Colossians 1:25

1:25 I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship ¹  from God – given to me for you – in order to complete ²  the word of God,

Acts 1:17

1:17 for he was counted as one of us and received a share in this ministry.” ³ 

Acts 1:25

1:25 to assume the task ⁴  of this service ⁵  and apostleship from which Judas turned aside ⁶  to go to his own place.” ⁷ 

Acts 26:16

26:16 But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason, to designate you in advance ⁸  as a servant and witness ⁹  to the things ¹⁰  you have seen ¹¹  and to the things in which I will appear to you.

Romans 15:16

15:16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I serve ¹²  the gospel of God ¹³  like a priest, so that the Gentiles may become an acceptable offering, ¹⁴  sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:1

Exhortation for the Strong to Help the Weak

15:1 But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves. ¹⁵ 

Colossians 4:1-3

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

Exhortation to Pray for the Success of Paul’s Mission

4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. 4:3 At the same time pray ¹⁶  for us too, that ¹⁷  God may open a door for the message ¹⁸  so that we may proclaim ¹⁹  the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ²⁰ 

Colossians 4:2

Exhortation to Pray for the Success of Paul’s Mission

4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 3:6

3:6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. ²¹ 

Colossians 4:1

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

Colossians 1:18-20

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ²²  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ²³ 

1:19 For God ²⁴  was pleased to have all his ²⁵  fullness dwell ²⁶  in the Son ²⁷ 

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ²⁸  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ²⁹  brothers and sisters ³⁰  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ³¹  from God our Father! ³² 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³³  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 1:23

1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ³⁴  without shifting ³⁵  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

Ephesians 3:7-8

3:7 I became a servant of this gospel ³⁶  according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by ³⁷  the exercise of his power. ³⁸  3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ³⁹  – this grace was given, ⁴⁰  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

Ephesians 3:1

Paul's Relationship to the Divine Mystery

3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus ⁴¹  for the sake of you Gentiles –

Ephesians 1:12

1:12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope ⁴²  on Christ, ⁴³  would be to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 2:7

2:7 to demonstrate in the coming ages ⁴⁴  the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward ⁴⁵  us in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:2

2:2 in which ⁴⁶  you formerly lived ⁴⁷  according to this world’s present path, ⁴⁸  according to the ruler of the kingdom ⁴⁹  of the air, the ruler of ⁵⁰  the spirit ⁵¹  that is now energizing ⁵²  the sons of disobedience, ⁵³ 

Ephesians 1:11-12

1:11 In Christ ⁵⁴  we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, ⁵⁵  since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will 1:12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope ⁵⁶  on Christ, ⁵⁷  would be to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 4:5-6

4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

[1:25]  ¹ tn BDAG 697 s.v. οἰκονομία 1.b renders the term here as “divine office.”

[1:25]  ² tn See BDAG 828 s.v. πληρόω 3. The idea here seems to be that the apostle wants to “complete the word of God” in that he wants to preach it to every person in the known world (cf. Rom 15:19). See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 82.

[1:17]  ³ tn Or “and was chosen to have a share in this ministry.” The term λαγχάνω (lancanw) here and in 2 Pet 1:1 can be understood as referring to the process of divine choice and thus be translated, “was chosen to have.”

[1:25]  ⁴ tn Grk “to take the place.”

[1:25]  ⁵ tn Or “of this ministry.”

[1:25]  ⁶ tn Or “the task of this service and apostleship which Judas ceased to perform.”

[1:25]  ⁷ sn To go to his own place. This may well be a euphemism for Judas’ judged fate. He separated himself from them, and thus separated he would remain.

[26:16]  ⁸ tn L&N 30.89 has “‘to choose in advance, to select beforehand, to designate in advance.’”

[26:16]  ⁹ sn As a servant and witness. The commission is similar to Acts 1:8 and Luke 1:2. Paul was now an “eyewitness” of the Lord.

[26:16]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 719 s.v. ὁράω A.1.b states, “W. attraction of the relative ὧν = τούτων ἅ Lk 9:36; Ac 22:15. The attraction may be due to colloq. breviloquence in μάρτυρα ὧν τε εἶδες με ὧν τε ὀφθήσομαί σοι a witness to the things in which you saw me and to those in which I shall appear to you Ac 26:16b.”

[26:16]  ¹¹ tc ‡ Some mss read “of the things in which you have seen me.” The accusative object με (me, “me”) is found after εἶδές (eide") in B C*^vid 614 945 1175 1505 1739 1891 2464 pc sy sa; it is lacking in Ì⁷⁴ א A C² E Ψ 096 Ï latt bo. The external evidence is relatively evenly divided, though there is a slight preference for the omission. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[15:16]  ¹² tn Grk “serving.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but in keeping with contemporary English style, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[15:16]  ¹³ tn The genitive in the phrase τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ (to euangelion tou qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or 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.

[15:16]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “so that the offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable.” This could be understood to refer to an offering belonging to the Gentiles (a possessive genitive) or made by the Gentiles (subjective genitive), but more likely the phrase should be understood as an appositive genitive, with the Gentiles themselves consisting of the offering (so J. D. G. Dunn, Romans [WBC 38], 2:860). The latter view is reflected in the translation “so that the Gentiles may become an acceptable offering.”

[15:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and not please ourselves.” NT Greek negatives used in contrast like this are often not absolute, but relative: “not so much one as the other.”

[4:3]  ¹⁶ tn Though προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi) is an adverbial participle related to the previous imperative, προσκαρτερεῖτε (proskartereite), it is here translated as an independent clause due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[4:3]  ¹⁷ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been rendered as substantival here, indicating the content of the prayer rather than the purpose for it. These two ideas are very similar and difficult to differentiate in this passage, but the conjunction ἵνα following a verb of praying is generally regarded as giving the content of the prayer.

[4:3]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “that God may open for us a door of the word to speak the mystery of Christ.” The construction in Greek is somewhat awkward in this clause. The translation attempts to simplify this structure somewhat and yet communicate exactly what Paul is asking for.

[4:3]  ¹⁹ tn Or “so that we may speak.”

[4:3]  ²⁰ tn Or “in prison.”

[3:6]  ²¹ tc The words ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῆς ἀπειθείας (epi tou" Juiou" th" apeiqeia", “on the sons of disobedience”) are lacking in Ì⁴⁶ B b sa, but are found in א A C D F G H I Ψ 075 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy bo. The words are omitted by several English translations (NASB, NIV, ESV, TNIV). This textual problem is quite difficult to resolve. On the one hand, the parallel account in Eph 5:6 has these words, thus providing scribes a motive for adding them here. On the other hand, the reading without the words may be too hard: The ἐν οἷς (en |oi") of v. 7 seems to have no antecedent without υἱούς already in the text, although it could possibly be construed as neuter referring to the vice list in v. 5. Further, although the witness of B is especially important, there are other places in which B and Ì⁴⁶ share errant readings of omission. Nevertheless, the strength of the internal evidence against the longer reading is at least sufficient to cause doubt here. The decision to retain the words in the text is less than certain.

[1:18]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

[1:19]  ²⁴ tn The noun “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but since God is the one who reconciles the world to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:19), he is clearly the subject of εὐδόκησεν (eudokhsen).

[1:19]  ²⁵ tn The Greek article τό (to), insofar as it relates to God, may be translated as a possessive pronoun, i.e., “his.” BDAG 404 s.v. εὐδοκέω 1 translates the phrase as “all the fullness willed to dwell in him” thus leaving the referent as impersonal. Insofar as Paul is alluding to the so-called emanations from God this is acceptable. But the fact that “the fullness” dwells in a person (i.e., “in him”) seems to argue for the translation “his fullness” where “his” refers to God.

[1:19]  ²⁶ tn The aorist verb κατοικῆσαι (katoikhsai) could be taken as an ingressive, in which case it refers to the incarnation and may be translated as “begin to dwell, to take up residence.” It is perhaps better, though, to take it as a constative aorist and simply a reference to the fact that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus Christ. This is a permanent dwelling, though, not a temporary one, as the present tense in 2:9 makes clear.

[1:19]  ²⁷ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the Son; see v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:20]  ²⁸ tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally important witnesses have it (Ì⁴⁶ א A C D¹ Ψ 048^vid 33 Ï). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as original. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In short, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original.

[1:2]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ³² 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.

[1:1]  ³³ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:23]  ³⁴ tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

[1:23]  ³⁵ tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.

[3:7]  ³⁶ tn Grk “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”

[3:7]  ³⁷ tn Grk “according to.”

[3:7]  ³⁸ sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.

[3:8]  ³⁹ sn In Pauline writings saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.

[3:8]  ⁴⁰ sn The parallel phrases to proclaim and to enlighten which follow indicate why God’s grace was manifested to Paul. Grace was not something just to be received, but to be shared with others (cf. Acts 13:47).

[3:1]  ⁴¹ tc Several early and important witnesses, chiefly of the Western text (א* D* F G [365]), lack ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) here, while most Alexandrian and Byzantine mss (Ì⁴⁶ א¹ A B [C] D¹ Ψ 33 1739 [1881] Ï lat sy bo) have the word. However, because of the Western text’s proclivities to add or delete to the text, seemingly at whim, serious doubts should be attached to the shorter reading. It is strengthened, however, by א’s support. Nevertheless, since both א and D were corrected with the addition of ᾿Ιησοῦ, their testimony might be questioned. Further, in uncial script the nomina sacra here could have led to missing a word by way of homoioteleuton (cMuiMu). At the same time, in light of the rarity of scribal omission of nomina sacra (see TCGNT 582, n. 1), a decision for inclusion of the word here must be tentative. NA²⁷ rightly places ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets.

[1:12]  ⁴² tn Or “who had already hoped.”

[1:12]  ⁴³ tn Or “the Messiah.”

[2:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Or possibly “to the Aeons who are about to come.”

[2:7]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “upon.”

[2:2]  ⁴⁶ sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.

[2:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “walked.”

[2:2]  ⁴⁸ tn Or possibly “Aeon.”

[2:2]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”

[2:2]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).

[2:2]  ⁵¹ sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).

[2:2]  ⁵² tn Grk “working in.”

[2:2]  ⁵³ sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.

[1:11]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.

[1:11]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “we were appointed by lot.” The notion of the verb κληρόω (klhrow) in the OT was to “appoint a portion by lot” (the more frequent cognate verb κληρονομέω [klhronomew] meant “obtain a portion by lot”). In the passive, as here, the idea is that “we were appointed [as a portion] by lot” (BDAG 548 s.v. κληρόω 1). The words “God’s own” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this sense of the verb. An alternative interpretation is that believers receive a portion as an inheritance: “In Christ we too have been appointed a portion of the inheritance.” See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 226-27, for discussion on this interpretive issue.

[1:12]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “who had already hoped.”

[1:12]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “the Messiah.”