Isaiah 28:16

28:16 Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says:

“Look, I am laying ¹  a stone in Zion,

an approved ²  stone,

set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. ³ 

The one who maintains his faith will not panic. ⁴ 

Matthew 16:18

16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades ⁵  will not overpower it.

Acts 4:11-12

4:11 This Jesus ⁶  is the stone that was rejected by you, ⁷  the builders, that has become the cornerstone. ⁸  4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people ⁹  by which we must ¹⁰  be saved.”

Acts 4:2

4:2 angry ¹¹  because they were teaching the people and announcing ¹²  in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

Colossians 1:2-4

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ¹³  brothers and sisters ¹⁴  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ¹⁵  from God our Father! ¹⁶ 

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ¹⁷  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 1:4 since ¹⁸  we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

Galatians 1:7-9

1:7 not that there really is another gospel, ¹⁹  but ²⁰  there are some who are disturbing you and wanting ²¹  to distort the gospel of Christ. 1:8 But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach ²²  a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, ²³  let him be condemned to hell! ²⁴  1:9 As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell! ²⁵ 

Ephesians 2:20

2:20 because you have been built ²⁶  on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, ²⁷  with Christ Jesus himself as ²⁸  the cornerstone. ²⁹ 

Ephesians 2:2

2:2 in which ³⁰  you formerly lived ³¹  according to this world’s present path, ³²  according to the ruler of the kingdom ³³  of the air, the ruler of ³⁴  the spirit ³⁵  that is now energizing ³⁶  the sons of disobedience, ³⁷ 

Ephesians 2:19

2:19 So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,

Ephesians 2:1

New Life Individually

2:1 And although you were ³⁸  dead ³⁹  in your transgressions and sins,

Ephesians 2:6-8

2:6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 2:7 to demonstrate in the coming ages ⁴⁰  the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward ⁴¹  us in Christ Jesus. 2:8 For by grace you are saved ⁴²  through faith, ⁴³  and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God;

[28:16]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text has a third person verb form, which does not agree with the first person suffix that precedes. The form should be emended to יֹסֵד (yosed), a Qal active participle used in a present progressive or imminent future sense.

[28:16]  ² tn Traditionally “tested,” but the implication is that it has passed the test and stands approved.

[28:16]  ³ sn The reality behind the metaphor is not entirely clear from the context. The stone appears to represent someone or something that gives Zion stability. Perhaps the ideal Davidic ruler is in view (see 32:1). Another option is that the image of beginning a building project by laying a precious cornerstone suggests that God is about to transform Zion through judgment and begin a new covenant community that will experience his protection (see 4:3-6; 31:5; 33:20-24; 35:10).

[28:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “will not hurry,” i.e., act in panic.

[16:18]  ⁵ tn Or “and the power of death” (taking the reference to the gates of Hades as a metonymy).

[4:11]  ⁹ tn Grk “This one”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:11]  ¹⁰ tn The word “you” is inserted into the quotation because Peter is making a direct application of Ps 118:22 to his hearers. Because it is not in the OT, it has been left as normal type (rather than bold italic). The remarks are like Acts 2:22-24 and 3:12-15.

[4:11]  ¹¹ sn A quotation from Ps 118:22 which combines the theme of rejection with the theme of God’s vindication/exaltation.

[4:12]  ¹³ tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

[4:12]  ¹⁴ sn Must be saved. The term used here (δεῖ, dei, “it is necessary”) reflects the necessity set up by God’s directive plan.

[4:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “greatly annoyed,” “provoked.”

[4:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or “proclaiming.”

[1:2]  ²¹ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ²² tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ²³ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ²⁴ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[1:3]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁹ 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).

[1:7]  ³³ tn Grk “which is not another,” but this could be misunderstood to mean “which is not really different.” In fact, as Paul goes on to make clear, there is no other gospel than the one he preaches.

[1:7]  ³⁴ tn Grk “except.”

[1:7]  ³⁵ tn Or “trying.”

[1:8]  ³⁷ tc ‡ Most witnesses have ὑμῖν (Jumin, “to you”) either after (א² A [D* ὑμᾶς] 6 33 326 614 945 1881 Ï Tert^pt Ambst) or before (Ì^51vid B H 0278 630 1175 [1739* ἡμῖν]) εὐαγγελίζηται (euaggelizhtai, “should preach” [or some variation on the form of this verb]). But the fact that it floats suggests its inauthenticity, especially since it appears to be a motivated reading for purposes of clarification. The following witnesses lack the pronoun: א* F G Ψ ar b g Cyp Mcion^T Tert^pt Lcf. The external evidence admittedly is not as weighty as evidence for the pronoun, but coupled with strong internal evidence the shorter reading should be considered original. Although it is possible that scribes may have deleted the pronoun to make Paul’s statement seem more universal, the fact that the pronoun floats suggests otherwise. NA²⁷ has the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[1:8]  ³⁸ tn Or “other than the one we preached to you.”

[1:8]  ³⁹ tn Grk “let him be accursed” (ἀνάθεμα, anaqema). The translation gives the outcome which is implied by this dreadful curse.

[1:9]  ⁴¹ tn See the note on this phrase in the previous verse.

[2:20]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “having been built.”

[2:20]  ⁴⁶ sn Apostles and prophets. Because the prophets appear after the mention of the apostles and because they are linked together in 3:5 as recipients of revelation about the church, they are to be regarded not as Old Testament prophets, but as New Testament prophets.

[2:20]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “while Christ Jesus himself is” or “Christ Jesus himself being.”

[2:20]  ⁴⁸ tn Or perhaps “capstone” (NAB). The meaning of ἀκρογωνιαῖος (akrogwniaio") is greatly debated. The meaning “capstone” is proposed by J. Jeremias (TDNT 1:792), but the most important text for this meaning (T. Sol. 22:7-23:4) is late and possibly not even an appropriate parallel. The only place ἀκρογωνιαῖος is used in the LXX is Isa 28:16, and there it clearly refers to a cornerstone that is part of a foundation. Furthermore, the imagery in this context has the building growing off the cornerstone upward, whereas if Christ were the capstone, he would not assume his position until the building was finished, which vv. 21-22 argue against.

[2:2]  ⁴⁹ sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.

[2:2]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “walked.”

[2:2]  ⁵¹ tn Or possibly “Aeon.”

[2:2]  ⁵² tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”

[2:2]  ⁵³ tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).

[2:2]  ⁵⁴ sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).

[2:2]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “working in.”

[2:2]  ⁵⁶ sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.

[2:1]  ⁵³ tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.

[2:1]  ⁵⁴ sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.

[2:7]  ⁵⁷ tn Or possibly “to the Aeons who are about to come.”

[2:7]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “upon.”

[2:8]  ⁶¹ tn See note on the same expression in v. 5.

[2:8]  ⁶² tc The feminine article is found before πίστεως (pistews, “faith”) in the Byzantine text as well as in A Ψ 1881 pc. Perhaps for some scribes the article was intended to imply creedal fidelity as a necessary condition of salvation (“you are saved through the faith”), although elsewhere in the corpus Paulinum the phrase διὰ τῆς πίστεως (dia th" pistew") is used for the act of believing rather than the content of faith (cf. Rom 3:30, 31; Gal 3:14; Eph 3:17; Col 2:12). On the other side, strong representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texts (א B D* F G P 0278 6 33 1739 al bo) lack the article. Hence, both text-critically and exegetically, the meaning of the text here is most likely “saved through faith” as opposed to “saved through the faith.” Regarding the textual problem, the lack of the article is the preferred reading.