2 Corinthians 4:3-4

4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing, 4:4 among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe ¹  so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel ²  of Christ, ³  who is the image of God.

Isaiah 49:5-6

49:5 So now the Lord says,

the one who formed me from birth ⁴  to be his servant –

he did this ⁵  to restore Jacob to himself,

so that Israel might be gathered to him;

and I will be honored ⁶  in the Lord’s sight,

for my God is my source of strength ⁷  –

49:6 he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,

to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,

and restore the remnant ⁸  of Israel? ⁹ 

I will make you a light to the nations, ¹⁰ 

so you can bring ¹¹  my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”

Isaiah 49:1

Ideal Israel Delivers the Exiles

49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! ¹² 

Pay attention, you people who live far away!

The Lord summoned me from birth; ¹³ 

he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. ¹⁴ 

Colossians 1:18

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ¹⁵  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ¹⁶ 

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ¹⁷  brothers and sisters ¹⁸  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ¹⁹  from God our Father! ²⁰ 

Colossians 2:10

2:10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

[4:4]  ¹ tn Or “of unbelievers.”

[4:4]  ² tn Grk “the gospel of the glory”; δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[4:4]  ³ tn Or “so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ would not be evident to them” (L&N 28.37).

[49:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “from the womb” (so KJV, NASB).

[49:5]  ⁵ tn The words “he did this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct of purpose is subordinated to the previous statement.

[49:5]  ⁶ tn The vav (ו) + imperfect is translated here as a result clause; one might interpret it as indicating purpose, “and so I might be honored.”

[49:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “and my God is [perhaps, “having been”] my strength.” The disjunctive structure (vav [ו] + subject + verb) is interpreted here as indicating a causal circumstantial clause.

[49:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “the protected [or “preserved”] ones.”

[49:6]  ⁹ sn The question is purely rhetorical; it does not imply that the servant was dissatisfied with his commission or that he minimized the restoration of Israel.

[49:6]  ¹⁰ tn See the note at 42:6.

[49:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “be” (so KJV, ASV); CEV “you must take.”

[49:1]  ¹² tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “in far-off lands.”

[49:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “called me from the womb.”

[49:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from the inner parts of my mother he mentioned my name.”

[1:18]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

[1:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ¹⁹ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ²⁰ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.