Genesis 33:13-14

33:13 But Jacob ¹  said to him, “My lord knows that the children are young, ²  and that I have to look after the sheep and cattle that are nursing their young. ³  If they are driven too hard for even a single day, all the animals will die. 33:14 Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children, ⁴  until I come to my lord at Seir.”

Isaiah 40:11

40:11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock;

he gathers up the lambs with his arm;

he carries them close to his heart; ⁵ 

he leads the ewes along.

Ezekiel 34:14-16

34:14 In a good pasture I will feed them; the mountain heights of Israel will be their pasture. There they will lie down in a lush ⁶  pasture, and they will feed on rich grass on the mountains of Israel. 34:15 I myself will feed my sheep and I myself will make them lie down, declares the sovereign Lord. 34:16 I will seek the lost and bring back the strays; I will bandage the injured and strengthen the sick, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them – with judgment!

Matthew 11:29-30

11:29 Take my yoke ⁷  on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 11:30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.”

John 21:15-17

Peter’s Restoration

21:15 Then when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, ⁸  do you love me more than these do?” ⁹  He replied, ¹⁰  “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” ¹¹  Jesus ¹²  told him, “Feed my lambs.” 21:16 Jesus ¹³  said ¹⁴  a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He replied, ¹⁵  “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus ¹⁶  told him, “Shepherd my sheep.” 21:17 Jesus ¹⁷  said ¹⁸  a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed ¹⁹  that Jesus ²⁰  asked ²¹  him a third time, “Do you love me?” and said, ²²  “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus ²³  replied, ²⁴  “Feed my sheep.

John 21:1

Jesus’ Appearance to the Disciples in Galilee

21:1 After this ²⁵  Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. ²⁶  Now this is how he did so. ²⁷ 

Colossians 2:3

2:3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 1:22

1:22 but now he has reconciled you ²⁸  by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him –

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ²⁹  brothers and sisters ³⁰  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ³¹  from God our Father! ³² 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³³  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 1:4

1:4 since ³⁴  we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

Galatians 5:22-23

5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit ³⁵  is love, ³⁶  joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ³⁷  5:23 gentleness, and ³⁸  self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:2

5:2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you at all!

Galatians 2:1

Confirmation from the Jerusalem Apostles

2:1 Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem ³⁹  again with Barnabas, taking Titus along too.

Galatians 2:1

Confirmation from the Jerusalem Apostles

2:1 Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem ⁴⁰  again with Barnabas, taking Titus along too.

James 3:17

3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, ⁴¹  full of mercy and good fruit, ⁴²  impartial, and not hypocritical. ⁴³ 

[33:13]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:13]  ² tn Heb “weak.”

[33:13]  ³ tn Heb “and the sheep and the cattle nursing [are] upon me.”

[33:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “and I, I will move along according to my leisure at the foot of the property which is before me and at the foot of the children.”

[40:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “in his bosom” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV), an expression which reflects closeness and protective care.

[34:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “good.”

[11:29]  ⁷ sn A yoke is a wooden bar or frame that joins two animals like oxen or horses so that they can pull a wagon, plow, etc. together. Here it is used figuratively of the restrictions that a teacher or rabbi would place on his followers.

[21:15]  ⁸ tc The majority of mss (A C² Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï sy) read “Simon, the son of Jonah” here and in vv. 16 and 17, but these are perhaps assimilations to Matt 16:17. The reading “Simon, son of John” is better attested, being found in א¹ (א* only has “Simon” without mention of his father) B C* D L W lat co.

[21:15]  ⁹ tn To whom (or what) does “these” (τούτων, toutwn) refer? Three possibilities are suggested: (1) τούτων should be understood as neuter, “these things,” referring to the boats, nets, and fishing gear nearby. In light of Peter’s statement in 21:3, “I am going fishing,” some have understood Peter to have renounced his commission in light of his denials of Jesus. Jesus, as he restores Peter and forgives him for his denials, is asking Peter if he really loves his previous vocation more than he loves Jesus. Three things may be said in evaluation of this view: (a) it is not at all necessary to understand Peter’s statement in 21:3 as a renouncement of his discipleship, as this view of the meaning of τούτων would imply; (b) it would probably be more likely that the verb would be repeated in such a construction (see 7:31 for an example where the verb is repeated); and (c) as R. E. Brown has observed (John [AB], 2:1103) by Johannine standards the choice being offered to Peter between material things and the risen Jesus would seem rather ridiculous, especially after the disciples had realized whom it was they were dealing with (the Lord, see v. 12). (2) τούτων refers to the other disciples, meaning “Do you love me more than you love these other disciples?” The same objection mentioned as (c) under (1) would apply here: Could the author, in light of the realization of who Jesus is which has come to the disciples after the resurrection, and which he has just mentioned in 21:12, seriously present Peter as being offered a choice between the other disciples and the risen Jesus? This leaves option (3), that τούτων refers to the other disciples, meaning “Do you love me more than these other disciples do?” It seems likely that there is some irony here: Peter had boasted in 13:37, “I will lay down my life for you,” and the synoptics present Peter as boasting even more explicitly of his loyalty to Jesus (“Even if they all fall away, I will not,” Matt 26:33; Mark 14:29). Thus the semantic force of what Jesus asks Peter here amounts to something like “Now, after you have denied me three times, as I told you you would, can you still affirm that you love me more than these other disciples do?” The addition of the auxiliary verb “do” in the translation is used to suggest to the English reader the third interpretation, which is the preferred one.

[21:15]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “He said to him.”

[21:15]  ¹¹ tn Is there a significant difference in meaning between the two words for love used in the passage, ἀγαπάω and φιλέω (agapaw and filew)? Aside from Origen, who saw a distinction in the meaning of the two words, most of the Greek Fathers like Chrysostom and Cyril of Alexandria, saw no real difference of meaning. Neither did Augustine nor the translators of the Itala (Old Latin). This was also the view of the Reformation Greek scholars Erasmus and Grotius. The suggestion that a distinction in meaning should be seen comes primarily from a number of British scholars of the 19th century, especially Trench, Westcott, and Plummer. It has been picked up by others such as Spicq, Lenski, and Hendriksen. But most modern scholars decline to see a real difference in the meaning of the two words in this context, among them Bernard, Moffatt, Bonsirven, Bultmann, Barrett, Brown, Morris, Haenchen, and Beasley-Murray. There are three significant reasons for seeing no real difference in the meaning of ἀγαπάω and φιλέω in these verses: (1) the author has a habit of introducing slight stylistic variations in repeated material without any significant difference in meaning (compare, for example, 3:3 with 3:5, and 7:34 with 13:33). An examination of the uses of ἀγαπάω and φιλέω in the Fourth Gospel seems to indicate a general interchangeability between the two. Both terms are used of God’s love for man (3:16, 16:27); of the Father’s love for the Son (3:35, 5:20); of Jesus’ love for men (11:5, 11:3); of the love of men for men (13:34, 15:19); and of the love of men for Jesus (8:42, 16:27). (2) If (as seems probable) the original conversation took place in Aramaic (or possibly Hebrew), there would not have been any difference expressed because both Aramaic and Hebrew have only one basic word for love. In the LXX both ἀγαπάω and φιλέω are used to translate the same Hebrew word for love, although ἀγαπάω is more frequent. It is significant that in the Syriac version of the NT only one verb is used to translate vv. 15-17 (Syriac is very similar linguistically to Palestinian Aramaic). (3) Peter’s answers to the questions asked with ἀγαπάω are ‘yes’ even though he answers using the verb φιλέω. If he is being asked to love Jesus on a higher or more spiritual level his answers give no indication of this, and one would be forced to say (in order to maintain a consistent distinction between the two verbs) that Jesus finally concedes defeat and accepts only the lower form of love which is all that Peter is capable of offering. Thus it seems best to regard the interchange between ἀγαπάω and φιλέω in these verses as a minor stylistic variation of the author, consistent with his use of minor variations in repeated material elsewhere, and not indicative of any real difference in meaning. Thus no attempt has been made to distinguish between the two Greek words in the translation.

[21:15]  ¹² tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:16]  ¹³ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:16]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “said again.” The word “again” (when used in connection with the phrase “a second time”) is redundant and has not been translated.

[21:16]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “He said to him.”

[21:16]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:17]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:17]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “said to him.” The words “to him” are clear from the context and slightly redundant in English.

[21:17]  ¹⁹ tn Or “was sad.”

[21:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:17]  ²¹ tn Grk “said to.”

[21:17]  ²² tn Grk “and said to him.” The words “to him” are clear from the context and slightly redundant in English.

[21:17]  ²³ tc ‡ Most witnesses, especially later ones (A Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï), read ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsou", “Jesus”) here, while B C have ᾿Ιησοῦς without the article and א D W ˹ 33 565 al lat lack both. Because of the rapid verbal exchange in this pericope, “Jesus” is virtually required for clarity, providing a temptation to scribes to add the name. Further, the name normally occurs with the article. Although it is possible that B C accidentally omitted the article with the name, it is just as likely that they added the simple name to the text for clarity’s sake, while other witnesses added the article as well. The omission of ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς thus seems most likely to be authentic. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating some doubts as to their authenticity.

[21:17]  ²⁴ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[21:1]  ²⁵ tn The time reference indicated by μετὰ ταῦτα (meta tauta) is indefinite, in comparison with the specific “after eight days” (μεθ᾿ ἡμέρας ὀκτώ, meq’ Jhmera" oktw) between the two postresurrection appearances of Jesus in 20:26.

[21:1]  ²⁶ sn The Sea of Tiberias is another name for the Sea of Galilee (see 6:1).

[21:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “how he revealed himself.”

[1:22]  ²⁸ tc Some of the better representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texts have a passive verb here instead of the active ἀποκατήλλαξεν (apokathllaxen, “he has reconciled”): ἀποκατηλλάγητε (apokathllaghte) in (Ì⁴⁶) B, ἀποκατήλλακται [sic] (apokathllaktai) in 33, and ἀποκαταλλαγέντες (apokatallagente") in D* F G. Yet the active verb is strongly supported by א A C D² Ψ 048 075 [0278] 1739 1881 Ï lat sy. Internally, the passive creates an anacoluthon in that it looks back to the accusative ὑμᾶς (Juma", “you”) of v. 21 and leaves the following παραστῆσαι (parasthsai) dangling (“you were reconciled…to present you”). The passive reading is certainly the harder reading. As such, it may well explain the rise of the other readings. At the same time, it is possible that the passive was produced by scribes who wanted some symmetry between the ποτε (pote, “at one time”) of v. 21 and the νυνὶ δέ (nuni de, “but now”) of v. 22: Since a passive periphrastic participle is used in v. 21, there may have a temptation to produce a corresponding passive form in v. 22, handling the ὑμᾶς of v. 21 by way of constructio ad sensum. Since παραστῆσαι occurs ten words later, it may not have been considered in this scribal modification. Further, the Western reading (ἀποκαταλλαγέντες) hardly seems to have arisen from ἀποκατηλλάγητε (contra TCGNT 555). As difficult as this decision is, the preferred reading is the active form because it is superior externally and seems to explain the rise of all forms of the passive readings.

[1:2]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ³² 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.

[1:1]  ³³ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:4]  ³⁴ tn The adverbial participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") is understood to be temporal and translated with “since.” A causal idea may also be in the apostle’s mind, but the context emphasizes temporal ideas, e.g., “from the day” (v. 6).

[5:22]  ³⁵ tn That is, the fruit the Spirit produces.

[5:22]  ³⁶ sn Another way to punctuate this is “love” followed by a colon (love: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). It is thus possible to read the eight characteristics following “love” as defining love.

[5:22]  ³⁷ tn Or “reliability”; see BDAG 818 s.v. πίστις 1.a.

[5:23]  ³⁸ tn “And” is supplied here as a matter of English style, which normally inserts “and” between the last two elements of a list or series.

[2:1]  ³⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:1]  ⁴⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:17]  ⁴¹ tn Or “willing to yield,” “open to persuasion.”

[3:17]  ⁴² tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit.”

[3:17]  ⁴³ tn Or “sincere.”