1 Kings 3:12-13

3:12 I ¹  grant your request, ²  and give ³  you a wise and discerning mind ⁴  superior to that of anyone who has preceded or will succeed you. ⁵  3:13 Furthermore, I am giving ⁶  you what you did not request – riches and honor so that you will be the greatest king of your generation. ⁷ 

1 Kings 4:29-34

4:29 God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment; the breadth of his understanding ⁸  was as infinite as the sand on the seashore. 4:30 Solomon was wiser than all the men of the east and all the sages of Egypt. ⁹  4:31 He was wiser than any man, including Ethan the Ezrahite or Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. He was famous in all the neighboring nations. ¹⁰  4:32 He composed ¹¹  3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. 4:33 He produced manuals on botany, describing every kind of plant, ¹²  from the cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows on walls. He also produced manuals on biology, describing ¹³  animals, birds, insects, and fish. 4:34 People from all nations came to hear Solomon’s display of wisdom; ¹⁴  they came from all the kings of the earth who heard about his wisdom.

1 Kings 4:2

4:2 These were his officials:

Azariah son of Zadok was the priest.

1 Kings 9:22-23

9:22 Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews; ¹⁵  the Israelites served as his soldiers, attendants, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces. ¹⁶  9:23 These men were also in charge of Solomon’s work projects; there were a total of 550 men who supervised the workers. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 89:27

89:27 I will appoint him to be my firstborn son, ¹⁸ 

the most exalted of the earth’s kings.

Ephesians 3:8

3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ¹⁹  – this grace was given, ²⁰  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

Colossians 1:18-19

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ²¹  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ²² 

1:19 For God ²³  was pleased to have all his ²⁴  fullness dwell ²⁵  in the Son ²⁶ 

Colossians 2:2-3

2:2 My goal is that ²⁷  their hearts, having been knit together ²⁸  in love, may be encouraged, and that ²⁹  they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ³⁰  2:3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

[3:12]  ¹ tn This statement is introduced in the Hebrew text by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) which draws attention to and emphasizes what follows.

[3:12]  ² tn Heb “I am doing according to your words.” The perfect tense is sometimes used of actions occurring at the same time a statement is made.

[3:12]  ³ tn This statement is introduced by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) which draws attention to and emphasizes what follows. The translation assumes that the perfect tense here indicates that the action occurs as the statement is made (i.e., “right now I give you”).

[3:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “heart.” (The Hebrew term translated “heart” often refers to the mental faculties.)

[3:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “so that there has not been one like you prior to you, and after you one will not arise like you.”

[3:13]  ⁶ tn The translation assumes that the perfect tense here indicates that the action occurs as the statement is made.

[3:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “so that there is not one among the kings like you all your days.” The LXX lacks the words “all your days.”

[4:29]  ⁸ tn Heb “heart,” i.e., mind. (The Hebrew term translated “heart” often refers to the mental faculties.)

[4:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “the wisdom of Solomon was greater than the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.”

[4:31]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his name was in all the surrounding nations.”

[4:32]  ¹¹ tn Heb “spoke.”

[4:33]  ¹² tn Heb “he spoke about plants.”

[4:33]  ¹³ tn Heb “he spoke about.”

[4:34]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the wisdom of Solomon.”

[9:22]  ¹⁵ sn These work crews. The work crews referred to here must be different than the temporary crews described in 5:13-16.

[9:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “officers of his chariots and his horses.”

[9:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “these [were] the officials of the governors who were over the work belonging to Solomon, five hundred fifty, the ones ruling over the people, the ones doing the work.”

[89:27]  ¹⁸ sn The firstborn son typically had special status and received special privileges.

[3:8]  ¹⁹ sn In Pauline writings saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.

[3:8]  ²⁰ sn The parallel phrases to proclaim and to enlighten which follow indicate why God’s grace was manifested to Paul. Grace was not something just to be received, but to be shared with others (cf. Acts 13:47).

[1:18]  ²¹ tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.

[1:18]  ²² tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

[1:19]  ²³ tn The noun “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but since God is the one who reconciles the world to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:19), he is clearly the subject of εὐδόκησεν (eudokhsen).

[1:19]  ²⁴ tn The Greek article τό (to), insofar as it relates to God, may be translated as a possessive pronoun, i.e., “his.” BDAG 404 s.v. εὐδοκέω 1 translates the phrase as “all the fullness willed to dwell in him” thus leaving the referent as impersonal. Insofar as Paul is alluding to the so-called emanations from God this is acceptable. But the fact that “the fullness” dwells in a person (i.e., “in him”) seems to argue for the translation “his fullness” where “his” refers to God.

[1:19]  ²⁵ tn The aorist verb κατοικῆσαι (katoikhsai) could be taken as an ingressive, in which case it refers to the incarnation and may be translated as “begin to dwell, to take up residence.” It is perhaps better, though, to take it as a constative aorist and simply a reference to the fact that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus Christ. This is a permanent dwelling, though, not a temporary one, as the present tense in 2:9 makes clear.

[1:19]  ²⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the Son; see v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:2]  ²⁷ tn Verse two begins a subordinate ἵνα (Jina) clause which was divided up into two sentences for the sake of clarity in English. Thus the phrase “My goal is that” is an attempt to reflect in the translation the purpose expressed through the ἵνα clauses.

[2:2]  ²⁸ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβιβάζω 1.b reads “unite, knit together.” Some commentators take the verb as a reference to instruction, “instructed in love.” See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 93.

[2:2]  ²⁹ tn The phrase “and that” translates the first εἰς (eis) clause of v. 2 and reflects the second goal of Paul’s striving and struggle for the Colossians – the first is “encouragement” and the second is “full assurance.”

[2:2]  ³⁰ tc There are at least a dozen variants here, almost surely generated by the unusual wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ (tou qeou, Cristou, “of God, Christ”; so Ì⁴⁶ B Hil). Scribes would be prone to conform this to more common Pauline expressions such as “of God, who is in Christ” (33), “of God, the Father of Christ” (א* A C 048^vid 1175 bo), and “of the God and Father of Christ” (א² Ψ 075 0278 365 1505 pc). Even though the external support for the wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ is hardly overwhelming, it clearly best explains the rise of the other readings and should thus be regarded as authentic.