2 Corinthians 5:1

Living by Faith, Not by Sight

5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, ¹  is dismantled, ²  we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens.

2 Corinthians 10:10

10:10 because some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is weak ³  and his speech is of no account.” ⁴ 

Jude 1:13-14

1:13 wild sea waves, ⁵  spewing out the foam of ⁶  their shame; ⁷  wayward stars ⁸  for whom the utter depths of eternal darkness ⁹  have been reserved.

1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam, ¹⁰  even prophesied of them, ¹¹  saying, “Look! The Lord is coming ¹²  with thousands and thousands ¹³  of his holy ones,

Jude 1:16-20

1:16 These people are grumblers and ¹⁴  fault-finders who go ¹⁵  wherever their desires lead them, ¹⁶  and they give bombastic speeches, ¹⁷  enchanting folks ¹⁸  for their own gain. ¹⁹ 

Exhortation to the Faithful

1:17 But you, dear friends – recall the predictions ²⁰  foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹  1:18 For they said to you, “In the end time there will come ²²  scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.” ²³  1:19 These people are divisive, ²⁴  worldly, ²⁵  devoid of the Spirit. ²⁶  1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, ²⁷ 

Lamentations 4:2

ב (Bet)

4:2 The precious sons of Zion

were worth their weight in gold –

Alas! – but now they are treated like ²⁸  broken clay pots,

made by a potter. ²⁹ 

Lamentations 4:1

The Prophet Speaks:

א (Alef)

4:1 ³⁰ Alas! ³¹  Gold has lost its luster; ³² 

pure gold loses value. ³³ 

Jewels ³⁴  are scattered

on every street corner. ³⁵ 

Colossians 1:28

1:28 We proclaim him by instructing ³⁶  and teaching ³⁷  all people ³⁸  with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature ³⁹  in Christ.

Colossians 4:9-13

4:9 I sent him ⁴⁰  with Onesimus, the faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. ⁴¹  They will tell ⁴²  you about everything here.

4:10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him). 4:11 And Jesus who is called Justus also sends greetings. In terms of Jewish converts, ⁴³  these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ⁴⁴  of Christ, ⁴⁵  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ⁴⁶  in all the will of God. 4:13 For I can testify that he has worked hard ⁴⁷  for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Galatians 4:13-14

Personal Appeal of Paul

4:13 But you know it was because of a physical illness that I first proclaimed the gospel to you, 4:14 and though my physical condition put you to the test, you did not despise or reject me. ⁴⁸  Instead, you welcomed me as though I were an angel of God, ⁴⁹  as though I were Christ Jesus himself! ⁵⁰ 

Galatians 4:2

4:2 But he is under guardians ⁵¹  and managers until the date set by his ⁵²  father.

Galatians 2:20

2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, ⁵³  and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So ⁵⁴  the life I now live in the body, ⁵⁵  I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, ⁵⁶  who loved me and gave himself for me.

[5:1]  ¹ sn The expression the tent we live in refers to “our earthly house, our body.” Paul uses the metaphor of the physical body as a house or tent, the residence of the immaterial part of a person.

[5:1]  ² tn Or “destroyed.”

[10:10]  ³ tn Or “unimpressive.”

[10:10]  ⁴ tn Or “is contemptible”; Grk “is despised.”

[1:13]  ⁵ tn Grk “wild waves of the sea.”

[1:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “foaming, causing to foam.” The verb form is intensive and causative. BDAG 360 s.v. ἐπαφρίζω suggests the meaning “to cause to splash up like froth, cause to foam,” or, in this context, “waves casting up their own shameless deeds like (dirty) foam.”

[1:13]  ⁷ tn Grk “shames, shameful things.” It is uncertain whether shameful deeds or shameful words are in view. Either way, the picture has taken a decided turn: Though waterless clouds and fruitless trees may promise good things, but deliver nothing, wild sea-waves are portents of filth spewed forth from the belly of the sea.

[1:13]  ⁸ sn The imagery of a star seems to fit the nautical theme that Jude is developing. Stars were of course the guides to sailors at night, just as teachers are responsible to lead the flock through a benighted world. But false teachers, as wayward stars, are not fixed and hence offer unreliable, even disastrous guidance. They are thus both the dangerous reefs on which the ships could be destroyed and the false guides, leading them into these rocks. There is a special irony that these lights will be snuffed out, reserved for the darkest depths of eternal darkness.

[1:13]  ⁹ tn Grk “utter darkness of darkness for eternity.” See note on the word “utter” in v. 6.

[1:14]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the seventh from Adam.”

[1:14]  ¹¹ tn Grk “against them.” The dative τούτοις (toutois) is a dativus incommodi (dative of disadvantage).

[1:14]  ¹² tn Grk “has come,” a proleptic aorist.

[1:14]  ¹³ tn Grk “ten thousands.” The word μυριάς (muria"), from which the English myriad is derived, means “ten thousand.” In the plural it means “ten thousands.” This would mean, minimally, 20,000 (a multiple of ten thousand). At the same time, the term was often used in apocalyptic literature to represent simply a rather large number, without any attempt to be specific.

[1:16]  ¹⁴ tn “And” is not in Greek, but is supplied for the sake of English style.

[1:16]  ¹⁵ tn Or “going.” Though the participle is anarthrous, so also is the subject. Thus, the participle could be either adverbial or adjectival.

[1:16]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “(who go/going) according to their own lusts.”

[1:16]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “and their mouth speaks bombastic things.”

[1:16]  ¹⁸ sn Enchanting folks (Grk “awing faces”) refers to the fact that the speeches of these false teachers are powerful and seductive.

[1:16]  ¹⁹ tn Or “to their own advantage.”

[1:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “words.” In conjunction with προεῖπον (proeipon), however, the meaning of the construction is that the apostles uttered prophecies.

[1:17]  ²¹ sn This verse parallels 2 Pet 3:2 both conceptually and in much of the verbiage. There is one important difference, however: In 2 Pet 3:2 the prophets and apostles speak; here, just the apostles speak. This makes good sense if Jude is using 2 Peter as his main source and is urging his readers to go back to the authoritative writings, both OT and now especially NT.

[1:18]  ²² tn Grk “be.”

[1:18]  ²³ tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”

[1:19]  ²⁴ tn Grk “these are the ones who cause divisions.”

[1:19]  ²⁵ tn Or “natural,” that is, living on the level of instincts, not on a spiritual level (the same word occurs in 1 Cor 2:14 as a description of nonbelievers).

[1:19]  ²⁶ tn Grk “not having [the] Spirit.”

[1:20]  ²⁷ tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.

[4:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “they are regarded as.”

[4:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the work of the hands of a potter.”

[4:1]  ³⁰ sn According to W. F. Lanahan (“The Speaking Voice in the Book of Lamentations” JBL 93 [1974]: 48), the persona or speaking voice in chap. 4 is a bourgeois, the common man. This voice is somewhat akin to the Reporter in chs 1-2 in that much of the description is in the third person. However, “the bourgeois has some sense of identity with his fellow-citizens” seen in the shift to the first person plural. The alphabetic acrostic structure reduces to two bicola per letter. The first letter of only the first line in each stanza spells the acrostic.

[4:1]  ³¹ tn See the note at 1:1

[4:1]  ³² tn Heb “had grown dim.” The verb יוּעַם (yu’am), Hophal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from עָמַם (’amam, “to conceal, darken”), literally means “to be dimmed” or “to be darkened.” Most English versions render this literally: the gold has “become dim” (KJV, NKJV), “grown dim” (RSV, NRSV), “is dulled” (NJPS), “grown dull” (TEV); however, but NIV has captured the sense well: “How the gold has lost its luster.”

[4:1]  ³³ tc The verb יִשְׁנֶא (yishne’, Qal imperfect 3rd person feminine singular) is typically taken to be the only Qal imperfect of I שָׁנָהּ (shanah). Such a spelling with א (aleph) instead of ה (he) is feasible. D. R. Hillers suggests the root שָׂנֵא (sane’, “to hate”): “Pure gold is hated”. This maintains the consonantal text and also makes sense in context. In either case the point is that gold no longer holds the same value, probably because there is nothing available to buy with it.

[4:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the stones of holiness/jewelry.” קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh) in most cases refers to holiness or sacredness. For the meaning “jewelry” see J. A. Emerton, “The Meaning of אַבְנֵי־קֹדֶשׁ in Lamentations 4:1” ZAW 79 (1967): 233-36.

[4:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “at the head of every street.”

[1:28]  ³⁶ tn Or “admonishing,” or “warning.” BDAG 679 s.v. νουθετέω states, “to counsel about avoidance or cessation of an improper course of conduct,, admonish, warn, instruct.” After the participle νουθετοῦντες (nouqetounte", “instructing”) the words πάντα ἄνθρωπον (panta anqrwpon, “all men”) occur in the Greek text, but since the same phrase appears again after διδάσκοντες (didaskontes) it was omitted in translation to avoid redundancy in English.

[1:28]  ³⁷ tn The two participles “instructing” (νουθετοῦντες, nouqetounte") and “teaching” (διδάσκοντες, didaskonte") are translated as participles of means (“by”) related to the finite verb “we proclaim” (καταγγέλλομεν, katangellomen).

[1:28]  ³⁸ tn Here ἄνθρωπον (anqrwpon) is twice translated as a generic (“people” and “person”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

[1:28]  ³⁹ tn Since Paul’s focus is on the present experience of the Colossians, “mature” is a better translation of τέλειον (teleion) than “perfect,” since the latter implies a future, eschatological focus.

[4:9]  ⁴⁰ tn The Greek sentence continues v. 9 with the phrase “with Onesimus,” but this is awkward in English, so the verb “I sent” was inserted and a new sentence started at the beginning of v. 9 in the translation.

[4:9]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “is of you.”

[4:9]  ⁴² tn Grk “will make known to you.” This has been simplified in the translation to “will tell.”

[4:11]  ⁴³ tn Grk “those of the circumcision.” The verse as a whole is difficult to translate because it is unclear whether Paul is saying (1) that the only people working with him are Jewish converts at the time the letter is being written or previously, or (2) that Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus Justus were the only Jewish Christians who ever worked with him. Verses 12-14 appear to indicate that Luke and Demas, who were Gentiles, were also working currently with Paul. This is the view adopted in the translation. See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 207-8.

[4:12]  ⁴⁴ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ⁴⁵ tc ‡ Strong Alexandrian testimony, along with some other witnesses, suggests that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) follows Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “Christ”; so א A B C I L 0278 33 81 365 629 1175 2464 al lat), but the evidence for the shorter reading is diverse (Ì⁴⁶ D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï it sy Hier), cutting across all major texttypes. There can be little motivation for omitting the name of Jesus; hence, the shorter reading is judged to be original. NA²⁷ has ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[4:12]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “filled.”

[4:13]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “pain.” This word appears only three times in the NT outside of this verse (Rev 16:10, 11; 21:4) where the translation “pain” makes sense. For the present verse it has been translated “worked hard.” See BDAG 852 s.v. πόνος 1.

[4:14]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “your trial in my flesh you did not despise or reject.”

[4:14]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “the angel of God.” Linguistically, “angel of God” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of God” or “the angel of God” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see ExSyn 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” DJG, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation, 324-35.

[4:14]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “as an angel of God…as Christ Jesus.” This could be understood to mean either “you welcomed me like an angel of God would,” or “you welcomed me as though I were an angel of God.” In context only the second is accurate, so the translation has been phrased to indicate this.

[4:2]  ⁵¹ tn The Greek term translated “guardians” here is ἐπίτροπος (epitropo"), whose semantic domain overlaps with that of παιδαγωγός (paidagwgo") according to L&N 36.5.

[4:2]  ⁵² tn Grk “the,” but the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[2:20]  ⁵³ tn Both the NA²⁷/UBS⁴ Greek text and the NRSV place the phrase “I have been crucified with Christ” at the end of v. 19, but most English translations place these words at the beginning of v. 20.

[2:20]  ⁵⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “So” to bring out the connection of the following clauses with the preceding ones. What Paul says here amounts to a result or inference drawn from his co-crucifixion with Christ and the fact that Christ now lives in him. In Greek this is a continuation of the preceding sentence, but the construction is too long and complex for contemporary English style, so a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:20]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “flesh.”

[2:20]  ⁵⁶ tc A number of important witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ B D* F G) have θεοῦ καὶ Χριστοῦ (qeou kai Cristou, “of God and Christ”) instead of υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ (Juiou tou qeou, “the Son of God”), found in the majority of mss, including several important ones (א A C D¹ Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co). The construction “of God and Christ” appears to be motivated as a more explicit affirmation of the deity of Christ (following as it apparently does the Granville Sharp rule). Although Paul certainly has an elevated Christology, explicit “God-talk” with reference to Jesus does not normally appear until the later books (cf., e.g., Titus 2:13, Phil 2:10-11, and probably Rom 9:5). For different arguments but the same textual conclusions, see TCGNT 524.