Jeremiah 29:1-2

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles

29:1 The prophet Jeremiah sent a letter to the exiles Nebuchadnezzar had carried off from Jerusalem ¹  to Babylon. It was addressed to the elders who were left among the exiles, to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the other people who were exiled in Babylon. ²  29:2 He sent it after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the palace officials, ³  the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had been exiled from Jerusalem. ⁴ 

Colossians 4:16

4:16 And after ⁵  you have read this letter, have it read ⁶  to the church of Laodicea. In turn, read the letter from Laodicea ⁷  as well.

Colossians 4:1

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

Colossians 4:18

4:18 I, Paul, write this greeting by my own hand. ⁸  Remember my chains. ⁹  Grace be with you. ¹⁰ 

Colossians 1:27

1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious ¹¹  riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Revelation 1:3

1:3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this ¹²  prophecy aloud, ¹³  and blessed are ¹⁴  those who hear and obey ¹⁵  the things written in it, because the time is near! ¹⁶ 

[29:1]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[29:1]  ² tn Jer 29:1-3 are all one long sentence in Hebrew containing a parenthetical insertion. The text reads “These are the words of the letter which the prophet Jeremiah sent to the elders…people whom Nebuchadnezzar had exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon after King Jeconiah…had gone from Jerusalem by the hand of Elasah…whom Zedekiah sent…saying, ‘Thus says the Lord…’” The sentence has been broken up for the sake of contemporary English style and clarity.

[29:2]  ³ tn This term is often mistakenly understood to refer to a “eunuch.” It is clear, however, in Gen 39:1 that “eunuchs” could be married. On the other hand it is clear from Isa 59:3-5 that some who bore this title could not have children. In this period, it is possible that the persons who bore this title were high officials like the rab saris who was a high official in the Babylonian court (cf. Jer 39:3, 13; 52:25). For further references see HALOT 727 s.v. סָרִיס 1.c.

[29:2]  ⁴ sn See 2 Kgs 24:14-16 and compare the study note on Jer 24:1.

[4:16]  ⁵ tn Grk “when.”

[4:16]  ⁶ tn The construction beginning with the imperative ποιήσατε ἵνα…ἀναγνωσθῇ (poihsate Jina…anagnwsqh) should be translated as “have it read” where the conjunction ἵνα functions to mark off its clause as the direct object of the imperative ποιήσατε. The content of the clause (“reading the letter”) is what Paul commands with the imperative ποιήσατε. Thus the translation “have it read” has been used here.

[4:16]  ⁷ sn This letter is otherwise unknown, but some have suggested that it is the letter known today as Ephesians.

[4:18]  ⁸ tn Grk “the greeting by my hand, of Paul.”

[4:18]  ⁹ tn Or “my imprisonment.”

[4:18]  ¹⁰ tc Most witnesses, including a few important ones (א² D Ψ 075 0278 Ï lat sy), conclude this letter with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”). Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, the external evidence for the omission is quite compelling (א* A B C F G 048 6 33 81 1739* 1881 sa). The strongly preferred reading is therefore the omission of ἀμήν.

[1:27]  ¹¹ tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”

[1:3]  ¹² tn The word “this” is used to translate the Greek article τῆς (ths), bringing out its demonstrative force.

[1:3]  ¹³ tn The word “aloud” has been supplied to indicate that in the original historical setting reading would usually refer to reading out loud in public rather than silently to oneself.

[1:3]  ¹⁴ tn The words “blessed are” are repeated from the beginning of this verse for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

[1:3]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “keep.” L&N 36.19 has “to continue to obey orders or commandments – ‘to obey, to keep commandments, obedience.’”

[1:3]  ¹⁶ sn The time refers to the time when the things prophesied would happen.