Acts 15:5

15:5 But some from the religious party of the Pharisees ¹  who had believed stood up and said, “It is necessary ²  to circumcise the Gentiles ³  and to order them to observe ⁴  the law of Moses.”

Romans 4:8-12

4:8 blessed is the one ⁵  against whom the Lord will never count ⁶  sin.” ⁷ 

4:9 Is this blessedness ⁸  then for ⁹  the circumcision ¹⁰  or also for ¹¹  the uncircumcision? For we say, “faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” ¹²  4:10 How then was it credited to him? Was he circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but uncircumcised! 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, ¹³  so that he would become ¹⁴  the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised, ¹⁵  that they too could have righteousness credited to them. 4:12 And he is also the father of the circumcised, ¹⁶  who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when he was still uncircumcised. ¹⁷ 

Galatians 5:1-4

Freedom of the Believer

5:1 For freedom ¹⁸  Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke ¹⁹  of slavery. 5:2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you at all! 5:3 And I testify again to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey ²⁰  the whole law. 5:4 You who are trying to be declared righteous ²¹  by the law have been alienated ²²  from Christ; you have fallen away from grace!

Philippians 3:2-3

3:2 Beware of the dogs, ²³  beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! ²⁴  3:3 For we are the circumcision, ²⁵  the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, ²⁶  exult in Christ Jesus, and do not rely on human credentials ²⁷ 

Colossians 2:8

2:8 Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you ²⁸  through an empty, deceitful philosophy ²⁹  that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits ³⁰  of the world, and not according to Christ.

Colossians 2:11-12

2:11 In him you also were circumcised – not, however, ³¹  with a circumcision performed by human hands, but by the removal ³²  of the fleshly body, ³³  that is, ³⁴  through the circumcision done by Christ. 2:12 Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your ³⁵  faith in the power ³⁶  of God who raised him from the dead.

Colossians 2:16

2:16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days –

[15:5]  ¹ sn See the note on Pharisee in 5:34.

[15:5]  ² sn The Greek word used here (δεῖ, dei) is a strong term that expresses divine necessity. The claim is that God commanded the circumcision of Gentiles.

[15:5]  ³ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the Gentiles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:5]  ⁴ tn Or “keep.”

[4:8]  ⁵ tn The word for “man” or “individual” here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” However, as BDAG 79 s.v. 2 says, here it is “equivalent to τὶς someone, a person.”

[4:8]  ⁶ tn The verb translated “count” here is λογίζομαι (logizomai). It occurs eight times in Rom 4:1-12, including here, each time with the sense of “place on someone’s account.” By itself the word is neutral, but in particular contexts it can take on a positive or negative connotation. The other occurrences of the verb have been translated using a form of the English verb “credit” because they refer to a positive event: the application of righteousness to the individual believer. The use here in v. 8 is negative: the application of sin. A form of the verb “credit” was not used here because of the positive connotations associated with that English word, but it is important to recognize that the same concept is used here as in the other occurrences.

[4:8]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 32:1-2.

[4:9]  ⁸ tn Or “happiness.”

[4:9]  ⁹ tn Grk “upon.”

[4:9]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on “circumcision” in 2:25.

[4:9]  ¹¹ tn Grk “upon.”

[4:9]  ¹² sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.

[4:11]  ¹³ tn Grk “of the faith, the one [existing] in uncircumcision.”

[4:11]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “that he might be,” giving the purpose of v. 11a.

[4:11]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “through uncircumcision.”

[4:12]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the father of circumcision.”

[4:12]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the ‘in-uncircumcision faith’ of our father Abraham.”

[5:1]  ¹⁸ tn Translating the dative as “For freedom” shows the purpose for Christ setting us free; however, it is also possible to take the phrase in the sense of means or instrument (“with [or by] freedom”), referring to the freedom mentioned in 4:31 and implied throughout the letter.

[5:1]  ¹⁹ sn Here the yoke figuratively represents the burdensome nature of slavery.

[5:3]  ²⁰ tn Or “keep”; or “carry out”; Grk “do.”

[5:4]  ²¹ tn Or “trying to be justified.” The verb δικαιοῦσθε (dikaiousqe) has been translated as a conative present (see ExSyn 534).

[5:4]  ²² tn Or “estranged”; BDAG 526 s.v. καταργέω 4 states, “Of those who aspire to righteousness through the law κ. ἀπὸ Χριστοῦ be estranged from Christ Gal 5:4.”

[3:2]  ²³ sn Dogs is a figurative reference to false teachers whom Paul regards as just as filthy as dogs.

[3:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “beware of the mutilation.”

[3:3]  ²⁵ tn There is a significant wordplay here in the Greek text. In v. 2 a rare, strong word is used to describe those who were pro-circumcision (κατατομή, katatomh, “mutilation”; see BDAG 528 s.v.), while in v. 3 the normal word for circumcision is used (περιτομή, peritomh; see BDAG 807 s.v.). Both have τομή (the feminine form of the adjective τομός [tomo"], meaning “cutting, sharp”) as their root; the direction of the action of the former is down or off (from κατά, kata), hence the implication of mutilation or emasculation, while the direction of the action of the latter is around (from περί, peri). The similarity in sound yet wide divergence of meaning between the two words highlights in no uncertain terms the differences between Paul and his opponents.

[3:3]  ²⁶ tc The verb λατρεύω (latreuw; here the participial form, λατρεύοντες [latreuonte"]) either takes a dative direct object or no object at all, bearing virtually a technical nuance of “worshiping God” (see BDAG 587 s.v.). In this text, πνεύματι (pneumati) takes an instrumental force (“by the Spirit”) rather than functioning as object of λατρεύοντες. However, the word after πνεύματι is in question, no doubt because of the collocation with λατρεύοντες. Most witnesses, including some of the earliest and best representatives of the Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine texts (א* A B C D² F G 0278^vid 33 1739 1881 Ï co Ambr), read θεοῦ (qeou; thus, “worship by the Spirit of God”). But several other important witnesses (א² D* P Ψ 075 365 1175 lat sy Chr) have the dative θεῷ (qew) here (“worship God by the Spirit”). Ì⁴⁶ is virtually alone in its omission of the divine name, probably due to an unintentional oversight. The dative θεῷ was most likely a scribal emendation intended to give the participle its proper object, and thus avoid confusion about the force of πνεύματι. Although the Church came to embrace the full deity of the Spirit, the NT does not seem to speak of worshiping the Spirit explicitly. The reading θεῷ thus appears to be a clarifying reading. On external and internal grounds, then, θεοῦ is the preferred reading.

[3:3]  ²⁷ tn Grk “have no confidence in the flesh.”

[2:8]  ²⁸ tn The Greek construction here is somewhat difficult and can be literally rendered “Be careful, lest someone shall be the one who takes you captive.”

[2:8]  ²⁹ tn The Greek reads τῆς φιλοσοφίας καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης (th" filosofia" kai kenh" apath"). The two nouns φιλοσοφίας and κενῆς are joined by one article and probably form a hendiadys. Thus the second noun was taken as modifying the first, as the translation shows.

[2:8]  ³⁰ tn The phrase κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου (kata ta stoiceia tou kosmou) is difficult to translate because of problems surrounding the precise meaning of στοιχεῖα in this context. Originally it referred to the letters of the alphabet, with the idea at its root of “things in a row”; see C. Vaughn, “Colossians,” EBC 11:198. M. J. Harris (Colossians and Philemon [EGGNT], 93) outlines three probable options: (1) the material elements which comprise the physical world; (2) the elementary teachings of the world (so NEB, NASB, NIV); (3) the elemental spirits of the world (so NEB, RSV). The first option is highly unlikely because Paul is not concerned here with the physical elements, e.g., carbon or nitrogen. The last two options are both possible. Though the Gnostic-like heresy at Colossae would undoubtedly have been regarded by Paul as an “elementary teaching” at best, because the idea of “spirits” played such a role in Gnostic thought, he may very well have had in mind elemental spirits that operated in the world or controlled the world (i.e., under God’s authority and permission).

[2:11]  ³¹ tn The terms “however” and “but” in this sentence were supplied in order to emphasize the contrast.

[2:11]  ³² tn The articular noun τῇ ἀπεκδύσει (th apekdusei) is a noun which ends in -σις (-sis) and therefore denotes action, i.e., “removal.” Since the head noun is a verbal noun, the following genitive τοῦ σώματος (tou swmatos) is understood as an objective genitive, receiving the action of the head noun.

[2:11]  ³³ tn Grk “in the removal of the body of flesh.” The genitive τῆς σαρκός (th" sarko") has been translated as an attributive genitive, “fleshly body.”

[2:11]  ³⁴ tn The second prepositional phrase beginning with ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ (en th peritomh) is parallel to the prepositional phrase ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει (en th apekdusei) and gives a further explanation of it. The words “that is” were supplied to bring out this force in the translation.

[2:12]  ³⁵ tn The article with the genitive modifier τῆς πίστεως (th" pistew") is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[2:12]  ³⁶ tn The genitive τῆς ἐνεργείας (th" energeia") has been translated as an objective genitive, “faith in the power.”