Acts 27:35

27:35 After he said this, Paul ¹  took bread ²  and gave thanks to God in front of them all, ³  broke ⁴  it, and began to eat.

Romans 7:25

7:25 Thanks be ⁵  to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, ⁶  I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but ⁷  with my flesh I serve ⁸  the law of sin.

Romans 7:2

7:2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her ⁹  husband dies, she is released from the law of the marriage. ¹⁰ 

Colossians 1:11

1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ¹¹  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

Colossians 2:14

2:14 He has destroyed ¹²  what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness ¹³  expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 1:15

The Supremacy of Christ

1:15 ¹⁴ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn ¹⁵  over all creation, ¹⁶ 

Ephesians 5:20

5:20 always giving thanks to God the Father for each other ¹⁷  in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

[27:35]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:35]  ² tn Grk “taking bread, gave thanks.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:35]  ³ tn Or “before them all,” but here this could be misunderstood to indicate a temporal sequence.

[27:35]  ⁴ tn Grk “and breaking it, he began.” The participle κλάσας (klasas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[7:25]  ⁵ tc ‡ Most mss (א* A 1739 1881 Ï sy) read “I give thanks to God” rather than “Now thanks be to God” (א¹ [B] Ψ 33 81 104 365 1506 pc), the reading of NA²⁷. The reading with the verb (εὐχαριστῶ τῷ θεῷ, eucaristw tw qew) possibly arose from a transcriptional error in which several letters were doubled (TCGNT 455). The conjunction δέ (de, “now”) is included in some mss as well (א¹ Ψ 33 81 104 365 1506 pc), but it should probably not be considered original. The ms support for the omission of δέ is both excellent and widespread (א* A B D 1739 1881 Ï lat sy), and its addition can be explained as an insertion to smooth out the transition between v. 24 and 25.

[7:25]  ⁶ tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

[7:25]  ⁷ tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[7:25]  ⁸ tn The words “I serve” have been repeated here for clarity.

[7:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “the,” with the article used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[7:2]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “husband.”

[1:11]  ¹¹ tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.

[2:14]  ¹² tn The participle ἐξαλείψας (exaleiyas) is a temporal adverbial participle of contemporaneous time related to the previous verb συνεζωοποίησεν (sunezwopoihsen), but has been translated as a finite verb because of the complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences. For the meaning “destroy” see BDAG 344-45 s.v. ἐξαλείφω 2.

[2:14]  ¹³ tn On the translation of χειρόγραφον (ceirografon), see BDAG 1083 s.v. which refers to it as “a certificate of indebtedness.”

[1:15]  ¹⁴ sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[1:15]  ¹⁵ tn The Greek term πρωτότοκος (prwtotokos) could refer either to first in order of time, such as a first born child, or it could refer to one who is preeminent in rank. M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 43, expresses the meaning of the word well: “The ‘firstborn’ was either the eldest child in a family or a person of preeminent rank. The use of this term to describe the Davidic king in Ps 88:28 LXX (=Ps 89:27 EVV), ‘I will also appoint him my firstborn (πρωτότοκον), the most exalted of the kings of the earth,’ indicates that it can denote supremacy in rank as well as priority in time. But whether the πρωτό- element in the word denotes time, rank, or both, the significance of the -τοκος element as indicating birth or origin (from τίκτω, give birth to) has been virtually lost except in ref. to lit. birth.” In Col 1:15 the emphasis is on the priority of Jesus’ rank as over and above creation (cf. 1:16 and the “for” clause referring to Jesus as Creator).

[1:15]  ¹⁶ tn The genitive construction πάσης κτίσεως (pash" ktisew") is a genitive of subordination and is therefore translated as “over all creation.” See ExSyn 103-4.

[5:20]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “for all.” The form “all” can be either neuter or masculine.