn Grk “for this condemnation.” τοῦτο (touto) is almost surely a kataphoric demonstrative pronoun, pointing to what follows in vv. 5-18. Otherwise, the condemnation is only implied (in v. 3b) or is merely a statement of their sinfulness (“ungodly” in v. 4b), not a judgment of it.

[1:4]  ⁹ tn Grk “debauchery.” This is the same word Peter uses to predict what the false teachers will be like (2 Pet 2:2, 7, 18).

[1:4]  ¹⁰ tc Most later witnesses (P Ψ Ï sy) have θεόν (qeon, “God”) after δεσπότην (despothn, “master”), which appears to be a motivated reading in that it explicitly links “Master” to “God” in keeping with the normal NT pattern (see Luke 2:29; Acts 4:24; 2 Tim 2:21; Rev 6:10). In patristic Greek, δεσπότης (despoth") was used especially of God (cf. BDAG 220 s.v. 1.b.). The earlier and better witnesses (Ì^72,78 א A B C 0251 33 81 323 1241 1739 al co) lack θεόν; the shorter reading is thus preferred on both internal and external grounds.

[1:4]  ¹¹ tn The terms “Master and Lord” both refer to the same person. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. For more discussion see ExSyn 270-78. See also Titus 2:13 and 2 Pet 1:1

[4:17]  ¹² tn Verses 16-17 comprise one sentence in Greek, but this has been divided into two sentences due to English requirements.

[4:17]  ¹³ tn The words “He is our father” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to show that they resume Paul’s argument from 16b. (It is also possible to supply “Abraham had faith” here [so REB], taking the relative clause [“who is the father of us all”] as part of the parenthesis, and making the connection back to “the faith of Abraham,” but such an option is not as likely [C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:243].)

[4:17]  ¹⁴ tn “The God” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.

[4:17]  ¹⁵ tn Or “calls into existence the things that do not exist.” The translation of ὡς ὄντα (Jw" onta) allows for two different interpretations. If it has the force of result, then creatio ex nihilo is in view and the variant rendering is to be accepted (so C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:244). A problem with this view is the scarcity of ὡς plus participle to indicate result (though for the telic idea with ὡς plus participle, cf. Rom 15:15; 1 Thess 2:4). If it has a comparative force, then the translation given in the text is to be accepted: “this interpretation fits the immediate context better than a reference to God’s creative power, for it explains the assurance with which God can speak of the ‘many nations’ that will be descended from Abraham” (D. Moo, Romans [NICNT], 282; so also W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans [ICC], 113). Further, this view is in line with a Pauline idiom, viz., verb followed by ὡς plus participle (of the same verb or, in certain contexts, its antonym) to compare present reality with what is not a present reality (cf. 1 Cor 4:7; 5:3; 7:29, 30 (three times), 31; Col 2:20 [similarly, 2 Cor 6:9, 10]).

[4:18]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:18]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “who against hope believed,” referring to Abraham. The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:18]  ¹⁸ sn A quotation from Gen 17:5.

[4:18]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “according to that which had been spoken.”

[4:18]  ²⁰ sn A quotation from Gen 15:5.

[4:19]  ²¹ tc Most mss (D F G Ψ 33 1881 Ï it) read “he did not consider” by including the negative particle (οὐ, ou), but others (א A B C 6 81 365 1506 1739 pc co) lack οὐ. The reading which includes the negative particle probably represents a scribal attempt to exalt the faith of Abraham by making it appear that his faith was so strong that he did not even consider the physical facts. But “here Paul does not wish to imply that faith means closing one’s eyes to reality, but that Abraham was so strong in faith as to be undaunted by every consideration” (TCGNT 451). Both on external and internal grounds, the reading without the negative particle is preferred.

[4:19]  ²² tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A C D Ψ 33 Ï bo) have ἤδη (hdh, “already”) at this point in v. 19. But B F G 630 1739 1881 pc lat sa lack it. Since it appears to heighten the style of the narrative and since there is no easy accounting for an accidental omission, it is best to regard the shorter text as original. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[4:20]  ²³ tn Grk “And he.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, δέ (de) has not been translated here.

[4:21]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and being.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:21]  ²⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:2]  ²⁶ tn Or “was justified.”

[4:7]  ²⁷ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:7]  ²⁸ tn Grk “all things according to me.”