Deuteronomy 10:12-13

An Exhortation to Love Both God and People

10:12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him, ¹  to obey all his commandments, ²  to love him, to serve him ³  with all your mind and being, ⁴  10:13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes that I am giving ⁵  you today for your own good?

Deuteronomy 11:7-8

11:7 I am speaking to you ⁶  because you are the ones who saw all the great deeds of the Lord!

The Abundance of the Land of Promise

11:8 Now pay attention to all the commandments ⁷  I am giving ⁸  you today, so that you may be strong enough to enter and possess the land where you are headed, ⁹ 

Micah 6:8

6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,

and what the Lord really wants from you: ¹⁰ 

He wants you to ¹¹  promote ¹²  justice, to be faithful, ¹³ 

and to live obediently before ¹⁴  your God.

Luke 3:8-14

3:8 Therefore produce ¹⁵  fruit ¹⁶  that proves your repentance, and don’t begin to say ¹⁷  to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ ¹⁸  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ¹⁹  3:9 Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, ²⁰  and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be ²¹  cut down and thrown into the fire.”

3:10 So ²²  the crowds were asking ²³  him, “What then should we do?” 3:11 John ²⁴  answered them, ²⁵  “The person who has two tunics ²⁶  must share with the person who has none, and the person who has food must do likewise.” 3:12 Tax collectors ²⁷  also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 3:13 He told them, “Collect no more ²⁸  than you are required to.” ²⁹  3:14 Then some soldiers ³⁰  also asked him, “And as for us – what should we do?” ³¹  He told them, “Take money from no one by violence ³²  or by false accusation, ³³  and be content with your pay.”

Ephesians 4:17

Live in Holiness

4:17 So I say this, and insist ³⁴  in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility ³⁵  of their thinking. ³⁶ 

Ephesians 4:1

Live in Unity

4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, ³⁷  urge you to live ³⁸  worthily of the calling with which you have been called, ³⁹ 

Ephesians 1:13-16

1:13 And when ⁴⁰  you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) – when you believed in Christ ⁴¹  – you were marked with the seal ⁴²  of the promised Holy Spirit, ⁴³  1:14 who is the down payment ⁴⁴  of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, ⁴⁵  to the praise of his glory.

Prayer for Wisdom and Revelation

1:15 For this reason, ⁴⁶  because I ⁴⁷  have heard ⁴⁸  of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love ⁴⁹  for all the saints, 1:16 I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you ⁵⁰  in my prayers.

[10:12]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 10:4.

[10:12]  ² tn Heb “to walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “follow his ways exactly”; NLT “to live according to his will.”

[10:12]  ³ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 10:4.

[10:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being”; NCV “with your whole being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

[10:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.

[11:7]  ⁶ tn On the addition of these words in the translation see note on “They did not see” in v. 3.

[11:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “the commandment.” The singular מִצְוָה (mitsvah, “commandment”) speaks here as elsewhere of the whole corpus of covenant stipulations in Deuteronomy (cf. 6:1, 25; 7:11; 8:1).

[11:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in vv. 13, 27).

[11:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”

[6:8]  ¹⁰ sn What the Lord really wants from you. Now the prophet switches roles and answers the hypothetical worshiper’s question. He makes it clear that the Lord desires proper attitudes more than ritual and sacrifice.

[6:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

[6:8]  ¹² tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

[6:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

[6:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”

[3:8]  ¹⁵ tn The verb here is ποιέω (poiew; see v. 4).

[3:8]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit” (so NIV; cf. Matt 3:8 where the singular καρπός is found). Some other translations render the plural καρπούς as “fruits” (e.g., NRSV, NASB, NAB, NKJV).

[3:8]  ¹⁷ tn In other words, “do not even begin to think this.”

[3:8]  ¹⁸ sn We have Abraham as our father. John’s warning to the crowds really assumes two things: (1) A number of John’s listeners apparently believed that simply by their physical descent from Abraham, they were certain heirs of the promises made to the patriarch, and (2) God would never judge his covenant people lest he inadvertently place the fulfillment of his promises in jeopardy. In light of this, John tells these people two things: (1) they need to repent and produce fruit in keeping with repentance, for only that saves from the coming wrath, and (2) God will raise up “children for Abraham from these stones” if he wants to. Their disobedience will not threaten the realization of God’s sovereign purposes.

[3:8]  ¹⁹ sn The point of the statement God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham is that ancestry or association with a tradition tied to the great founder of the Jewish nation is not an automatic source of salvation.

[3:9]  ²⁰ sn Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees. The imagery of an “ax already laid at the root of the trees” is vivid, connoting sudden and catastrophic judgment for the unrepentant and unfruitful. The image of “fire” serves to further heighten the intensity of the judgment referred to. It is John’s way of summoning all people to return to God with all their heart and avoid his unquenchable wrath soon to be poured out. John’s language and imagery is probably ultimately drawn from the OT where Israel is referred to as a fruitless vine (Hos 10:1-2; Jer 2:21-22) and the image of an “ax” is used to indicate God’s judgment (Ps 74:5-6; Jer 46:22).

[3:9]  ²¹ tn Grk “is”; the present tense (ἐκκόπτεται, ekkoptetai) has futuristic force here.

[3:10]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the people’s response.

[3:10]  ²³ tn Though this verb is imperfect, in this context it does not mean repeated, ongoing questions, but simply a presentation in vivid style as the following verbs in the other examples are aorist.

[3:11]  ²⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:11]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Answering, he said to them.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation to “answered them.”

[3:11]  ²⁶ tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “Shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.

[3:12]  ²⁷ sn The tax collectors would bid to collect taxes for the Roman government and then add a surcharge, which they kept. Since tax collectors worked for Rome, they were viewed as traitors to their own people and were not well liked. Yet even they were moved by John’s call.

[3:13]  ²⁸ tn In the Greek text μηδὲν πλέον (mhden pleon, “no more”) is in an emphatic position.

[3:13]  ²⁹ tn Or “than you are ordered to.”

[3:14]  ³⁰ tn Grk “And soldiers.”

[3:14]  ³¹ tn Grk “And what should we ourselves do?”

[3:14]  ³² tn Or “Rob no one.” The term διασείσητε (diaseishte) here refers to “shaking someone.” In this context it refers to taking financial advantage of someone through violence, so it refers essentially to robbery. Soldiers are to perform their tasks faithfully. A changed person is to carry out his tasks in life faithfully and without grumbling.

[3:14]  ³³ tn The term translated “accusation” (συκοφαντήσητε, sukofanthshte) refers to a procedure by which someone could bring charges against an individual and be paid a part of the fine imposed by the court. Soldiers could do this to supplement their pay, and would thus be tempted to make false accusations.

[4:17]  ³⁴ tn On the translation of μαρτύρομαι (marturomai) as “insist” see BDAG 619 s.v. 2.

[4:17]  ³⁵ tn On the translation of ματαιότης (mataioth") as “futility” see BDAG 621 s.v.

[4:17]  ³⁶ tn Or “thoughts,” “mind.”

[4:1]  ³⁷ tn Grk “prisoner in the Lord.”

[4:1]  ³⁸ tn Grk “walk.” The verb “walk” in the NT letters refers to the conduct of one’s life, not to physical walking.

[4:1]  ³⁹ sn With which you have been called. The calling refers to the Holy Spirit’s prompting that caused them to believe. The author is thus urging his readers to live a life that conforms to their saved status before God.

[1:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “in whom you also, when…” (continuing the sentence from v. 12).

[1:13]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “in whom also having believed.” The relative pronoun “whom” has been replaced in the translation with its antecedent (“Christ”) to improve the clarity.

[1:13]  ⁴² tn Or “you were sealed.”

[1:13]  ⁴³ tn Grk “the Holy Spirit of promise.” Here ἐπαγγελίας (epangelias, “of promise”) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[1:14]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “first installment,” “pledge,” “deposit.”

[1:14]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “the possession.”

[1:15]  ⁴⁶ sn The conjunctive phrase For this reason points back to the preceding section, vv. 3-14, which is also summed up in this verse in the expression because I have heard of your faith. In other words, the author’s prayer can be made for his audience because he knows that they are true believers.

[1:15]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “even I.”

[1:15]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “having also heard.”

[1:15]  ⁴⁹ tc Ì⁴⁶ א* A B P 33 1739 1881 2464 Hier lack “your love” (τὴν ἀγάπην, thn agaphn), while various other groups of mss have different arrangements of the phrase “your love toward all the saints” (τὴν ἀγάπην τὴν εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους, thn agaphn thn ei" panta" tou" Jagiou"). Most witnesses, especially the later ones (א² D¹ Ψ Ï latt sa), read τὴν ἀγάπην τὴν εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους. Externally, the shorter reading is superior. Internally, the omission of τὴν ἀγάπην is a significantly harder reading, for the saints become an object of faith on par with the Lord Jesus. If this reading is authentic, however, the force of πίστις (pisti") is probably closer to “faithfulness,” a meaning that could perhaps be suitable toward both the Lord and the saints. Nevertheless, if the shorter reading is authentic, later scribes would no doubt have been tempted to alter it. With the parallel in Col 1:4 at hand, τὴν ἀγάπην would have been the most obvious phrase to add. (TCGNT 533 suggests that ἣν ἔχετε would have been added instead of the second τήν if the shorter reading were original, in conformity with Col 1:4, but this is not necessarily so: Scribes often altered the text as minimally as possible, and since the second τήν was already present, replacing it with ἣν ἔχετε, when the meaning was not significantly different from the second τήν, seems unlikely.) Further, ἀγάπην comes after “saints” (thus, τὴν εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους ἀγάπην) in some witnesses (81 104 326 365 1175), and the second τήν is lacking (thus, τὴν ἀγάπην εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους) in others (D* F G). Such a floating text normally indicates inauthenticity. On the other hand, τὴν ἀγάπην could easily have dropped out of the text by way of haplography, the Alexandrian scribes’ eyes skipping from τήν to τήν. The weak first declension feminine article-noun-article construction is common enough in the NT, occurring over 40 times, yet in four of these texts there is some ms evidence for an omission similar to Eph 1:15 (Rom 11:17; 2 Tim 3:10; Rev 11:2; 21:9). But in none of these places is the Alexandrian testimony united in the omission as it is here. Further, a wholesale Alexandrian omission of τὴν ἀγάπην presupposes a much stronger genealogical relation among the Alexandrian mss than many scholars would embrace. What seems to tip the scales in favor of the longer reading, however, is the intrinsic evidence: The question of whether πίστις could be used to mean faithfulness in the general sense toward both the Lord and the saints is quite problematic. All in all, a decision is difficult, but the longer reading is, with hesitation, preferred.

[1:16]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “making mention [of you].”