Genesis 41:38-39

41:38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find a man like Joseph, ¹  one in whom the Spirit of God is present?” ²  41:39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning ³  as you are!

Isaiah 11:2

11:2 The Lord’s spirit will rest on him ⁴  –

a spirit that gives extraordinary wisdom, ⁵ 

a spirit that provides the ability to execute plans, ⁶ 

a spirit that produces absolute loyalty to the Lord. ⁷ 

Daniel 5:11

5:11 There is a man in your kingdom who has within him a spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, he proved to have ⁸  insight, discernment, and wisdom like that ⁹  of the gods. ¹⁰  King Nebuchadnezzar your father appointed him chief of the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners. ¹¹ 

Luke 12:12

12:12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment ¹²  what you must say.” ¹³ 

Luke 21:15

21:15 For I will give you the words ¹⁴  along with the wisdom ¹⁵  that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

John 14:17

14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, ¹⁶  because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides ¹⁷  with you and will be ¹⁸  in you.

John 14:26

14:26 But the Advocate, ¹⁹  the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you ²⁰  everything, ²¹  and will cause you to remember everything ²²  I said to you.

Acts 6:10

6:10 Yet ²³  they were not able to resist ²⁴  the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.

Acts 6:1

The Appointment of the First Seven Deacons

6:1 Now in those ²⁵  days, when the disciples were growing in number, ²⁶  a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews ²⁷  against the native Hebraic Jews, ²⁸  because their widows ²⁹  were being overlooked ³⁰  in the daily distribution of food. ³¹ 

Colossians 1:8

1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Colossians 1:6

1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel ³²  is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing ³³  among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

Colossians 1:9

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ³⁴  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ³⁵  to fill ³⁶  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Colossians 2:3

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

James 3:17-18

3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, ³⁷  full of mercy and good fruit, ³⁸  impartial, and not hypocritical. ³⁹  3:18 And the fruit that consists of righteousness ⁴⁰  is planted ⁴¹  in peace among ⁴²  those who make peace.

[41:38]  ¹ tn Heb “like this,” but the referent could be misunderstood to be a man like that described by Joseph in v. 33, rather than Joseph himself. For this reason the proper name “Joseph” has been supplied in the translation.

[41:38]  ² tn The rhetorical question expects the answer “No, of course not!”

[41:39]  ³ tn Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[11:2]  ⁴ sn Like David (1 Sam 16:13), this king will be energized by the Lord’s spirit.

[11:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “a spirit of wisdom and understanding.” The synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of wisdom he will possess. His wisdom will enable him to make just legal decisions (v. 3). A very similar phrase occurs in Eph 1:17.

[11:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “a spirit of counsel [or “strategy”] and strength.” The construction is a hendiadys; the point is that he will have the strength/ability to execute the plans/strategies he devises. This ability will enable him to suppress oppressors and implement just policies (v. 4).

[11:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.” “Knowledge” is used here in its covenantal sense and refers to a recognition of God’s authority and a willingness to submit to it. See Jer 22:16. “Fear” here refers to a healthy respect for God’s authority which produces obedience. Taken together the two terms emphasize the single quality of loyalty to the Lord. This loyalty guarantees that he will make just legal decisions and implement just policies (vv. 4-5).

[5:11]  ⁸ tn Aram “[there were] discovered to be in him.”

[5:11]  ⁹ tn Aram “wisdom like the wisdom.” This would be redundant in terms of English style.

[5:11]  ¹⁰ tc Theodotion lacks the phrase “and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods.”

[5:11]  ¹¹ tc The MT includes a redundant reference to “your father the king” at the end of v. 11. None of the attempts to explain this phrase as original are very convincing. The present translation deletes the phrase, following Theodotion and the Syriac.

[12:12]  ¹² tn Grk “in that very hour” (an idiom).

[12:12]  ¹³ tn Grk “what it is necessary to say.”

[21:15]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “a mouth.” It is a metonymy and refers to the reply the Lord will give to them.

[21:15]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and wisdom.”

[14:17]  ¹⁶ tn Or “cannot receive.”

[14:17]  ¹⁷ tn Or “he remains.”

[14:17]  ¹⁸ tc Some early and important witnesses (Ì^66* B D* W 1 565 it) have ἐστιν (estin, “he is”) instead of ἔσται (estai, “he will be”) here, while other weighty witnesses ({Ì^66c,75vid א A D¹ L Θ Ψ Ë¹³ 33^vid Ï as well as several versions and fathers}), read the future tense. When one considers transcriptional evidence, ἐστιν is the more difficult reading and better explains the rise of the future tense reading, but it must be noted that both Ì⁶⁶ and D were corrected from the present tense to the future. If ἐστιν were the original reading, one would expect a few manuscripts to be corrected to read the present when they originally read the future, but that is not the case. When one considers what the author would have written, the future is on much stronger ground. The immediate context (both in 14:16 and in the chapter as a whole) points to the future, and the theology of the book regards the advent of the Spirit as a decidedly future event (see, e.g., 7:39 and 16:7). The present tense could have arisen from an error of sight on the part of some scribes or more likely from an error of thought as scribes reflected upon the present role of the Spirit. Although a decision is difficult, the future tense is most likely authentic. For further discussion on this textual problem, see James M. Hamilton, Jr., “He Is with You and He Will Be in You” (Ph.D. diss., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003), 213-20.

[14:26]  ¹⁹ tn Or “Helper” or “Counselor”; Grk “Paraclete,” from the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklhto"). See the note on the word “Advocate” in v. 16 for a discussion of how this word is translated.

[14:26]  ²⁰ tn Grk “that one will teach you.” The words “that one” have been omitted from the translation since they are redundant in English.

[14:26]  ²¹ tn Grk “all things.”

[14:26]  ²² tn Grk “all things.”

[6:10]  ²³ tn Grk “and.” The context, however, indicates that the conjunction carries an adversative force.

[6:10]  ²⁴ sn They were not able to resist. This represents another fulfillment of Luke 12:11-12; 21:15.

[6:1]  ²⁵ tn Grk “these.” The translation uses “those” for stylistic reasons.

[6:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “were multiplying.”

[6:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “the Hellenists,” but this descriptive term is largely unknown to the modern English reader. The translation “Greek-speaking Jews” attempts to convey something of who these were, but it was more than a matter of language spoken; it involved a degree of adoption of Greek culture as well.

[6:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “against the Hebrews,” but as with “Hellenists” this needs further explanation for the modern reader.

[6:1]  ²⁹ sn The care of widows is a major biblical theme: Deut 10:18; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12-13; 27:19; Isa 1:17-23; Jer 7:6; Mal 3:5.

[6:1]  ³⁰ tn Or “neglected.”

[6:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “in the daily serving.”

[1:6]  ³² 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]  ³³ 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.

[1:9]  ³⁴ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ³⁵ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ³⁶ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[3:17]  ³⁷ tn Or “willing to yield,” “open to persuasion.”

[3:17]  ³⁸ tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit.”

[3:17]  ³⁹ tn Or “sincere.”

[3:18]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “the fruit of righteousness,” meaning righteous living as a fruit, as the thing produced.

[3:18]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “is sown.”

[3:18]  ⁴² tn Or “for,” or possibly “by.”