Colossians 1:16-18

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

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ²  in him.

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ³  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ⁴ 

Ephesians 1:20-23

1:20 This power ⁵  he exercised ⁶  in Christ when he raised him ⁷  from the dead and seated him ⁸  at his right hand in the heavenly realms ⁹  1:21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 1:22 And God ¹⁰  put ¹¹  all things under Christ’s ¹²  feet, ¹³  and he gave him to the church as head over all things. ¹⁴  1:23 Now the church is ¹⁵  his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. ¹⁶ 

Ephesians 4:15-16

4:15 But practicing the truth in love, ¹⁷  we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. 4:16 From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together ¹⁸  through every supporting ligament. ¹⁹  As each one does its part, the body grows in love.

Philippians 2:9-11

2:9 As a result God exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

2:10 so that at the name of Jesus

every knee will bow

– in heaven and on earth and under the earth –

2:11 and every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord

to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:1

Christian Unity and Christ’s Humility

2:1 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, ²⁰  any affection or mercy, ²¹ 

Philippians 3:1

True and False Righteousness

3:1 Finally, my brothers and sisters, ²²  rejoice in the Lord! To write this again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

Revelation 5:9-13

5:9 They were singing a new song: ²³ 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals

because you were killed, ²⁴ 

and at the cost of your own blood ²⁵  you have purchased ²⁶  for God

persons ²⁷  from every tribe, language, ²⁸  people, and nation.

5:10 You have appointed ²⁹  them ³⁰  as a kingdom and priests ³¹  to serve ³²  our God, and they will reign ³³  on the earth.”

5:11 Then ³⁴  I looked and heard the voice of many angels in a circle around the throne, as well as the living creatures and the elders. Their ³⁵  number was ten thousand times ten thousand ³⁶  – thousands times thousands – 5:12 all of whom ³⁷  were singing ³⁸  in a loud voice:

“Worthy is the lamb who was killed ³⁹ 

to receive power and wealth

and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and praise!”

5:13 Then ⁴⁰  I heard every creature – in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all that is in them – singing: ⁴¹ 

“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb

be praise, honor, glory, and ruling power ⁴²  forever and ever!”

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

[1:17]  ² tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.

[1:18]  ³ tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.

[1:18]  ⁴ tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

[1:20]  ⁵ tn Grk “which” (v. 20 is a subordinate clause to v. 19).

[1:20]  ⁶ tn The verb “exercised” (the aorist of ἐνεργέω, energew) has its nominal cognate in “exercise” in v. 19 (ἐνέργεια, energeia).

[1:20]  ⁷ tn Or “This power he exercised in Christ by raising him”; Grk “raising him.” The adverbial participle ἐγείρας (egeiras) could be understood as temporal (“when he raised [him]”), which would be contemporaneous to the action of the finite verb “he exercised” earlier in the verse, or as means (“by raising [him]”). The participle has been translated here with the temporal nuance to allow for means to also be a possible interpretation. If the translation focused instead upon means, the temporal nuance would be lost as the time frame for the action of the participle would become indistinct.

[1:20]  ⁸ tc The majority of mss, especially the Western and Byzantine mss (D F G Ψ Ï b r Ambst), have the indicative ἐκάθισεν (ekaqisen, “he seated”) for καθίσας (kaqisa", “when he seated, by seating”). The indicative is thus coordinate with ἐνήργησεν (enhrghsen, “he exercised”) and provides an additional statement to “he exercised his power.” The participle (found in Ì^92vid א A B 0278 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 2464 al), on the other hand, is coordinate with ἐγείρας (egeiras) and as such provides evidence of God’s power: He exercised his power by raising Christ from the dead and by seating him at his right hand. As intriguing as the indicative reading is, it is most likely an intentional alteration of the original wording, accomplished by an early “Western” scribe, which made its way in the Byzantine text.

[1:20]  ⁹ sn Eph 1:19-20. The point made in these verses is that the power required to live a life pleasing to God is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. For a similar thought, cf. John 15:1-11.

[1:22]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:22]  ¹¹ tn Grk “subjected.”

[1:22]  ¹² tn Grk “his”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:22]  ¹³ sn An allusion to Ps 8:6.

[1:22]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and he gave him as head over all things to the church.”

[1:23]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “which is.” The antecedent of “which” is easily lost in English, though in Greek it is quite clear. In the translation “church” is repeated to clarify the referent.

[1:23]  ¹⁶ tn Or perhaps, “who is filled entirely.”

[4:15]  ¹⁷ tn The meaning of the participle ἀληθεύοντες (alhqeuonte"; from the verb ἀληθεύω [alhqeuw]) is debated. In classical times the verb could mean “to speak the truth,” or “to be true, to prove true.” In the LXX it appears five times (Gen 20:16; 42:16; Prov 21:3; Isa 44:26; Sir 34:4) and translates four different Hebrew words; there it is an ethical term used of proving or being true, not with the idea of speaking the truth. In the NT the only other place the verb appears is in Gal 4:16 where it means “to speak the truth.” However, in Ephesians the concept of “being truthful” is the best sense of the word. In contrast to the preceding verse, where there are three prepositional phrases to denote falsehood and deceit, the present word speaks of being real or truthful in both conduct and speech. Their deceit was not only in their words but also in their conduct. In other words, the believers’ conduct should be transparent, revealing the real state of affairs, as opposed to hiding or suppressing the truth through cunning and deceit. See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 564-65, and R. Bultmann, TDNT 1:251.

[4:16]  ¹⁸ tn The Greek participle συμβιβαζόμενον (sumbibazomenon) translated “held together” also has in different contexts, the idea of teaching implied in it.

[4:16]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “joint of supply.”

[2:1]  ²⁰ tn Or “spiritual fellowship” if πνεύματος (pneumato") is an attributive genitive; or “fellowship brought about by the Spirit” if πνεύματος is a genitive of source or production.

[2:1]  ²¹ tn Grk “and any affection and mercy.” The Greek idea, however, is best expressed by “or” in English.

[3:1]  ²² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

[5:9]  ²³ tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.

[5:9]  ²⁴ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:9]  ²⁵ tn The preposition ἐν (en) is taken to indicate price here, like the Hebrew preposition ב (bet) does at times. BDAG 329 s.v. ἐν 5.b states, “The ἐν which takes the place of the gen. of price is also instrumental ἠγόρασας ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου Rv 5:9 (cp. 1 Ch 21:24 ἀγοράζω ἐν ἀργυρίῳ).”

[5:9]  ²⁶ tc The Greek text as it stands above (i.e., the reading τῷ θεῷ [tw qew] alone) is found in codex A. א 2050 2344 Ï sy add the term “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas), either before or after τῷ θεῷ, as an attempt to clarify the object of “purchased” (ἠγόρασας, hgorasa"). A few mss (1 vg^ms) delete the reference to God altogether and simply replace it with “us” (ἡμᾶς). This too is an attempt to remove ambiguity in the phrase and provide an object for “purchased.” The shorter reading, supported by the best witness for Revelation, best accounts for the other readings.

[5:9]  ²⁷ tn The word “persons” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[5:9]  ²⁸ tn Grk “and language,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[5:10]  ²⁹ tn The verb ἐποίησας (epoihsas) is understood to mean “appointed” here. For an example of this use, see Mark 3:14.

[5:10]  ³⁰ tc The vast majority of witnesses have αὐτούς (autous, “them”) here, while the Textus Receptus reads ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “us”) with insignificant support (pc gig vg^cl sa Prim Bea). There is no question that the original text read αὐτούς here.

[5:10]  ³¹ tn The reference to “kingdom and priests” may be a hendiadys: “priestly kingdom.”

[5:10]  ³² tn The words “to serve” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the word “priests.”

[5:10]  ³³ tc The textual problem here between the present tense βασιλεύουσιν (basileuousin, “they are reigning”; so A 1006 1611 Ï^K pc) and the future βασιλεύσουσιν (basileusousin, “they will reign”; so א 1854 2053 Ï^A pc lat co) is a difficult one. Both readings have excellent support. On the one hand, the present tense seems to be the harder reading in this context. On the other hand, codex A elsewhere mistakes the future for the present (20:6). Further, the lunar sigma in uncial script could have been overlooked by some scribes, resulting in the present tense. All things considered, there is a slight preference for the future.

[5:11]  ³⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[5:11]  ³⁵ tn Grk “elders, and the number of them was.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[5:11]  ³⁶ tn Or “myriads of myriads.” Although μυριάς (murias) literally means “10,000,” the point of the combination here may simply be to indicate an incalculably huge number. See L&N 60.9.

[5:12]  ³⁷ tn The words “all of whom” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to indicate the resumption of the phrase “the voice of many angels” at the beginning of the verse.

[5:12]  ³⁸ tn Grk “saying.”

[5:12]  ³⁹ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[5:13]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “saying.”

[5:13]  ⁴² tn Or “dominion.”