Exodus 36:5-6

36:5 and told Moses, “The people are bringing much more than ¹  is needed for the completion ²  of the work which the Lord commanded us to do!” ³ 

36:6 Moses instructed them to take ⁴  his message ⁵  throughout the camp, saying, “Let no man or woman do any more work for the offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing any more. ⁶ 

Nehemiah 7:2

7:2 I then put in charge over Jerusalem ⁷  my brother Hanani and Hananiah ⁸  the chief of the citadel, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many do.

Proverbs 28:20

28:20 A faithful person ⁹  will have an abundance of blessings,

but the one who hastens ¹⁰  to gain riches will not go unpunished.

Luke 16:10-12

16:10 “The one who is faithful in a very little ¹¹  is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 16:11 If then you haven’t been trustworthy ¹²  in handling worldly wealth, ¹³  who will entrust you with the true riches? ¹⁴  16:12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy ¹⁵  with someone else’s property, ¹⁶  who will give you your own ¹⁷ ?

Luke 16:1

The Parable of the Clever Steward

16:1 Jesus ¹⁸  also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations ¹⁹  that his manager ²⁰  was wasting ²¹  his assets.

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 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 1:20-21

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ²²  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ²³  minds ²⁴  as expressed through ²⁵  your evil deeds,

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ²⁶  brothers and sisters ²⁷  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ²⁸  from God our Father! ²⁹ 

Colossians 2:2-3

2:2 My goal is that ³⁰  their hearts, having been knit together ³¹  in love, may be encouraged, and that ³²  they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ³³  2:3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 1:5

1:5 Your faith and love have arisen ³⁴  from the hope laid up ³⁵  for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel ³⁶ 

[36:5]  ¹ tn The construction uses the verbal hendiadys: מַרְבִּים לְהָבִיא (marbim lÿhavi’) is the Hiphil participle followed (after the subject) by the Hiphil infinitive construct. It would read, “they multiply…to bring,” meaning, “they bring more” than is needed.

[36:5]  ² tn Heb “for the service” (so KJV, ASV).

[36:5]  ³ tn The last clause is merely the infinitive with an object – “to do it.” It clearly means the skilled workers are to do it.

[36:6]  ⁴ tn The verse simply reads, “and Moses commanded and they caused [a voice] to cross over in the camp.” The second preterite with the vav may be subordinated to the first clause, giving the intent (purpose or result).

[36:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “voice.”

[36:6]  ⁶ tn The verse ends with the infinitive serving as the object of the preposition: “from bringing.”

[7:2]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[7:2]  ⁸ tn Some have suggested that “Hananiah” is another name for Hanani, Nehemiah’s brother, so that only one individual is mentioned here. However, the third person plural in v. 3 indicates two people are in view.

[28:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “a man of faithfulness,” although the context does not indicate this should be limited only to males.

[28:20]  ¹⁰ sn The proverb is not rebuking diligent labor. One who is eager to get rich quickly is the opposite of the faithful person. The first person is faithful to God and to the covenant community; the second is trying to get rich as quickly as possible, at the least without doing an honest day’s work and at the worst dishonestly. In a hurry to gain wealth, he falls into various schemes and will pay for it. Tg. Prov 28:20 interprets this to say he hastens through deceit and wrongdoing.

[16:10]  ¹¹ sn The point of the statement faithful in a very little is that character is shown in how little things are treated.

[16:11]  ¹² tn Or “faithful.”

[16:11]  ¹³ tn Grk “the unrighteous mammon.” See the note on the phrase “worldly wealth” in v. 9.

[16:11]  ¹⁴ sn Entrust you with the true riches is a reference to future service for God. The idea is like 1 Cor 9:11, except there the imagery is reversed.

[16:12]  ¹⁵ tn Or “faithful.”

[16:12]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “have not been faithful with what is another’s.”

[16:12]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “what is your own.”

[16:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:1]  ¹⁹ tn These are not formal legal charges, but reports from friends, acquaintances, etc.; Grk “A certain man was rich who had a manager, and this one was reported to him as wasting his property.”

[16:1]  ²⁰ sn His manager was the steward in charge of managing the house. He could have been a slave trained for the role.

[16:1]  ²¹ tn Or “squandering.” This verb is graphic; it means to scatter (L&N 57.151).

[1:20]  ²² 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.

[1:21]  ²³ tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[1:21]  ²⁴ tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.

[1:21]  ²⁵ tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.

[1:2]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ²⁹ 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.

[2:2]  ³⁰ tn Verse two begins a subordinate ἵνα (Jina) clause which was divided up into two sentences for the sake of clarity in English. Thus the phrase “My goal is that” is an attempt to reflect in the translation the purpose expressed through the ἵνα clauses.

[2:2]  ³¹ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβιβάζω 1.b reads “unite, knit together.” Some commentators take the verb as a reference to instruction, “instructed in love.” See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 93.

[2:2]  ³² tn The phrase “and that” translates the first εἰς (eis) clause of v. 2 and reflects the second goal of Paul’s striving and struggle for the Colossians – the first is “encouragement” and the second is “full assurance.”

[2:2]  ³³ tc There are at least a dozen variants here, almost surely generated by the unusual wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ (tou qeou, Cristou, “of God, Christ”; so Ì⁴⁶ B Hil). Scribes would be prone to conform this to more common Pauline expressions such as “of God, who is in Christ” (33), “of God, the Father of Christ” (א* A C 048^vid 1175 bo), and “of the God and Father of Christ” (א² Ψ 075 0278 365 1505 pc). Even though the external support for the wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ is hardly overwhelming, it clearly best explains the rise of the other readings and should thus be regarded as authentic.

[1:5]  ³⁴ tn Col 1:3-8 form one long sentence in the Greek text and have been divided at the end of v. 4 and v. 6 and within v. 6 for clarity, in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English toward shorter sentences. Thus the phrase “Your faith and love have arisen from the hope” is literally “because of the hope.” The perfect tense “have arisen” was chosen in the English to reflect the fact that the recipients of the letter had acquired this hope at conversion in the past, but that it still remains and motivates them to trust in Christ and to love one another.

[1:5]  ³⁵ tn BDAG 113 s.v. ἀπόκειμαι 2 renders ἀποκειμένην (apokeimenhn) with the expression “reserved” in this verse.

[1:5]  ³⁶ tn The term “the gospel” (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, tou euangeliou) is in apposition to “the word of truth” (τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας, tw logw th" alhqeia") as indicated in the translation.