Acts 13:26

13:26 Brothers, ¹  descendants ²  of Abraham’s family, ³  and those Gentiles among you who fear God, ⁴  the message ⁵  of this salvation has been sent to us.

Romans 1:16

The Power of the Gospel

1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ⁶ 

Romans 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁷  a slave ⁸  of Christ Jesus, ⁹  called to be an apostle, ¹⁰  set apart for the gospel of God. ¹¹ 

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ¹²  brothers and sisters ¹³  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ¹⁴  from God our Father! ¹⁵ 

Ephesians 1:13

1:13 And when ¹⁶  you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) – when you believed in Christ ¹⁷  – you were marked with the seal ¹⁸  of the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁹ 

Ephesians 1:2

1:2 Grace and peace to you ²⁰  from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Ephesians 3:15-17

3:15 from ²¹  whom every family ²²  in heaven and on the earth is named. 3:16 I pray that ²³  according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love,

Titus 2:11

2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. ²⁴ 

Hebrews 2:3

2:3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him,

Hebrews 2:1

Warning Against Drifting Away

2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

Hebrews 1:9

1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

So God, your God, has anointed you over your companions ²⁵  with the oil of rejoicing.” ²⁶ 

[13:26]  ¹ tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.

[13:26]  ² tn Grk “sons”

[13:26]  ³ tn Or “race.”

[13:26]  ⁴ tn Grk “and those among you who fear God,” but this is practically a technical term for the category called God-fearers, Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44. Note how Paul includes God-fearing Gentiles as recipients of this promise.

[13:26]  ⁵ tn Grk “word.”

[1:16]  ⁶ sn Here the Greek refers to anyone who is not Jewish.

[1:1]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Traditionally, “servant.” 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]  ⁹ tc Many important mss, as well as several others (̲⁶ א A G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï), have a reversed order of these words and read “Jesus Christ” rather than “Christ Jesus” (̹⁰ B 81 pc). The meaning is not affected in either case, but the reading “Christ Jesus” is preferred as slightly more difficult and thus more likely the original (a scribe who found it would be prone to change it to the more common expression). At the same time, Paul is fond of the order “Christ Jesus,” especially in certain letters such as Romans, Galatians, and Philippians. As well, the later Pauline letters almost uniformly use this order in the salutations. A decision is difficult, but “Christ Jesus” is slightly preferred.

[1:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “a called apostle.”

[1:1]  ¹¹ tn The genitive in the phrase εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ (euangelion qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as (1) a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or (2) an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself. However, in view of God’s action in v. 2 concerning this gospel, a subjective genitive notion (“the gospel which God brings”) is slightly preferred.

[1:2]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ¹⁵ 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.

[1:13]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “in whom you also, when…” (continuing the sentence from v. 12).

[1:13]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “in whom also having believed.” The relative pronoun “whom” has been replaced in the translation with its antecedent (“Christ”) to improve the clarity.

[1:13]  ¹⁸ tn Or “you were sealed.”

[1:13]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the Holy Spirit of promise.” Here ἐπαγγελίας (epangelias, “of promise”) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[1:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[3:15]  ²¹ tn Or “by.”

[3:15]  ²² tn Or “the whole family.”

[3:16]  ²³ tn Grk “that.” In Greek v. 16 is a subordinate clause to vv. 14-15.

[2:11]  ²⁴ tn Grk “all men”; but ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpois) is generic here, referring to both men and women.

[1:9]  ²⁵ sn God…has anointed you over your companions. God’s anointing gives the son a superior position and authority over his fellows.

[1:9]  ²⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 45:6-7.