2 Corinthians 3:7

The Greater Glory of the Spirit’s Ministry

3:7 But if the ministry that produced death – carved in letters on stone tablets ¹  – came with glory, so that the Israelites ²  could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face ³  (a glory ⁴  which was made ineffective), ⁵ 

2 Corinthians 3:9

3:9 For if there was glory in the ministry that produced condemnation, ⁶  how much more does the ministry that produces righteousness ⁷  excel ⁸  in glory!

Luke 15:24

15:24 because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again – he was lost and is found!’ ⁹  So ¹⁰  they began to celebrate.

Luke 15:32

15:32 It was appropriate ¹¹  to celebrate and be glad, for your brother ¹²  was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.’” ¹³ 

John 5:25

5:25 I tell you the solemn truth, ¹⁴  a time ¹⁵  is coming – and is now here – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

John 11:25

11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live ¹⁶  even if he dies,

Romans 5:15

5:15 But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. ¹⁷  For if the many died through the transgression of the one man, ¹⁸  how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many!

Romans 14:7-9

14:7 For none of us lives for himself and none dies for himself. 14:8 If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 14:9 For this reason Christ died and returned to life, so that he may be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

Ephesians 2:1-5

New Life Individually

2:1 And although you were ¹⁹  dead ²⁰  in your transgressions and sins, 2:2 in which ²¹  you formerly lived ²²  according to this world’s present path, ²³  according to the ruler of the kingdom ²⁴  of the air, the ruler of ²⁵  the spirit ²⁶  that is now energizing ²⁷  the sons of disobedience, ²⁸  2:3 among whom ²⁹  all of us ³⁰  also ³¹  formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath ³²  even as the rest… ³³ 

2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 2:5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! ³⁴  –

Colossians 2:13

2:13 And even though you were dead in your ³⁵  transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless ³⁶  made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions.

Colossians 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ³⁷  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ³⁸ 

Colossians 1:6

1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel ³⁹  is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing ⁴⁰  among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

Titus 3:3

3:3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another.

Titus 3:1

Conduct Toward Those Outside the Church

3:1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and ⁴¹  authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work.

Titus 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁴²  a slave ⁴³  of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith ⁴⁴  of God’s chosen ones and the knowledge of the truth that is in keeping with godliness,

[3:7]  ¹ tn Grk “on stones”; but since this is clearly an allusion to the tablets of the Decalogue (see 2 Cor 3:3) the word “tablets” was supplied in the translation to make the connection clear.

[3:7]  ² tn Grk “so that the sons of Israel.”

[3:7]  ³ sn The glory of his face. When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the tablets of the Decalogue, the people were afraid to approach him because his face was so radiant (Exod 34:29-30).

[3:7]  ⁴ tn The words “a glory” are not in the Greek text, but the reference to “glory” has been repeated from the previous clause for clarity.

[3:7]  ⁵ tn Or “which was transitory.” Traditionally this phrase is translated as “which was fading away.” The verb καταργέω in the corpus Paulinum uniformly has the meaning “to render inoperative, ineffective”; the same nuance is appropriate here. The glory of Moses’ face was rendered ineffective by the veil Moses wore. For discussion of the meaning of this verb in this context, see S. J. Hafemann, Paul, Moses, and the History of Israel (WUNT 81), 301-13. A similar translation has been adopted in the two other occurrences of the verb in this paragraph in vv. 11 and 13.

[3:9]  ⁶ tn Grk “the ministry of condemnation”; translated as an objective genitive, “the ministry that produced condemnation.”

[3:9]  ⁷ tn Grk “the ministry of righteousness”; translated as an objective genitive, “the ministry that produces righteousness.”

[3:9]  ⁸ tn Traditionally, “abound.”

[15:24]  ⁹ sn This statement links the parable to the theme of 15:6, 9.

[15:24]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the father’s remarks in the preceding verses.

[15:32]  ¹¹ tn Or “necessary.”

[15:32]  ¹² sn By referring to him as your brother, the father reminded the older brother that the younger brother was part of the family.

[15:32]  ¹³ sn The theme he was lost and is found is repeated from v. 24. The conclusion is open-ended. The reader is left to ponder with the older son (who pictures the scribes and Pharisees) what the response will be. The parable does not reveal the ultimate response of the older brother. Jesus argued that sinners should be pursued and received back warmly when they returned.

[5:25]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:25]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “an hour.”

[11:25]  ¹⁶ tn That is, will come to life.

[5:15]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “but not as the transgression, so also [is] the gracious gift.”

[5:15]  ¹⁸ sn Here the one man refers to Adam (cf. 5:14).

[2:1]  ¹⁹ tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.

[2:1]  ²⁰ sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.

[2:2]  ²¹ sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.

[2:2]  ²² tn Grk “walked.”

[2:2]  ²³ tn Or possibly “Aeon.”

[2:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”

[2:2]  ²⁵ tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).

[2:2]  ²⁶ sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).

[2:2]  ²⁷ tn Grk “working in.”

[2:2]  ²⁸ sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.

[2:3]  ²⁹ sn Among whom. The relative pronoun phrase that begins v. 3 is identical, except for gender, to the one that begins v. 2 (ἐν αἵς [en Jais], ἐν οἵς [en Jois]). By the structure, the author is building an argument for our hopeless condition: We lived in sin and we lived among sinful people. Our doom looked to be sealed as well in v. 2: Both the external environment (kingdom of the air) and our internal motivation and attitude (the spirit that is now energizing) were under the devil’s thumb (cf. 2 Cor 4:4).

[2:3]  ³⁰ tn Grk “we all.”

[2:3]  ³¹ tn Or “even.”

[2:3]  ³² sn Children of wrath is a Semitic idiom which may mean either “people characterized by wrath” or “people destined for wrath.”

[2:3]  ³³ sn Eph 2:1-3. The translation of vv. 1-3 is very literal, even to the point of retaining the awkward syntax of the original. See note on the word dead in 2:1.

[2:5]  ³⁴ tn Or “by grace you have been saved.” The perfect tense in Greek connotes both completed action (“you have been saved”) and continuing results (“you are saved”).

[2:13]  ³⁵ tn The article τοῖς (tois) with παραπτώμασιν (paraptwmasin) is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[2:13]  ³⁶ tn The word “nevertheless,” though not in the Greek text, was supplied in the translation to bring out the force of the concessive participle ὄντας (ontas).

[2:1]  ³⁷ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ³⁸ tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”

[1:6]  ³⁹ tn Grk “just as in the entire world it is bearing fruit.” The antecedent (“the gospel”) of the implied subject (“it”) of ἐστιν (estin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:6]  ⁴⁰ tn Though the participles are periphrastic with the present tense verb ἐστίν (estin), the presence of the temporal indicator “from the day” in the next clause indicates that this is a present tense that reaches into the past and should be translated as “has been bearing fruit and growing.” For a discussion of this use of the present tense, see ExSyn 519-20.

[3:1]  ⁴¹ tc Most later witnesses (D² 0278 Ï lat sy) have καί (kai, “and”) after ἀρχαῖς (arcai", “rulers”), though the earliest and best witnesses (א A C D* F G Ψ 33 104 1739 1881) lack the conjunction. Although the καί is most likely not authentic, it has been added in translation due to the requirements of English style. For more discussion, see TCGNT 586.

[1:1]  ⁴² tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁴³ tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “for the faith,” possibly, “in accordance with the faith.”