Ephesians 4:3

4:3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:5

4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

Jeremiah 32:38-39

32:38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. ¹  32:39 I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for ²  their own good and the good of the children who descend from them.

Ezekiel 37:21-22

37:21 Then tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from round about and bring them to their land. 37:22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. They will never again be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms. ³ 

Zephaniah 3:9

3:9 Know for sure that I will then enable

the nations to give me acceptable praise. ⁴ 

All of them will invoke the Lord’s name when they pray, ⁵ 

and will worship him in unison. ⁶ 

Zechariah 14:9

14:9 The Lord will then be king over all the earth. In that day the Lord will be seen as one with a single name. ⁷ 

John 17:21

17:21 that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray ⁸  that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me.

Acts 4:32

Conditions Among the Early Believers

4:32 The group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, ⁹  and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but everything was held in common. ¹⁰ 

Acts 4:1

The Arrest and Trial of Peter and John

4:1 While Peter and John ¹¹  were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander ¹²  of the temple guard ¹³  and the Sadducees ¹⁴  came up ¹⁵  to them,

Colossians 1:10

1:10 so that you may live ¹⁶  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ¹⁷  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Philippians 2:1-3

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, ¹⁸  any affection or mercy, ¹⁹  2:2 complete my joy and be of the same mind, ²⁰  by having the same love, being united in spirit, ²¹  and having one purpose. 2:3 Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition ²²  or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.

[32:38]  ¹ sn The covenant formula setting forth the basic relationship is reinstituted along with a new covenant (v. 40). See also 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and the study note on 30:22.

[32:39]  ² tn Heb “I will give to them one heart and one way to [= in order that they may] fear me all the days for good to them.” The phrase “one heart” refers both to unanimity of will and accord (cf. 1 Chr 12:38 [12:39 HT]; 2 Chr 30:12) and to singleness of purpose or intent (cf. Ezek 11:19 and see BDB 525 s.v. ֵלב 4 where reference is made to “inclinations, resolutions, and determinations of the will”). The phrase “one way” refers to one way of life or conduct (cf. BDB 203 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 6.a where reference is made to moral action and character), a way of life that is further qualified by the goal of showing “fear, reverence, respect” for the Lord. The Hebrew sentence has been broken up to avoid a long complex sentence in English which is contrary to contemporary English style. However, an attempt has been made to preserve all the connections of the original.

[37:22]  ³ sn Jeremiah also attested to the reuniting of the northern and southern kingdoms (Jer 3:12, 14; 31:2-6).

[3:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “Certainly [or perhaps, “For”] then I will restore to the nations a pure lip.”

[3:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “so that all of them will call on the name of the Lord.”

[3:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “so that [they] will serve him [with] one shoulder.”

[14:9]  ⁷ sn The expression the Lord will be seen as one with a single name is an unmistakable reference to the so-called Shema, the crystallized statement of faith in the Lord as the covenant God of Israel (cf. Deut 6:4-5). Zechariah, however, universalizes the extent of the Lord’s dominion – he will be “king over all the earth.”

[17:21]  ⁸ tn The words “I pray” are repeated from the first part of v. 20 for clarity.

[4:32]  ⁹ tn Grk “soul.”

[4:32]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “but all things were to them in common.”

[4:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “While they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:1]  ¹² tn Or “captain.”

[4:1]  ¹³ tn Grk “the official of the temple,” a title for the commander of the Jewish soldiers guarding the temple (thus the translation, “the commander of the temple guard”). See L&N 37.91.

[4:1]  ¹⁴ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 3:7; 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

[4:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “approached.” This verb often denotes a sudden appearing (BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1).

[1:10]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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.”

[2:1]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “and any affection and mercy.” The Greek idea, however, is best expressed by “or” in English.

[2:2]  ²⁰ tn Or “and feel the same way,” “and think the same thoughts.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated “and be of the same mind” to reflect its epexegetical force to the imperative “complete my joy.”

[2:2]  ²¹ tn The Greek word here is σύμψυχοι (sumyucoi, literally “fellow souled”).

[2:3]  ²² tn Grk “not according to selfish ambition.” There is no main verb in this verse; the subjunctive φρονῆτε (fronhte, “be of the same mind”) is implied here as well. Thus, although most translations supply the verb “do” at the beginning of v. 3 (e.g., “do nothing from selfish ambition”), the idea is even stronger than that: “Don’t even think any thoughts motivated by selfish ambition.”