Exodus 26:3

26:3 Five curtains are to be joined, ¹  one to another, ²  and the other ³  five curtains are to be joined, one to another.

Psalms 122:3

122:3 Jerusalem ⁴  is a city designed

to accommodate an assembly. ⁵ 

Psalms 133:1

Psalm 133 ⁶ 

A song of ascents, ⁷  by David.

133:1 Look! How good and how pleasant it is

when brothers live together! ⁸ 

Zephaniah 3:9

3:9 Know for sure that I will then enable

the nations to give me acceptable praise. ⁹ 

All of them will invoke the Lord’s name when they pray, ¹⁰ 

and will worship him in unison. ¹¹ 

Acts 2:1

The Holy Spirit and the Day of Pentecost

2:1 Now ¹²  when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

Acts 2:1

The Holy Spirit and the Day of Pentecost

2:1 Now ¹³  when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

Colossians 1:10

1:10 so that you may live ¹⁴  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ¹⁵  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Colossians 1:20

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ¹⁶  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Colossians 1:27

1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious ¹⁷  riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Ephesians 1:23

1:23 Now the church is ¹⁸  his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. ¹⁹ 

Ephesians 2:21-22

2:21 In him ²⁰  the whole building, ²¹  being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 2:22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Ephesians 4:2-6

4:2 with all humility and gentleness, ²²  with patience, bearing with ²³  one another in love, 4:3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you too were called to the one hope of your calling, 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.

Philippians 2:2

2:2 complete my joy and be of the same mind, ²⁴  by having the same love, being united in spirit, ²⁵  and having one purpose.

Philippians 3:15

3:15 Therefore let those of us who are “perfect” embrace this point of view. ²⁶  If you think otherwise, God will reveal to you the error of your ways. ²⁷ 

[26:3]  ¹ tn This is the active participle, not the passive. It would normally be rendered “joining together.” The Bible uses the active because it has the result of the sewing in mind, namely, that every curtain accompanies another (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 348).

[26:3]  ² tn Heb “a woman to her sister,” this form of using nouns to express “one to another” is selected because “curtains” is a feminine noun (see GKC 448 §139.e).

[26:3]  ³ tn The phrase “the other” has been supplied.

[122:3]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[122:3]  ⁵ tc Heb “Jerusalem, which is built like a city which is joined to her together.” The meaning of the Hebrew text is unclear. Many regard this as a description of the compact way in which the city was designed or constructed. The translation assumes an emendation of the verb חֻבְּרָה (khubbÿrah, “is joined”) to a noun חֶבְרָה (khevrah, “association; company”). The text then reads literally, “Jerusalem, which is built like a city which has a company together.” This in turn can be taken as a reference to Jerusalem’s role as a city where people congregated for religious festivals and other civic occasions (see vv. 4-5).

[133:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 133. The psalmist affirms the benefits of family unity.

[133:1]  ⁷ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[133:1]  ⁸ sn This statement refers to the extended family structure of ancient Israel, where brothers would often live in proximity to one another (Deut 25:5), giving the family greater social prominence and security. However, in its later application in the Israelite cult it probably envisions unity within the covenant community. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 212-15.

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

[3:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “so that all of them will call on the name of the Lord.”

[3:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “so that [they] will serve him [with] one shoulder.”

[2:1]  ¹² tn Grk “And” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style does not.

[2:1]  ¹³ tn Grk “And” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style does not.

[1:10]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.”

[1:20]  ¹⁶ 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.

[1:27]  ¹⁷ tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”

[1:23]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “which is.” The antecedent of “which” is easily lost in English, though in Greek it is quite clear. In the translation “church” is repeated to clarify the referent.

[1:23]  ¹⁹ tn Or perhaps, “who is filled entirely.”

[2:21]  ²⁰ tn Grk “in whom” (v. 21 is a relative clause, subordinate to v. 20).

[2:21]  ²¹ tc Although several important witnesses (א¹ A C P 6 81 326 1739^c 1881) have πᾶσα ἡ οἰκοδομή (pasa Jh oikodomh), instead of πᾶσα οἰκοδομή (the reading of א* B D F G Ψ 33 1739* Ï), the article is almost surely a scribal addition intended to clarify the meaning of the text, for with the article the meaning is unambiguously “the whole building.”

[4:2]  ²² tn Or “meekness.” The word is often used in Hellenistic Greek of the merciful execution of justice on behalf of those who have no voice by those who are in a position of authority (Matt 11:29; 21:5).

[4:2]  ²³ tn Or “putting up with”; or “forbearing.”

[2:2]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn The Greek word here is σύμψυχοι (sumyucoi, literally “fellow souled”).

[3:15]  ²⁶ tn Grk “those of us who are ‘perfect’ should think this,” or possibly “those of us who are mature should think this.”

[3:15]  ²⁷ tn Grk “reveal this to you.” The referent of the pronoun “this” is the fact that the person is thinking differently than Paul does. This has been specified in the translation with the phrase “the error of your ways”; Paul is stating that God will make it known to these believers when they are not in agreement with Paul.