Galatians 2:4

2:4 Now this matter arose ¹  because of the false brothers with false pretenses ²  who slipped in unnoticed to spy on ³  our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves. ⁴ 

Galatians 4:17

4:17 They court you eagerly, ⁵  but for no good purpose; ⁶  they want to exclude you, so that you would seek them eagerly. ⁷ 

Galatians 5:10

5:10 I am confident ⁸  in the Lord that you will accept no other view. ⁹  But the one who is confusing ¹⁰  you will pay the penalty, ¹¹  whoever he may be.

Galatians 5:12

5:12 I wish those agitators ¹²  would go so far as to ¹³  castrate themselves! ¹⁴ 

Galatians 6:12-13

6:12 Those who want to make a good showing in external matters ¹⁵  are trying to force you to be circumcised. They do so ¹⁶  only to avoid being persecuted ¹⁷  for the cross of Christ. 6:13 For those who are circumcised do not obey the law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised so that they can boast about your flesh. ¹⁸ 

Galatians 6:17

6:17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body. ¹⁹ 

Acts 15:1-5

The Jerusalem Council

15:1 Now some men came down from Judea ²⁰  and began to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised ²¹  according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 15:2 When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate ²²  with them, the church ²³  appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with ²⁴  the apostles and elders in Jerusalem ²⁵  about this point of disagreement. ²⁶  15:3 So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia ²⁷  and Samaria, they were relating at length ²⁸  the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy ²⁹  to all the brothers. 15:4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received ³⁰  by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported ³¹  all the things God had done with them. ³²  15:5 But some from the religious party of the Pharisees ³³  who had believed stood up and said, “It is necessary ³⁴  to circumcise the Gentiles ³⁵  and to order them to observe ³⁶  the law of Moses.”

Acts 15:24

15:24 Since we have heard that some have gone out from among us with no orders from us and have confused ³⁷  you, upsetting ³⁸  your minds ³⁹  by what they said, ⁴⁰ 

Acts 20:30

20:30 Even from among your own group ⁴¹  men ⁴²  will arise, teaching perversions of the truth ⁴³  to draw the disciples away after them.

Romans 16:17-18

16:17 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, ⁴⁴  to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them! 16:18 For these are the kind who do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds ⁴⁵  of the naive.

Romans 16:2

16:2 so that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and provide her with whatever help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many, including me.

Colossians 1:13

1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, ⁴⁶ 

[2:4]  ¹ tn No subject and verb are expressed in vv. 4-5, but the phrase “Now this matter arose,” implied from v. 3, was supplied to make a complete English sentence.

[2:4]  ² tn The adjective παρεισάκτους (pareisaktou"), which relates to someone joining a group with false motives or false pretenses, applies to the “false brothers.” Although the expression “false brothers with false pretenses” is somewhat redundant, it captures the emphatic force of Paul’s expression, which labels both these “brothers” as false (ψευδαδέλφους, yeudadelfou") as well as their motives. See L&N 34.29 for more information.

[2:4]  ³ tn The verb translated here as “spy on” (κατασκοπέω, kataskopew) can have a neutral nuance, but here the connotation is certainly negative (so F. F. Bruce, Galatians [NIGTC], 112-13, and E. Burton, Galatians [ICC], 83).

[2:4]  ⁴ tn Grk “in order that they might enslave us.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause with the subjunctive verb καταδουλώσουσιν (katadoulwsousin) has been translated as an English infinitival clause.

[4:17]  ⁵ tn Or “They are zealous for you.”

[4:17]  ⁶ tn Or “but not commendably” (BDAG 505 s.v. καλῶς 2).

[4:17]  ⁷ tn Or “so that you would be zealous.”

[5:10]  ⁸ tn The verb translated “I am confident” (πέποιθα, pepoiqa) comes from the same root in Greek as the words translated “obey” (πείθεσθαι, peiqesqai) in v. 7 and “persuasion” (πεισμονή, peismonh) in v. 8.

[5:10]  ⁹ tn Grk “that you will think nothing otherwise.”

[5:10]  ¹⁰ tn Or “is stirring you up”; Grk “is troubling you.” In context Paul is referring to the confusion and turmoil caused by those who insist that Gentile converts to Christianity must observe the Mosaic law.

[5:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “will suffer condemnation” (L&N 90.80); Grk “will bear his judgment.” The translation “must pay the penalty” is given as an explanatory gloss on the phrase by BDAG 171 s.v. βαστάζω 2.b.β.

[5:12]  ¹² tn Grk “the ones who are upsetting you.” The same verb is used in Acts 21:38 to refer to a person who incited a revolt. Paul could be alluding indirectly to the fact that his opponents are inciting the Galatians to rebel against his teaching with regard to circumcision and the law.

[5:12]  ¹³ tn Grk “would even.”

[5:12]  ¹⁴ tn Or “make eunuchs of themselves”; Grk “cut themselves off.” This statement is rhetorical hyperbole on Paul’s part. It does strongly suggest, however, that Paul’s adversaries in this case (“those agitators”) were men. Some interpreters (notably Erasmus and the Reformers) have attempted to soften the meaning to a figurative “separate themselves” (meaning the opponents would withdraw from fellowship) but such an understanding dramatically weakens the rhetorical force of Paul’s argument. Although it has been argued that such an act of emasculation would be unthinkable for Paul, it must be noted that Paul’s statement is one of biting sarcasm, obviously not meant to be taken literally. See further G. Stählin, TDNT 3:853-55.

[6:12]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “in the flesh.” L&N 88.236 translates the phrase “those who force you to be circumcised are those who wish to make a good showing in external matters.”

[6:12]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “to be circumcised, only.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started with the words “They do so,” which were supplied to make a complete English sentence.

[6:12]  ¹⁷ tc ‡ Grk “so that they will not be persecuted.” The indicative after ἵνα μή (Jina mh) is unusual (though not unexampled elsewhere in the NT), making it the harder reading. The evidence is fairly evenly split between the indicative διώκονται (diwkontai; Ì⁴⁶ A C F G K L P 0278 6 81 104 326 629 1175 1505 pm) and the subjunctive διώκωνται (diwkwntai; א B D Ψ 33 365 1739 pm), with a slight preference for the subjunctive. However, since scribes would tend to change the indicative to a subjunctive due to syntactical requirements, the internal evidence is decidedly on the side of the indicative, suggesting that it is original.

[6:13]  ¹⁸ tn Or “boast about you in external matters,” “in the outward rite” (cf. v. 12).

[6:17]  ¹⁹ tn Paul is probably referring to scars from wounds received in the service of Jesus, although the term στίγμα (stigma) may imply ownership and suggest these scars served as brands (L&N 8.55; 33.481; 90.84).

[15:1]  ²⁰ sn That is, they came down from Judea to Antioch in Syria.

[15:1]  ²¹ tc Codex Bezae (D) and a few other witnesses have “and walk” here (i.e., instead of τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως [tw eqei tw Mwu>sew"] they read καὶ τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως περιπατῆτε [kai tw eqei tw Mwu>sew" peripathte]). This is a decidedly stronger focus on obedience to the Law. As well, D expands vv. 1-5 in various places with the overall effect of being “more sympathetic to the local tradition of the church at Jerusalem” while the Alexandrian witnesses are more sympathetic to Paul (TCGNT 377). Codex D is well known for having a significantly longer text in Acts, but modern scholarship is generally of the opinion that the text of D expands on the original wording of Acts, with a theological viewpoint that especially puts Peter in a more authoritarian light. The expansion in these five verses is in keeping with that motif even though Peter is not explicitly in view.

[15:2]  ²² tn Grk “no little argument and debate” (an idiom).

[15:2]  ²³ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the church, or the rest of the believers at Antioch) has been specified to avoid confusion with the Judaizers mentioned in the preceding clause.

[15:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “go up to,” but in this context a meeting is implied.

[15:2]  ²⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:2]  ²⁶ tn Or “point of controversy.” It is unclear whether this event parallels Gal 2:1-10 or that Gal 2 fits with Acts 11:30. More than likely Gal 2:1-10 is to be related to Acts 11:30.

[15:3]  ²⁷ sn Phoenicia was an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine in ancient Syria.

[15:3]  ²⁸ tn L&N 33.201 indicates that ἐκδιηγέομαι (ekdihgeomai) means to provide detailed information in a systematic manner, “to inform, to relate, to tell fully.” “Relating at length” conveys this effectively in the present context.

[15:3]  ²⁹ tn For ἐποίουν (epoioun) in this verse BDAG 839 s.v. ποιέω 2.c has “they brought joy to the members.”

[15:4]  ³⁰ tn BDAG 761 s.v. παραδέχομαι 2 has “receive, accept” for the meaning here.

[15:4]  ³¹ tn Or “announced.”

[15:4]  ³² tn “They reported all the things God had done with them” – an identical phrase occurs in Acts 14:27. God is always the agent.

[15:5]  ³³ sn See the note on Pharisee in 5:34.

[15:5]  ³⁴ sn The Greek word used here (δεῖ, dei) is a strong term that expresses divine necessity. The claim is that God commanded the circumcision of Gentiles.

[15:5]  ³⁵ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the Gentiles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:5]  ³⁶ tn Or “keep.”

[15:24]  ³⁷ tn Here BDAG 990-91 s.v. ταράσσω 2 states, “Of mental confusion caused by false teachings ταρ. τινά Ac 15:24 (w. λόγοις foll.).”

[15:24]  ³⁸ tn BDAG 71 s.v. ἀνασκευάζω describes this verb with a figurative meaning: “to cause inward distress, upset, unsettle.”

[15:24]  ³⁹ tn Grk “souls.”

[15:24]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “by words”; L&N 25.231 translates the phrase “they troubled and upset you by what they said.”

[20:30]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “from among yourselves.”

[20:30]  ⁴² tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only rarely is used in a generic sense to refer to both males and females. Since Paul is speaking to the Ephesian elders at this point and there is nothing in the context to suggest women were included in that group (“from among your own group”), it is most likely Paul was not predicting that these false teachers would include women.

[20:30]  ⁴³ tn Grk “speaking crooked things”; BDAG 237 s.v. διαστρέφω 2 has “λαλεῖν διεστραμμένα teach perversions (of the truth) Ac 20:30.”

[16:17]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[16:18]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “hearts.”

[1:13]  ⁴⁶ tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).