Deuteronomy 15:10

15:10 You must by all means lend ¹  to him and not be upset by doing it, ²  for because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt.

Psalms 41:1

Psalm 41 ³ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

41:1 How blessed ⁴  is the one who treats the poor properly! ⁵ 

When trouble comes, ⁶  the Lord delivers him. ⁷ 

Proverbs 3:9-10

3:9 Honor ⁸  the Lord from your wealth

and from the first fruits of all your crops; ⁹ 

3:10 then your barns will be filled completely, ¹⁰ 

and your vats ¹¹  will overflow ¹²  with new wine.

Proverbs 11:24

11:24 One person is generous ¹³  and yet grows more wealthy, ¹⁴ 

but another withholds more than he should ¹⁵  and comes to poverty. ¹⁶ 

Proverbs 19:17

19:17 The one who is gracious ¹⁷  to the poor lends ¹⁸  to the Lord,

and the Lord ¹⁹  will repay him ²⁰  for his good deed. ²¹ 

Isaiah 58:7-12

58:7 I want you ²²  to share your food with the hungry

and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. ²³ 

When you see someone naked, clothe him!

Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood! ²⁴ 

58:8 Then your light will shine like the sunrise; ²⁵ 

your restoration will quickly arrive; ²⁶ 

your godly behavior ²⁷  will go before you,

and the Lord’s splendor will be your rear guard. ²⁸ 

58:9 Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond;

you will cry out, and he will reply, ‘Here I am.’

You must ²⁹  remove the burdensome yoke from among you

and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully.

58:10 You must ³⁰  actively help the hungry

and feed the oppressed. ³¹ 

Then your light will dispel the darkness, ³² 

and your darkness will be transformed into noonday. ³³ 

58:11 The Lord will continually lead you;

he will feed you even in parched regions. ³⁴ 

He will give you renewed strength, ³⁵ 

and you will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring that continually produces water.

58:12 Your perpetual ruins will be rebuilt; ³⁶ 

you will reestablish the ancient foundations.

You will be called, ‘The one who repairs broken walls,

the one who makes the streets inhabitable again.’ ³⁷ 

Malachi 3:10-11

3:10 “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse ³⁸  so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter,” says the Lord who rules over all, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all. 3:11 Then I will stop the plague ³⁹  from ruining your crops, ⁴⁰  and the vine will not lose its fruit before harvest,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Luke 6:35

6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back. ⁴¹  Then ⁴²  your reward will be great, and you will be sons ⁴³  of the Most High, ⁴⁴  because he is kind to ungrateful and evil people. ⁴⁵ 

Luke 11:41

11:41 But give from your heart to those in need, ⁴⁶  and ⁴⁷  then everything will be clean for you. ⁴⁸ 

Luke 11:2

11:2 So he said to them, “When you pray, ⁴⁹  say:

Father, ⁵⁰  may your name be honored; ⁵¹ 

may your kingdom come. ⁵² 

Colossians 1:6-11

1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel ⁵³  is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing ⁵⁴  among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. 1:7 You learned the gospel ⁵⁵  from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave ⁵⁶  – a ⁵⁷  faithful minister of Christ on our ⁵⁸  behalf – 1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ⁵⁹  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ⁶⁰  to fill ⁶¹  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ⁶²  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ⁶³  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, 1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ⁶⁴  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

[15:10]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “by all means.”

[15:10]  ² tc Heb “your heart must not be grieved in giving to him.” The LXX and Orig add, “you shall surely lend to him sufficient for his need,” a suggestion based on the same basic idea in v. 8. Such slavish adherence to stock phrases is without warrant in most cases, and certainly here.

[41:1]  ³ sn Psalm 41. The psalmist is confident (vv. 11-12) that the Lord has heard his request to be healed (vv. 4-10), and he anticipates the joy he will experience when the Lord intervenes (vv. 1-3). One must assume that the psalmist is responding to a divine oracle of assurance (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 319-20). The final verse is a fitting conclusion to this psalm, but it is also serves as a fitting conclusion to the first “book” (or major editorial division) of the Psalter. Similar statements appear at or near the end of each of the second, third, and fourth “books” of the Psalter (see Pss 72:19, 89:52, and 106:48 respectively).

[41:1]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[41:1]  ⁵ sn One who treats the poor properly. The psalmist is characterizing himself as such an individual and supplying a reason why God has responded favorably to his prayer. The Lord’s attitude toward the merciful mirrors their treatment of the poor.

[41:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the day of trouble” (see Ps 27:5).

[41:1]  ⁷ tn That is, the one who has been kind to the poor. The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive of prayer (“may the Lord deliver,” see v. 2), but the preceding parallel line is a declaration of fact, not a prayer per se. The imperfect can be taken here as future (“will deliver,” cf. NEB, NASB) or as generalizing (“delivers,” cf. NIV, NRSV). The parallel line, which has a generalizing tone, favors the latter. At the same time, though the psalmist uses a generalizing style here, he clearly has himself primarily in view.

[3:9]  ⁸ tn The imperative כַּבֵּד (kabbed, “honor”) functions as a command, instruction, counsel or exhortation. To honor God means to give him the rightful place of authority by rendering to him gifts of tribute. One way to acknowledge God in one’s ways (v. 6) is to honor him with one’s wealth (v. 9).

[3:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “produce.” The noun תְּבוּאָה (tÿvu’ah) has a two-fold range of meaning: (1) “product; yield” of the earth (= crops; harvest) and (2) “income; revenue” in general (BDB 100 s.v.). The imagery in vv. 9-10 is agricultural; however, all Israelites – not just farmers – were expected to give the best portion (= first fruits) of their income to Lord.

[3:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “with plenty” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “to overflowing.” The noun שָׂבָע (sava’, “plenty; satiety”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner or contents: “completely.”

[3:10]  ¹¹ sn This pictures the process of pressing grapes in which the upper receptacle is filled with grapes and the lower one catches the juice. The harvest of grapes will be so plentiful that the lower vat will overflow with grape juice. The pictures in v. 10 are metonymies of effect for cause (= the great harvest that God will provide when they honor him).

[3:10]  ¹² tn Heb “burst open.” The verb פָּרַץ (parats, “to burst open”) functions as hyperbole here to emphasize the fullness of the wine vats (BDB 829 s.v. 9).

[11:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “There is one who scatters.” The participle מְפַזֵּר (mÿfazzer, “one who scatters”) refers to charity rather than farming or investments (and is thus a hypocatastasis). Cf. CEV “become rich by being generous”).

[11:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “increases.” The verb means that he grows even more wealthy. This is a paradox: Generosity determines prosperity in God’s economy.

[11:24]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “more than what is right.” This one is not giving enough, but saving for himself.

[11:24]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “comes to lack.” The person who withholds will come to the diminishing of his wealth. The verse uses hyperbole to teach that giving to charity does not make anyone poor, and neither does refusal to give ensure prosperity.

[19:17]  ¹⁷ sn The participle חוֹנֵן (khonen, “shows favor to”) is related to the word for “grace.” The activity here is the kind favor shown poor people for no particular reason and with no hope of repayment. It is literally an act of grace.

[19:17]  ¹⁸ tn The form מַלְוֵה (malveh) is the Hiphil participle from לָוָה (lavah) in construct; it means “to cause to borrow; to lend.” The expression here is “lender of the Lord.” The person who helps the poor becomes the creditor of God.

[19:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he.” The referent of the 3rd person masculine singular pronoun is “the Lord” in the preceding line, which has been supplied here in the translation for clarity.

[19:17]  ²⁰ sn The promise of reward does not necessarily mean that the person who gives to the poor will get money back; the rewards in the book of Proverbs involve life and prosperity in general.

[19:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “and his good deed will repay him.” The word גְּמֻלוֹ (gÿmulo) could be (1) the subject or (2) part of a double accusative of the verb. Understanding it as part of the double accusative makes better sense, for then the subject of the verb is God. How “his deed” could repay him is not immediately obvious.

[58:7]  ²² tn Heb “Is it not?” The rhetorical question here expects a positive answer, “It is!”

[58:7]  ²³ tn Heb “and afflicted [ones], homeless [ones] you should bring [into] a house.” On the meaning of מְרוּדִים (mÿrudim, “homeless”) see HALOT 633 s.v. *מָרוּד.

[58:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and from your flesh do not hide yourself.”

[58:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “will burst out like the dawn.”

[58:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “prosper”; KJV “spring forth speedily.”

[58:8]  ²⁷ tn Or “righteousness.” Their godly behavior will be on display for all to see.

[58:8]  ²⁸ sn The nation will experience God’s protective presence.

[58:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 9b-10 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in vv. 9b-10a), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 10b.

[58:10]  ³⁰ tn Heb “if you.” See the note on “you must” in v. 9b.

[58:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “If you furnish for the hungry [with] your being, and the appetite of the oppressed you satisfy.”

[58:10]  ³² tn Heb “will rise in the darkness.”

[58:10]  ³³ tn Heb “and your darkness [will be] like noonday.”

[58:11]  ³⁴ tn Heb “he will satisfy in parched regions your appetite.”

[58:11]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and your bones he will strengthen.”

[58:12]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and they will build from you ancient ruins.”

[58:12]  ³⁷ tc The Hebrew text has “the one who restores paths for dwelling.” The idea of “paths to dwell in” is not a common notion. Some have proposed emending נְתִיבוֹת (nÿtivot, “paths”) to נְתִיצוֹת (nÿtitsot, “ruins”), a passive participle from נָתַץ (natats, “tear down”; see HALOT 732 s.v. *נְתִיצָה), because tighter parallelism with the preceding line is achieved. However, none of the textual sources support this emendation. The line may mean that paths must be repaired in order to dwell in the land.

[3:10]  ³⁸ tn The Hebrew phrase בֵּית הָאוֹצָר (bet ha’otsar, here translated “storehouse”) refers to a kind of temple warehouse described more fully in Nehemiah (where the term לִשְׁכָּה גְדוֹלָה [lishkah gÿdolah, “great chamber”] is used) as a place for storing grain, frankincense, temple vessels, wine, and oil (Neh 13:5). Cf. TEV “to the Temple.”

[3:11]  ³⁹ tn Heb “the eater” (אֹכֵל, ’okhel), a general term for any kind of threat to crops and livelihood. This is understood as a reference to a locust plague by a number of English versions: NAB, NRSV “the locust”; NIV “pests”; NCV, TEV “insects.”

[3:11]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and I will rebuke for you the eater and it will not ruin for you the fruit of the ground.”

[6:35]  ⁴¹ tn Or “in return.”

[6:35]  ⁴² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the outcome or result. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation at this point.

[6:35]  ⁴³ sn The character of these actions reflects the grace and kindness of God, bearing witness to a “line of descent” or relationship of the individual to God (sons of the Most High). There is to be a unique kind of ethic at work with disciples. Jesus refers specifically to sons here because in the ancient world sons had special privileges which were rarely accorded to daughters. However, Jesus is most likely addressing both men and women in this context, so women too would receive these same privileges.

[6:35]  ⁴⁴ sn That is, “sons of God.”

[6:35]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “to the ungrateful and immoral.” The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[11:41]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “Give the things inside as alms.” Three different approaches have been taken to the syntax and meaning of this phrase: (1) τὰ ἐνόντα (ta enonta, “the things inside”) is an accusative of respect (“give alms with respect to the things inside”); (2) τὰ ἐνόντα is an adverbial accusative (“give alms inwardly,” i.e., from the heart); (3) the word translated “alms” represents a mistranslation of the original Aramaic term “cleanse,” so the statement urges the hearers to “cleanse the things inside.” According to D. L. Bock (Luke [BECNT], 2:1115) the latter meaning is unlikely because the present verse is independent of Matt 23:26, not parallel to it, and makes good sense as it stands.

[11:41]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “and behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this clause has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[11:41]  ⁴⁸ sn The expression everything will be clean for you refers to the agreement that should exist between the overt practice of one’s religious duties, such as almsgiving, and the inner condition of one’s heart, including true love for God and the poor; one is not only to wash the outside of the cup and plate, but the inside as well, since as Jesus said, God created the inside too. Religious duties are not to be performed hypocritically, i.e., for the applause and esteem of people, but rather they are to be done out of a deep love for God and a sensitivity to and concern for the needs of others. Then, everything will be clean, both hearts and lives.

[11:2]  ⁴⁹ sn When you pray. What follows, although traditionally known as the Lord’s prayer, is really the disciples’ prayer. It represents how they are to approach God, by acknowledging his uniqueness and their need for his provision and protection.

[11:2]  ⁵⁰ tc Most mss, including later majority (A C D W Θ Ψ 070 ˹³ 33^vid Ï it), add ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς (Jhmwn Jo en toi" oujranoi", “our [Father] in heaven”) here. This makes the prayer begin like the version in Matt 6:9. The shorter version is read by Ì⁷⁵ א B (L: + ἡμῶν) 1 700 pc as well as some versions and fathers. Given this more weighty external evidence, combined with the scribal tendency to harmonize Gospel parallels, the shorter reading is preferred.

[11:2]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “hallowed be your name.”

[11:2]  ⁵² tc Most mss (א A C D W Θ Ψ 070 ˹³ 33^vid Ï it) read at the end of the verse “may your will be done on earth as [it is] in heaven,” making this version parallel to Matt 6:10. The shorter reading is found, however, in weighty mss (Ì⁷⁵ B L pc), and cannot be easily explained as arising from the longer reading.

[1:6]  ⁵³ tn Grk “just as in the entire world it is bearing fruit.” The antecedent (“the gospel”) of the implied subject (“it”) of ἐστιν (estin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:6]  ⁵⁴ tn Though the participles are periphrastic with the present tense verb ἐστίν (estin), the presence of the temporal indicator “from the day” in the next clause indicates that this is a present tense that reaches into the past and should be translated as “has been bearing fruit and growing.” For a discussion of this use of the present tense, see ExSyn 519-20.

[1:7]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “learned it.” The Greek text simply has “you learned” without the reference to “the gospel,” but “the gospel” is supplied to clarify the sense of the clause. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[1:7]  ⁵⁶ tn The Greek word translated “fellow slave” is σύνδουλος (sundoulo"); the σύν- prefix here denotes association. Though δοῦλος is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:7]  ⁵⁷ tn The Greek text has “who (ὅς, Jos) is a faithful minister.” The above translation conveys the antecedent of the relative pronoun quite well and avoids the redundancy with the following substantival participle of v. 8, namely, “who told” (ὁ δηλώσας, Jo dhlwsa").

[1:7]  ⁵⁸ tc ‡ Judging by the superior witnesses for the first person pronoun ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “us”; Ì⁴⁶ א* A B D* F G 326* 1505 al) vs. the second person pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “you”; found in א² C D¹ Ψ 075 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co), ἡμῶν should be regarded as original. Although it is possible that ἡμῶν was an early alteration of ὑμῶν (either unintentionally, as dittography, since it comes seventeen letters after the previous ἡμῶν; or intentionally, to conform to the surrounding first person pronouns), this supposition is difficult to maintain in light of the varied and valuable witnesses for this reading. Further, the second person is both embedded in the verb ἐμάθετε (emaqete) and is explicit in v. 8 (ὑμῶν). Hence, the motivation to change to the first person pronoun is counterbalanced by such evidence. The second person pronoun may have been introduced unintentionally via homoioarcton with the ὑπέρ (Juper) that immediately precedes it. As well, the second person reading is somewhat harder for it seems to address Epaphras’ role only in relation to Paul and his colleagues, rather than in relation to the Colossians. Nevertheless, the decision must be based ultimately on external evidence (because the internal evidence can be variously interpreted), and this strongly supports ἡμῶν.

[1:9]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ⁶⁰ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ⁶¹ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[1:10]  ⁶² tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

[1:10]  ⁶³ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”

[1:11]  ⁶⁴ 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.