Genesis 39:4

39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. ¹  Potiphar appointed Joseph ²  overseer of his household and put him in charge ³  of everything he owned.

Genesis 39:1

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. ⁴  An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, ⁵  purchased him from ⁶  the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.

Genesis 2:1

2:1 The heavens and the earth ⁷  were completed with everything that was in them. ⁸ 

Matthew 25:21

25:21 His master answered, ⁹  ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’

Romans 2:29

2:29 but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart ¹⁰  by the Spirit ¹¹  and not by the written code. ¹²  This person’s ¹³  praise is not from people but from God.

Romans 2:1

The Condemnation of the Moralist

2:1 ¹⁴ Therefore ¹⁵  you are without excuse, ¹⁶  whoever you are, ¹⁷  when you judge someone else. ¹⁸  For on whatever grounds ¹⁹  you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things.

Colossians 4:5

4:5 Conduct yourselves ²⁰  with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities.

Colossians 4:2

Exhortation to Pray for the Success of Paul’s Mission

4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 2:10

2:10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

Colossians 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ²¹  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ²² 

Colossians 1:7

1:7 You learned the gospel ²³  from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave ²⁴  – a ²⁵  faithful minister of Christ on our ²⁶  behalf –

Colossians 1:4

1:4 since ²⁷  we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

[39:4]  ¹ sn The Hebrew verb translated became his personal attendant refers to higher domestic service, usually along the lines of a personal attendant. Here Joseph is made the household steward, a position well-attested in Egyptian literature.

[39:4]  ² tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:4]  ³ tn Heb “put into his hand.”

[39:1]  ⁴ tn The disjunctive clause resumes the earlier narrative pertaining to Joseph by recapitulating the event described in 37:36. The perfect verbal form is given a past perfect translation to restore the sequence of the narrative for the reader.

[39:1]  ⁵ sn Captain of the guard. See the note on this phrase in Gen 37:36.

[39:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the hand of.”

[2:1]  ⁷ tn See the note on the phrase “the heavens and the earth” in 1:1.

[2:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “and all the host of them.” Here the “host” refers to all the entities and creatures that God created to populate the world.

[25:21]  ⁹ tn Grk “His master said to him.”

[2:29]  ¹⁰ sn On circumcision is of the heart see Lev 26:41; Deut 10:16; Jer 4:4; Ezek 44:9.

[2:29]  ¹¹ tn Some have taken the phrase ἐν πνεύματι (en pneumati, “by/in [the] S/spirit”) not as a reference to the Holy Spirit, but referring to circumcision as “spiritual and not literal” (RSV).

[2:29]  ¹² tn Grk “letter.”

[2:29]  ¹³ tn Grk “whose.” The relative pronoun has been replaced by the phrase “this person’s” and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation.

[2:1]  ¹⁴ sn Rom 2:1-29 presents unusual difficulties for the interpreter. There have been several major approaches to the chapter and the group(s) it refers to: (1) Rom 2:14 refers to Gentile Christians, not Gentiles who obey the Jewish law. (2) Paul in Rom 2 is presenting a hypothetical viewpoint: If anyone could obey the law, that person would be justified, but no one can. (3) The reference to “the ones who do the law” in 2:13 are those who “do” the law in the right way, on the basis of faith, not according to Jewish legalism. (4) Rom 2:13 only speaks about Christians being judged in the future, along with such texts as Rom 14:10 and 2 Cor 5:10. (5) Paul’s material in Rom 2 is drawn heavily from Diaspora Judaism, so that the treatment of the law presented here cannot be harmonized with other things Paul says about the law elsewhere (E. P. Sanders, Paul, the Law, and the Jewish People, 123); another who sees Rom 2 as an example of Paul’s inconsistency in his treatment of the law is H. Räisänen, Paul and the Law [WUNT], 101-9. (6) The list of blessings and curses in Deut 27–30 provide the background for Rom 2; the Gentiles of 2:14 are Gentile Christians, but the condemnation of Jews in 2:17-24 addresses the failure of Jews as a nation to keep the law as a whole (A. Ito, “Romans 2: A Deuteronomistic Reading,” JSNT 59 [1995]: 21-37).

[2:1]  ¹⁵ tn Some interpreters (e.g., C. K. Barrett, Romans [HNTC], 43) connect the inferential Διό (dio, “therefore”) with 1:32a, treating 1:32b as a parenthetical comment by Paul.

[2:1]  ¹⁶ tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT).

[2:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “O man.”

[2:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.”

[2:1]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “in/by (that) which.”

[4:5]  ²⁰ tn Grk “walk.” The verb περιπατέω (peripatew) is a common NT idiom for one’s lifestyle, behavior, or manner of conduct (L&N 41.11).

[2:1]  ²¹ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ²² tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”

[1:7]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ 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.

[1:4]  ²⁷ 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).