Acts 15:3

15:3 So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia ¹  and Samaria, they were relating at length ²  the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy ³  to all the brothers.

Acts 17:15

17:15 Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, ⁴  and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. ⁵ 

Acts 20:38

20:38 especially saddened ⁶  by what ⁷  he had said, that they were not going to see him ⁸  again. Then they accompanied ⁹  him to the ship.

Acts 21:5

21:5 When ¹⁰  our time was over, ¹¹  we left and went on our way. All of them, with their wives and children, accompanied ¹²  us outside of the city. After ¹³  kneeling down on the beach and praying, ¹⁴ 

Romans 15:24

15:24 when I go to Spain. For I hope to visit you when I pass through and that you will help me ¹⁵  on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while.

Romans 15:2

15:2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up.

Colossians 1:16

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ¹⁶  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

Colossians 1:3

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ¹⁷  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

Colossians 1:6-7

1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel ¹⁸  is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing ¹⁹  among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. 1:7 You learned the gospel ²⁰  from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave ²¹  – a ²²  faithful minister of Christ on our ²³  behalf –

[15:3]  ¹ sn Phoenicia was an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine in ancient Syria.

[15:3]  ² tn L&N 33.201 indicates that ἐκδιηγέομαι (ekdihgeomai) means to provide detailed information in a systematic manner, “to inform, to relate, to tell fully.” “Relating at length” conveys this effectively in the present context.

[15:3]  ³ tn For ἐποίουν (epoioun) in this verse BDAG 839 s.v. ποιέω 2.c has “they brought joy to the members.”

[17:15]  ⁴ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[17:15]  ⁵ sn They left. See 1 Thess 3:1-2, which shows they went from here to Thessalonica.

[20:38]  ⁶ tn Or “pained.”

[20:38]  ⁷ tn Grk “by the word that he had said.”

[20:38]  ⁸ tn Grk “to see his face” (an idiom for seeing someone in person).

[20:38]  ⁹ tn BDAG 873 s.v. προπέμπω 1 has “they accompanied him to the ship Ac 20:38.”

[21:5]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “It happened that when.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[21:5]  ¹¹ tn Grk “When our days were over.” L&N 67.71 has “ὅτε δὲ ἐγένετο ἡμᾶς ἐξαρτίσαι τὰς ἡμέρας ‘when we brought that time to an end’ or ‘when our time with them was over’ Ac 21:5.”

[21:5]  ¹² tn Grk “accompanying.” Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation and the participle προπεμπόντων (propempontwn) translated as a finite verb.

[21:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “city, and after.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[21:5]  ¹⁴ sn On praying in Acts, see 1:14, 24; 2:47; 4:23; 6:6; 10:2; 12:5, 12; 13:3; 16:25.

[15:24]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and to be helped by you.” The passive construction was changed to an active one in the translation.

[1:16]  ¹⁶ tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.

[1:3]  ¹⁷ tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).

[1:6]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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.

[1:7]  ²⁰ tn Or “learned it.” The Greek text simply has “you learned” without the reference to “the gospel,” but “the gospel” is supplied to clarify the sense of the clause. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[1:7]  ²¹ tn The Greek word translated “fellow slave” is σύνδουλος (sundoulo"); the σύν- prefix here denotes association. Though δοῦλος 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.

[1:7]  ²² tn The Greek text has “who (ὅς, Jos) is a faithful minister.” The above translation conveys the antecedent of the relative pronoun quite well and avoids the redundancy with the following substantival participle of v. 8, namely, “who told” (ὁ δηλώσας, Jo dhlwsa").

[1:7]  ²³ tc ‡ Judging by the superior witnesses for the first person pronoun ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “us”; Ì⁴⁶ א* A B D* F G 326* 1505 al) vs. the second person pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “you”; found in א² C D¹ Ψ 075 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co), ἡμῶν should be regarded as original. Although it is possible that ἡμῶν was an early alteration of ὑμῶν (either unintentionally, as dittography, since it comes seventeen letters after the previous ἡμῶν; or intentionally, to conform to the surrounding first person pronouns), this supposition is difficult to maintain in light of the varied and valuable witnesses for this reading. Further, the second person is both embedded in the verb ἐμάθετε (emaqete) and is explicit in v. 8 (ὑμῶν). Hence, the motivation to change to the first person pronoun is counterbalanced by such evidence. The second person pronoun may have been introduced unintentionally via homoioarcton with the ὑπέρ (Juper) that immediately precedes it. As well, the second person reading is somewhat harder for it seems to address Epaphras’ role only in relation to Paul and his colleagues, rather than in relation to the Colossians. Nevertheless, the decision must be based ultimately on external evidence (because the internal evidence can be variously interpreted), and this strongly supports ἡμῶν.