Genesis 41:39

41:39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning ¹  as you are!

Genesis 41:1

Joseph’s Rise to Power

41:1 At the end of two full years ²  Pharaoh had a dream. ³  As he was standing by the Nile,

Genesis 16:1

The Birth of Ishmael

16:1 Now Sarai, ⁴  Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, ⁵  but she had an Egyptian servant ⁶  named Hagar. ⁷ 

Genesis 18:30

18:30 Then Abraham ⁸  said, “May the Lord not be angry ⁹  so that I may speak! ¹⁰  What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

Ecclesiastes 8:1

Human Government Demonstrates Limitations of Wisdom

8:1 Who is ¹¹  a ¹²  wise person? Who knows the solution ¹³  to a problem? ¹⁴ 

A person’s wisdom brightens his appearance, ¹⁵  and softens ¹⁶  his harsh countenance. ¹⁷ 

Luke 12:42-44

12:42 The Lord replied, ¹⁸  “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, ¹⁹  whom the master puts in charge of his household servants, ²⁰  to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? 12:43 Blessed is that slave ²¹  whom his master finds at work ²²  when he returns. 12:44 I tell you the truth, ²³  the master ²⁴  will put him in charge of all his possessions.

Luke 16:8

16:8 The ²⁵  master commended the dishonest ²⁶  manager because he acted shrewdly. ²⁷  For the people ²⁸  of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries ²⁹  than the people ³⁰  of light.

Luke 16:1

The Parable of the Clever Steward

16:1 Jesus ³¹  also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations ³²  that his manager ³³  was wasting ³⁴  his assets.

Colossians 3:10-15

3:10 and have been clothed with the new man ³⁵  that is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created it. 3:11 Here there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave ³⁶  or free, but Christ is all and in all.

Exhortation to Unity and Love

3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, ³⁷  kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 3:13 bearing with one another and forgiving ³⁸  one another, if someone happens to have ³⁹  a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others. ⁴⁰  3:14 And to all these ⁴¹  virtues ⁴²  add ⁴³  love, which is the perfect bond. ⁴⁴  3:15 Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body ⁴⁵  to this peace), and be thankful.

Colossians 3:1

Exhortations to Seek the Things Above

3:1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Colossians 4:5

4:5 Conduct yourselves ⁴⁶  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 1:18

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ⁴⁷  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ⁴⁸ 

[41:39]  ¹ tn Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:1]  ² tn Heb “two years, days.”

[41:1]  ³ tn Heb “was dreaming.”

[16:1]  ⁴ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.

[16:1]  ⁵ sn On the cultural background of the story of Sarai’s childlessness see J. Van Seters, “The Problem of Childlessness in Near Eastern Law and the Patriarchs of Israel,” JBL 87 (1968): 401-8.

[16:1]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term שִׁפְחָה (shifkhah, translated “servant” here and in vv. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8) refers to a menial female servant.

[16:1]  ⁷ sn The passage records the birth of Ishmael to Abram through an Egyptian woman. The story illustrates the limits of Abram’s faith as he tries to obtain a son through social custom. The barrenness of Sarai poses a challenge to Abram’s faith, just as the famine did in chap. 12. As in chap. 12, an Egyptian figures prominently. (Perhaps Hagar was obtained as a slave during Abram’s stay in Egypt.)

[18:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “let it not be hot to the Lord.” This is an idiom which means “may the Lord not be angry.”

[18:30]  ¹⁰ tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.

[8:1]  ¹¹ tn The preposition כְּ (kaf) prefixed to כְּהֶחָכָם (kÿhekhakham, “wise man”) is traditionally taken in a comparative sense: “Who is like [or as] the wise man?” On the other hand, it may denote identity, e.g., Gen 1:26; Num 11:1; 1 Sam 20:3; 2 Sam 9:8; Neh 7:2; Job 10:9; Nah 3:6 (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 47, §261; IBHS 202-4 §11.2.9b).

[8:1]  ¹² tn The definite article on הֶחָכָם (hekhakham, “wise man”) may be taken in an individualizing (“the wise man”) or generic sense (“a wise man”).

[8:1]  ¹³ tn Or “the explanation.” The noun פֵּשֶׁר (pesher) denotes “solution; explanation; interpretation; meaning” (HALOT 982–83 s.v. פֵּשֶׁר; BDB 833 s.v. פֵּשֶׁר). The Hebrew term is an Aramaic loanword from פִּשְׁרָא (pishra’, “diagnosis; meaning; solution”). The Aramaic noun פְּשַׁר (pÿshar, “interpretation of a dream or prophecy”) and verb פְּשַׁר (pÿshar, “to interpret a dream or prophecy”) reflect a later meaning not present in Ecclesiastes, but current at the time of Daniel (Dan 2:5-7; 4:3, 15, 16; 5:12, 15, 16; 7:16) and Qumran (e.g., 1QpHab).

[8:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a thing.”

[8:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “makes his face shine.”

[8:1]  ¹⁶ tc The MT vocalizes the consonantal form ישנא as יְשֻׁנֶּא (yÿshunne’, Pual imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from I שָׁנָה, shana, “to change”). However, the LXX μισθήσεται (misqhsetai) reflects an alternate vocalization tradition of יִשָּׂנֵא (yissane’, Niphal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from שָׂנֵא, sane’, “to hate”), while the Vulgate’s commutabit reflects יְשַׁנֶּה (yÿshanneh, Piel imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from II שָׁנָה, shanah, “to repeat”).

[8:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the strength of his face is changed.” The expression עֹז פָּנָיו (’oz panayv, “strength of his face”) is an idiom for “boldness; impudence” (BDB 739 s.v. עֹז 4) or “hard face” = harsh countenance (HALOT 805 s.v. I עֹז 1.c).

[12:42]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “And the Lord said.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[12:42]  ¹⁹ tn Or “administrator,” “steward” (L&N 37.39).

[12:42]  ²⁰ tn This term, θεραπεία (qerapeia), describes the group of servants working in a particular household (L&N 46.6).

[12:43]  ²¹ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

[12:43]  ²² tn That is, doing his job, doing what he is supposed to be doing.

[12:44]  ²³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀληθῶς, alhqw"), I say to you.”

[12:44]  ²⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the master) has been specified in the translation for clarity. See also Luke 19:11-27.

[16:8]  ²⁵ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[16:8]  ²⁶ sn Is the manager dishonest because of what he just did? Or is it a reference to what he had done earlier, described in v. 1? This is a difficult question, but it seems unlikely that the master, having fired the man for prior dishonesty, would now commend those same actions. It would also be unusual for Jesus to make that point of the story the example. Thus it is more likely the reference to dishonesty goes back to the earliest events, while the commendation is for the cleverness of the former manager reflected in vv. 5-7.

[16:8]  ²⁷ sn Where this parable ends is debated: Does it conclude with v. 7, after v. 8a, after v. 8b, or after v. 9? Verse 8a looks as if it is still part of the story, with its clear reference to the manager, while 8b looks like Jesus’ application, since its remarks are more general. So it is most likely the parable stops after v. 8a.

[16:8]  ²⁸ tn Grk “sons” (an idiom).

[16:8]  ²⁹ tn Grk “with their own generation.”

[16:8]  ³⁰ tn Grk “sons.” Here the phrase “sons of light” is a reference to the righteous. The point is that those of the world often think ahead about consequences better than the righteous do.

[16:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:1]  ³² tn These are not formal legal charges, but reports from friends, acquaintances, etc.; Grk “A certain man was rich who had a manager, and this one was reported to him as wasting his property.”

[16:1]  ³³ sn His manager was the steward in charge of managing the house. He could have been a slave trained for the role.

[16:1]  ³⁴ tn Or “squandering.” This verb is graphic; it means to scatter (L&N 57.151).

[3:10]  ³⁵ sn Put off all such things. The commands in vv. 8-9 are based on two reasons given in vv. 9-10 – reasons which are expressed in terms of a metaphor about clothing oneself. Paul says that they have put off the old man and have put on the new man. Two things need to be discussed in reference to Paul’s statement. (1) What is the meaning of the clothing imagery (i.e., the “have put off” and “have been clothed”)? (2) What is the meaning of the old man and the new man? Though some commentators understand the participles “have put off” (v. 9) and “have been clothed” (v. 10) as imperatives (i.e., “put off!” and “put on!”), this use of participles is extremely rare in the NT and thus unlikely here. It is better to take them as having the semantic force of indicatives, and thus they give an explanation of what had happened to the Colossians at the time of their conversion – they had taken off the old man and put on the new when they trusted in Christ (cf. 1:4). While it is difficult to say for certain what the background to Paul’s “clothing” metaphor might be (whether it is primarily Jewish and comes from the OT, or primarily Gentile and comes from some facet of the Greco-Roman religious milieu), it is nonetheless clear, on the basis of Paul’s usage of the expression, that the old man refers to man as he is in Adam and dominated by sin (cf. Rom 6:6; Eph 4:22), while the new man refers to the Christian whose new sphere of existence is in Christ. Though the metaphor of clothing oneself primarily reflects outward actions, there is a distinct inward aspect to it, as the rest of v. 10 indicates: being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created it. Paul’s point, then, is that Christians should take off their dirty clothing (inappropriate behavior) and put on clean clothing (behavior consistent with knowing Christ) because this has already been accomplished in a positional sense at the time of their conversion (cf. Gal 3:27 with Rom 13:14).

[3:11]  ³⁶ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[3:12]  ³⁷ tn If the genitive construct σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ (splancna oiktirmou) is a hendiadys then it would be “compassion” or “tenderheartedness.” See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 161.

[3:13]  ³⁸ tn For the translation of χαριζόμενοι (carizomenoi) as “forgiving,” see BDAG 1078 s.v. χαρίζομαι 3. The two participles “bearing” (ἀνεχόμενοι, anecomenoi) and “forgiving” (χαριζόμενοι) express the means by which the action of the finite verb “clothe yourselves” is to be carried out.

[3:13]  ³⁹ tn Grk “if someone has”; the term “happens,” though not in the Greek text, is inserted to bring out the force of the third class condition.

[3:13]  ⁴⁰ tn The expression “forgive others” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. It is included in the translation to make the sentence complete and more comprehensible to the English reader.

[3:14]  ⁴¹ tn BDAG 365 s.v. ἐπί 7 suggests “to all these” as a translation for ἐπὶ πᾶσιν δὲ τούτοις (epi pasin de toutoi").

[3:14]  ⁴² tn The term “virtues” is not in the Greek text, but is included in the translation to specify the antecedent and to make clear the sense of the pronoun “these.”

[3:14]  ⁴³ tn The verb “add,” though not in the Greek text, is implied, picking up the initial imperative “clothe yourselves.”

[3:14]  ⁴⁴ tn The genitive τῆς τελειότητος (th" teleiothto") has been translated as an attributive genitive, “the perfect bond.”

[3:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “in one body.” This phrase emphasizes the manner in which the believers were called, not the goal of their calling, and focuses upon their unity.

[4:5]  ⁴⁶ 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).

[1:18]  ⁴⁷ tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.

[1:18]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”