Discovery BoxGenesis 13:8
Context13:8 Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no quarreling between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives. 1
Genesis 45:24
Context45:24 Then he sent his brothers on their way and they left. He said to them, “As you travel don’t be overcome with fear.” 2
Psalms 133:1
ContextA song of ascents, 4 by David.
133:1 Look! How good and how pleasant it is
when brothers live together! 5
Proverbs 18:19
Context18:19 A relative 6 offended 7 is harder to reach than 8 a strong city,
and disputes are like the barred gates 9 of a fortified citadel. 10
John 15:17-18
Context15:17 This 11 I command you – to love one another.
15:18 “If the world hates you, be aware 12 that it hated me first. 13
John 15:1
Context15:1 “I am the true vine 14 and my Father is the gardener. 15
Colossians 1:6-8
Context1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel 16 is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing 17 among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. 1:7 You learned the gospel 18 from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave 19 – a 20 faithful minister of Christ on our 21 behalf – 1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
Philippians 2:1
Context2:1 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, 22 any affection or mercy, 23
Philippians 2:3
Context2:3 Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition 24 or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.
Philippians 2:1
Context2:1 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, 25 any affection or mercy, 26
Philippians 3:11-15
Context3:11 and so, somehow, 27 to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
3:12 Not that I have already attained this – that is, I have not already been perfected – but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me. 28 3:13 Brothers and sisters, 29 I do not consider myself to have attained this. Instead I am single-minded: 30 Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, 3:14 with this goal in mind, 31 I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God 32 in Christ Jesus. 3:15 Therefore let those of us who are “perfect” embrace this point of view. 33 If you think otherwise, God will reveal to you the error of your ways. 34
[13:8] 1 tn Heb “men, brothers [are] we.” Here “brothers” describes the closeness of the relationship, but could be misunderstood if taken literally, since Abram was Lot’s uncle.
[45:24] 2 tn Heb “do not be stirred up in the way.” The verb means “stir up.” Some understand the Hebrew verb רָגָז (ragaz, “to stir up”) as a reference to quarreling (see Prov 29:9, where it has this connotation), but in Exod 15:14 and other passages it means “to fear.” This might refer to a fear of robbers, but more likely it is an assuring word that they need not be fearful about returning to Egypt. They might have thought that once Jacob was in Egypt, Joseph would take his revenge on them.
[133:1] 3 sn Psalm 133. The psalmist affirms the benefits of family unity.
[133:1] 4 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] 5 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.
[18:19] 6 tn Heb “brother,” but this is not limited to actual siblings (cf. NRSV “an ally”; CEV, NLT “friend”).
[18:19] 7 tn The Niphal participle from פָּשַׁע (pasha’) modifies “brother”: a brother transgressed, offended, sinned against.
[18:19] 8 tc The LXX has a clear antithetical proverb here: “A brother helped is like a stronghold, but disputes are like bars of a citadel.” Accordingly, the editors of BHS propose מוֹשִׁיעַ (moshia’) instead of נִפְשָׁע (nifsha’, so also the other versions and the RSV). But since both lines use the comparison with a citadel (fortified/barred), the antithesis is problematic.
[18:19] 9 tn Heb “bars,” but this could be understood to mean “taverns,” so “barred gates” is employed in the translation.
[18:19] 10 sn The proverb is talking about changing a friend or a relative into an enemy by abuse or strife – the bars go up, as it were. And the “walls” that are erected are not easily torn down.
[15:17] 11 tn Grk “These things.”
[15:18] 13 tn Grk “it hated me before you.”
[15:1] 14 sn I am the true vine. There are numerous OT passages which refer to Israel as a vine: Ps 80:8-16, Isa 5:1-7, Jer 2:21, Ezek 15:1-8, 17:5-10, 19:10-14, and Hos 10:1. The vine became symbolic of Israel, and even appeared on some coins issued by the Maccabees. The OT passages which use this symbol appear to regard Israel as faithless to Yahweh (typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT) and/or the object of severe punishment. Ezek 15:1-8 in particular talks about the worthlessness of wood from a vine (in relation to disobedient Judah). A branch cut from a vine is worthless except to be burned as fuel. This fits more with the statements about the disciples (John 15:6) than with Jesus’ description of himself as the vine. Ezek 17:5-10 contains vine imagery which refers to a king of the house of David, Zedekiah, who was set up as king in Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah allied himself to Egypt and broke his covenant with Nebuchadnezzar (and therefore also with God), which would ultimately result in his downfall (17:20-21). Ezek 17:22-24 then describes the planting of a cedar sprig which grows into a lofty tree, a figurative description of Messiah. But it is significant that Messiah himself is not described in Ezek 17 as a vine, but as a cedar tree. The vine imagery here applies to Zedekiah’s disobedience. Jesus’ description of himself as the true vine in John 15:1 ff. is to be seen against this background, but it differs significantly from the imagery surveyed above. It represents new imagery which differs significantly from OT concepts; it appears to be original with Jesus. The imagery of the vine underscores the importance of fruitfulness in the Christian life and the truth that this results not from human achievement, but from one’s position in Christ. Jesus is not just giving some comforting advice, but portraying to the disciples the difficult path of faithful service. To some degree the figure is similar to the head-body metaphor used by Paul, with Christ as head and believers as members of the body. Both metaphors bring out the vital and necessary connection which exists between Christ and believers.
[1:6] 16 tn Grk “just as in the entire world it is bearing fruit.” The antecedent (“the gospel”) of the implied subject (“it”) of ἐστιν (estin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:6] 17 tn Though the participles are periphrastic with the present tense verb ἐστίν (estin), the presence of the temporal indicator “from the day” in the next clause indicates that this is a present tense that reaches into the past and should be translated as “has been bearing fruit and growing.” For a discussion of this use of the present tense, see ExSyn 519-20.
[1:7] 18 tn Or “learned it.” The Greek text simply has “you learned” without the reference to “the gospel,” but “the gospel” is supplied to clarify the sense of the clause. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
[1:7] 19 tn The Greek word translated “fellow slave” is σύνδουλος (sundoulo"); the σύν- prefix here denotes association. Though δοῦλος is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
[1:7] 20 tn The Greek text has “who (ὅς, Jos) is a faithful minister.” The above translation conveys the antecedent of the relative pronoun quite well and avoids the redundancy with the following substantival participle of v. 8, namely, “who told” (ὁ δηλώσας, Jo dhlwsa").
[1:7] 21 tc ‡ Judging by the superior witnesses for the first person pronoun ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “us”; Ì46 א* A B D* F G 326* 1505 al) vs. the second person pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “you”; found in א2 C D1 Ψ 075 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co), ἡμῶν should be regarded as original. Although it is possible that ἡμῶν was an early alteration of ὑμῶν (either unintentionally, as dittography, since it comes seventeen letters after the previous ἡμῶν; or intentionally, to conform to the surrounding first person pronouns), this supposition is difficult to maintain in light of the varied and valuable witnesses for this reading. Further, the second person is both embedded in the verb ἐμάθετε (emaqete) and is explicit in v. 8 (ὑμῶν). Hence, the motivation to change to the first person pronoun is counterbalanced by such evidence. The second person pronoun may have been introduced unintentionally via homoioarcton with the ὑπέρ (Juper) that immediately precedes it. As well, the second person reading is somewhat harder for it seems to address Epaphras’ role only in relation to Paul and his colleagues, rather than in relation to the Colossians. Nevertheless, the decision must be based ultimately on external evidence (because the internal evidence can be variously interpreted), and this strongly supports ἡμῶν.
[2:1] 22 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] 23 tn Grk “and any affection and mercy.” The Greek idea, however, is best expressed by “or” in English.
[2:3] 24 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.”
[2:1] 25 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] 26 tn Grk “and any affection and mercy.” The Greek idea, however, is best expressed by “or” in English.
[3:11] 27 tn On εἰ πῶς (ei pws) as “so, somehow” see BDAG 279, s.v. εἰ 6.n.
[3:12] 28 tn Grk “that for which I also was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” The passive has been translated as active in keeping with contemporary English style.
[3:13] 29 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.
[3:13] 30 tn Grk “But this one thing (I do).”
[3:14] 31 tn Grk “according to the goal.”
[3:14] 32 tn Grk “prize, namely, the heavenly calling of God.”
[3:15] 33 tn Grk “those of us who are ‘perfect’ should think this,” or possibly “those of us who are mature should think this.”
[3:15] 34 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.
