Genesis 3:15

3:15 And I will put hostility ¹  between you and the woman

and between your offspring and her offspring; ² 

her offspring will attack ³  your head,

and ⁴  you ⁵  will attack her offspring’s heel.” ⁶ 

Luke 24:27

24:27 Then ⁷  beginning with Moses and all the prophets, ⁸  he interpreted to them the things written about ⁹  himself in all the scriptures.

Luke 24:44

Jesus’ Final Commission

24:44 Then ¹⁰  he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me ¹¹  in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms ¹²  must be fulfilled.”

John 5:39

5:39 You study the scriptures thoroughly ¹³  because you think in them you possess eternal life, ¹⁴  and it is these same scriptures ¹⁵  that testify about me,

Acts 10:43

10:43 About him all the prophets testify, ¹⁶  that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins ¹⁷  through his name.”

Acts 10:1

Peter Visits Cornelius

10:1 Now there was a man in Caesarea ¹⁸  named Cornelius, a centurion ¹⁹  of what was known as the Italian Cohort. ²⁰ 

Colossians 1:3-4

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ²¹  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 1:4 since ²²  we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²³  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 1:10-11

1:10 so that you may live ²⁴  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ²⁵  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, 1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ²⁶  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

Revelation 19:10

19:10 So ²⁷  I threw myself down ²⁸  at his feet to worship him, but ²⁹  he said, “Do not do this! ³⁰  I am only ³¹  a fellow servant ³²  with you and your brothers ³³  who hold to the testimony about ³⁴  Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

[3:15]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word translated “hostility” is derived from the root אֵיב (’ev, “to be hostile, to be an adversary [or enemy]”). The curse announces that there will be continuing hostility between the serpent and the woman. The serpent will now live in a “battle zone,” as it were.

[3:15]  ² sn The Hebrew word translated “offspring” is a collective singular. The text anticipates the ongoing struggle between human beings (the woman’s offspring) and deadly poisonous snakes (the serpent’s offspring). An ancient Jewish interpretation of the passage states: “He made the serpent, cause of the deceit, press the earth with belly and flank, having bitterly driven him out. He aroused a dire enmity between them. The one guards his head to save it, the other his heel, for death is at hand in the proximity of men and malignant poisonous snakes.” See Sib. Or. 1:59-64. For a similar interpretation see Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.50-51).

[3:15]  ³ tn Heb “he will attack [or “bruise”] you [on] the head.” The singular pronoun and verb agree grammatically with the collective singular noun “offspring.” For other examples of singular verb and pronominal forms being used with the collective singular “offspring,” see Gen 16:10; 22:17; 24:60. The word “head” is an adverbial accusative, locating the blow. A crushing blow to the head would be potentially fatal.

[3:15]  ⁴ tn Or “but you will…”; or “as they attack your head, you will attack their heel.” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is understood as contrastive. Both clauses place the subject before the verb, a construction that is sometimes used to indicate synchronic action (see Judg 15:14).

[3:15]  ⁵ sn You will attack her offspring’s heel. Though the conflict will actually involve the serpent’s offspring (snakes) and the woman’s offspring (human beings), v. 15b for rhetorical effect depicts the conflict as being between the serpent and the woman’s offspring, as if the serpent will outlive the woman. The statement is personalized for the sake of the addressee (the serpent) and reflects the ancient Semitic concept of corporate solidarity, which emphasizes the close relationship between a progenitor and his offspring. Note Gen 28:14, where the Lord says to Jacob, “Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you [second masculine singular] will spread out in all directions.” Jacob will “spread out” in all directions through his offspring, but the text states the matter as if this will happen to him personally.

[3:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “you will attack him [on] the heel.” The verb (translated “attack”) is repeated here, a fact that is obscured by some translations (e.g., NIV “crush…strike”). The singular pronoun agrees grammatically with the collective singular noun “offspring.” For other examples of singular verb and pronominal forms being used with the collective singular “offspring,” see Gen 16:10; 22:17; 24:60. The word “heel” is an adverbial accusative, locating the blow. A bite on the heel from a poisonous serpent is potentially fatal.

[24:27]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[24:27]  ⁸ sn The reference to Moses and all the prophets is a way to say the promise of Messiah runs throughout OT scripture from first to last.

[24:27]  ⁹ tn Or “regarding,” “concerning.” “Written” is implied by the mention of the scriptures in context; “said” could also be used here, referring to the original utterances, but by now these things had been committed to writing.

[24:44]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[24:44]  ¹¹ sn Everything written about me. The divine plan, events, and scripture itself are seen here as being one.

[24:44]  ¹² sn For a similar threefold division of the OT scriptures, see the prologue to Sirach, lines 8-10, and from Qumran, the epilogue to 4QMMT, line 10.

[5:39]  ¹³ tn Or “Study the scriptures thoroughly” (an imperative). For the meaning of the verb see G. Delling, TDNT 2:655-57.

[5:39]  ¹⁴ sn In them you possess eternal life. Note the following examples from the rabbinic tractate Pirqe Avot (“The Sayings of the Fathers”): Pirqe Avot 2:8, “He who has acquired the words of the law has acquired for himself the life of the world to come”; Pirqe Avot 6:7, “Great is the law for it gives to those who practice it life in this world and in the world to come.”

[5:39]  ¹⁵ tn The words “same scriptures” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify the referent (“these”).

[10:43]  ¹⁶ tn Or “All the prophets testify about him.” Although modern English translations tend to place “about him” after “testify” (so NIV, NRSV) the phrase “about him” has been left at the beginning of v. 43 for emphatic reasons.

[10:43]  ¹⁷ sn Forgiveness of sins. See Luke 24:47; also Acts 14:23; 19:4; 9:42; 11:17; 16:31. The gospel is present in the prophetic promise, Rom 1:1-7. The message is in continuity with the ancient hope.

[10:1]  ¹⁸ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). It was known as “Caesarea by the sea” (BDAG 499 s.v. Καισάρεια 2). Largely Gentile, it was a center of Roman administration and the location of many of Herod the Great’s building projects (Josephus, Ant. 15.9.6 [15.331-341]).

[10:1]  ¹⁹ sn A centurion was a noncommissioned officer in the Roman army or one of the auxiliary territorial armies, commanding a centuria of (nominally) 100 men. The responsibilities of centurions were broadly similar to modern junior officers, but there was a wide gap in social status between them and officers, and relatively few were promoted beyond the rank of senior centurion. The Roman troops stationed in Judea were auxiliaries, who would normally be rewarded with Roman citizenship after 25 years of service. Some of the centurions may have served originally in the Roman legions (regular army) and thus gained their citizenship at enlistment. Others may have inherited it, like Paul.

[10:1]  ²⁰ sn A cohort was a Roman military unit of about 600 soldiers, one-tenth of a legion (BDAG 936 s.v. σπεῖρα). The Italian Cohort has been identified as cohors II Italica which is known to have been stationed in Syria in a.d. 88.

[1:3]  ²¹ tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).

[1:4]  ²² 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).

[1:1]  ²³ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:10]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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.”

[1:11]  ²⁶ tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.

[19:10]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s announcement.

[19:10]  ²⁸ tn Grk “I fell down at his feet.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

[19:10]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[19:10]  ³⁰ tn On the elliptical expression ὅρα μή (Jora mh) BDAG 720 s.v. ὁράω B.2 states: “Elliptically…ὅρα μή (sc. ποιήσῃς) watch out! don’t do that! Rv 19:10; 22:9.”

[19:10]  ³¹ tn The lowliness of a slave is emphasized in the Greek text with the emphatic position of σύνδουλος (sundoulo"). The use of “only” helps to bring this nuance out in English.

[19:10]  ³² tn Grk “fellow slave.” See the note on the word “servants” in v. 2.

[19:10]  ³³ tn The Greek term “brother” literally refers to family relationships, but here it is used in a broader sense to connote familial relationships within the family of God (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a).

[19:10]  ³⁴ tn The genitive ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou) has been translated as an objective genitive here. A subjective genitive, also possible, would produce the meaning “who hold to what Jesus testifies.”