John 6:37

6:37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never send away. ¹ 

John 6:39

6:39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me – that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up ²  at the last day.

John 10:28-30

10:28 I give ³  them eternal life, and they will never perish; ⁴  no one will snatch ⁵  them from my hand. 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, ⁶  and no one can snatch ⁷  them from my Father’s hand. 10:30 The Father and I ⁸  are one.” ⁹ 

Romans 8:28-39

8:28 And we know that all things work together ¹⁰  for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, 8:29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son ¹¹  would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ¹²  8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

8:31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 8:32 Indeed, he who ¹³  did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things? 8:33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? ¹⁴  It is God who justifies. 8:34 Who is the one who will condemn? Christ ¹⁵  is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us. 8:35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ¹⁶  8:36 As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ¹⁷  8:37 No, in all these things we have complete victory ¹⁸  through him ¹⁹  who loved us! 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, ²⁰  nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:2

8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit ²¹  in Christ Jesus has set you ²²  free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 2:19

2:19 and if you are convinced ²³  that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,

Romans 2:1

The Condemnation of the Moralist

2:1 ²⁴ Therefore ²⁵  you are without excuse, ²⁶  whoever you are, ²⁷  when you judge someone else. ²⁸  For on whatever grounds ²⁹  you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things.

Romans 1:5

1:5 Through him ³⁰  we have received grace and our apostleship ³¹  to bring about the obedience ³²  of faith ³³  among all the Gentiles on behalf of his name.

Romans 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³⁴  a slave ³⁵  of Christ Jesus, ³⁶  called to be an apostle, ³⁷  set apart for the gospel of God. ³⁸ 

Romans 5:18

5:18 Consequently, ³⁹  just as condemnation ⁴⁰  for all people ⁴¹  came ⁴²  through one transgression, ⁴³  so too through the one righteous act ⁴⁴  came righteousness leading to life ⁴⁵  for all people.

Revelation 12:9-11

12:9 So ⁴⁶  that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him. 12:10 Then ⁴⁷  I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,

“The salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God,

and the ruling authority ⁴⁸  of his Christ, ⁴⁹  have now come,

because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, ⁵⁰ 

the one who accuses them day and night ⁵¹  before our God,

has been thrown down.

12:11 But ⁵²  they overcame him

by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony,

and they did not love their lives ⁵³  so much that they were afraid to die.

Revelation 13:7-8

13:7 The beast ⁵⁴  was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. ⁵⁵  He was given ruling authority ⁵⁶  over every tribe, people, ⁵⁷  language, and nation, 13:8 and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, ⁵⁸  everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world ⁵⁹  in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed. ⁶⁰ 

Revelation 13:14

13:14 and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth. He told ⁶¹  those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword, but still lived.

[6:37]  ¹ tn Or “drive away”; Grk “cast out.”

[6:39]  ² tn Or “resurrect them all,” or “make them all live again”; Grk “raise it up.” The word “all” is supplied to bring out the collective nature of the neuter singular pronoun αὐτό (auto) in Greek. The plural pronoun “them” is used rather than neuter singular “it” because this is clearer in English, which does not use neuter collective singulars in the same way Greek does.

[10:28]  ³ tn Grk “And I give.”

[10:28]  ⁴ tn Or “will never die” or “will never be lost.”

[10:28]  ⁵ tn Or “no one will seize.”

[10:29]  ⁶ tn Or “is superior to all.”

[10:29]  ⁷ tn Or “no one can seize.”

[10:30]  ⁸ tn Grk “I and the Father.” The order has been reversed to reflect English style.

[10:30]  ⁹ tn The phrase ἕν ἐσμεν ({en esmen) is a significant assertion with trinitarian implications. ἕν is neuter, not masculine, so the assertion is not that Jesus and the Father are one person, but one “thing.” Identity of the two persons is not what is asserted, but essential unity (unity of essence).

[8:28]  ¹⁰ tc ὁ θεός (Jo qeos, “God”) is found after the verb συνεργεῖ (sunergei, “work”) in v. 28 by Ì⁴⁶ A B 81 sa; the shorter reading is found in א C D F G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï latt sy bo. Although the inclusion is supported by a significant early papyrus, the alliance of significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses favors the shorter reading. As well, the longer reading is evidently motivated by a need for clarification. Since ὁ θεός is textually suspect, it is better to read the text without it. This leaves two good translational options: either “he works all things together for good” or “all things work together for good.” In the first instance the subject is embedded in the verb and “God” is clearly implied (as in v. 29). In the second instance, πάντα (panta) becomes the subject of an intransitive verb. In either case, “What is expressed is a truly biblical confidence in the sovereignty of God” (C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:427).

[8:29]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God’s Son) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:29]  ¹² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[8:32]  ¹³ tn Grk “[he] who.” The relative clause continues the question of v. 31 in a way that is awkward in English. The force of v. 32 is thus: “who indeed did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – How will he not also with him give us all things?”

[8:33]  ¹⁴ sn An allusion to Isa 50:8 where the reference is singular; Paul applies this to all believers (“God’s elect” is plural here).

[8:34]  ¹⁵ tc ‡ A number of significant and early witnesses, along with several others (Ì^46vid א A C F G L Ψ 6 33 81 104 365 1505 al lat bo), read ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsous, “Jesus”) after Χριστός (Cristos, “Christ”) in v. 34. But the shorter reading is not unrepresented (B D 0289 1739 1881 Ï sa). Once ᾿Ιησοῦς got into the text, what scribe would omit it? Although the external evidence is on the side of the longer reading, internally such an expansion seems suspect. The shorter reading is thus preferred. NA²⁷ has the word in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[8:35]  ¹⁶ tn Here “sword” is a metonymy that includes both threats of violence and acts of violence, even including death (although death is not necessarily the only thing in view here).

[8:36]  ¹⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 44:22.

[8:37]  ¹⁸ tn BDAG 1034 s.v. ὑπερνικάω states, “as a heightened form of νικᾶν prevail completely ὑπερνικῶμεν we are winning a most glorious victory Ro 8:37.”

[8:37]  ¹⁹ tn Here the referent could be either God or Christ, but in v. 39 it is God’s love that is mentioned.

[8:38]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 138 s.v. ἀρχή 6 takes this term as a reference to angelic or transcendent powers (as opposed to merely human rulers). To clarify this, the adjective “heavenly” has been supplied in the translation. Some interpreters see this as a reference to fallen angels or demonic powers, and this view is reflected in some recent translations (NIV, NLT).

[8:2]  ²¹ tn Grk “for the law of the Spirit of life.”

[8:2]  ²² tc Most mss read the first person singular pronoun με (me) here (A D 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa). The second person singular pronoun σε (se) is superior because of external support (א B {F which reads σαι} G 1506* 1739*) and internal support (it is the harder reading since ch. 7 was narrated in the first person). At the same time, it could have arisen via dittography from the final syllable of the verb preceding it (ἠλευθέρωσεν, hleuqerwsen; “has set free”). But for this to happen in such early and diverse witnesses is unlikely, especially as it depends on various scribes repeatedly overlooking either the nu or the nu-bar at the end of the verb.

[2:19]  ²³ tn This verb is parallel to the verbs in vv. 17-18a, so it shares the conditional meaning even though the word “if” is not repeated.

[2:1]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT).

[2:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “O man.”

[2:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.”

[2:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “in/by (that) which.”

[1:5]  ³⁰ tn Grk “through whom.”

[1:5]  ³¹ tn Some interpreters understand the phrase “grace and apostleship” as a hendiadys, translating “grace [i.e., gift] of apostleship.” The pronoun “our” is supplied in the translation to clarify the sense of the statement.

[1:5]  ³² tn Grk “and apostleship for obedience.”

[1:5]  ³³ tn The phrase ὑπακοὴν πίστεως has been variously understood as (1) an objective genitive (a reference to the Christian faith, “obedience to [the] faith”); (2) a subjective genitive (“the obedience faith produces [or requires]”); (3) an attributive genitive (“believing obedience”); or (4) as a genitive of apposition (“obedience, [namely] faith”) in which “faith” further defines “obedience.” These options are discussed by C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans (ICC), 1:66. Others take the phrase as deliberately ambiguous; see D. B. Garlington, “The Obedience of Faith in the Letter to the Romans: Part I: The Meaning of ὑπακοὴ πίστεως (Rom 1:5; 16:26),” WTJ 52 (1990): 201-24.

[1:1]  ³⁴ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ³⁵ tn Traditionally, “servant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) 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.

[1:1]  ³⁶ tc Many important mss, as well as several others (̲⁶ א A G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï), have a reversed order of these words and read “Jesus Christ” rather than “Christ Jesus” (̹⁰ B 81 pc). The meaning is not affected in either case, but the reading “Christ Jesus” is preferred as slightly more difficult and thus more likely the original (a scribe who found it would be prone to change it to the more common expression). At the same time, Paul is fond of the order “Christ Jesus,” especially in certain letters such as Romans, Galatians, and Philippians. As well, the later Pauline letters almost uniformly use this order in the salutations. A decision is difficult, but “Christ Jesus” is slightly preferred.

[1:1]  ³⁷ tn Grk “a called apostle.”

[1:1]  ³⁸ tn The genitive in the phrase εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ (euangelion qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as (1) a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or (2) an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself. However, in view of God’s action in v. 2 concerning this gospel, a subjective genitive notion (“the gospel which God brings”) is slightly preferred.

[5:18]  ³⁹ tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

[5:18]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “[it is] unto condemnation for all people.”

[5:18]  ⁴¹ tn Here ἀνθρώπους (anqrwpou") has been translated as a generic (“people”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

[5:18]  ⁴² tn There are no verbs in the Greek text of v. 18, forcing translators to supply phrases like “came through one transgression,” “resulted from one transgression,” etc.

[5:18]  ⁴³ sn One transgression refers to the sin of Adam in Gen 3:1-24.

[5:18]  ⁴⁴ sn The one righteous act refers to Jesus’ death on the cross.

[5:18]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “righteousness of life.”

[12:9]  ⁴⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the war in heaven.

[12:10]  ⁴⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[12:10]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “the right of his Messiah to rule.” See L&N 37.35.

[12:10]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[12:10]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). The translation “fellow believer” would normally apply (L&N 11.23), but since the speaker(s) are not specified in this context, it is not clear if such a translation would be appropriate here. The more generic “brothers and sisters” was chosen to emphasize the fact of a relationship without specifying its type.

[12:10]  ⁵¹ tn Or “who accuses them continually.”

[12:11]  ⁵² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast.

[12:11]  ⁵³ sn They did not love their lives. See Matt 16:25; Luke 17:33; John 12:25.

[13:7]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “and it was given to him to go to war.” Here the passive construction has been simplified, the referent (the beast) has been specified for clarity, and καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:7]  ⁵⁵ tc Many mss omit the phrase “it was given to make war with the saints and to overcome them” (Ì⁴⁷ A C 2053 Ï^A sa). It is, however, found in Ì^115vid א 051 1006 (1611) 1841 (1854) 2329 2344 2351 (Ï^K) lat sy^ph,(h) bo. Although the ms evidence is somewhat in favor of the shorter reading, the support of ̹¹⁵ (a recently-discovered ms) for the longer reading balances things out. Normally, the shorter reading should be given preference. However, in an instance in which homoioteleuton could play a role, caution must be exercised. In this passage, accidental omission is quite likely. That this could have happened seems apparent from the two occurrences of the identical phrase “and it was given to him” (καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ, kai edoqh autw) in v. 7. The scribe’s eye skipped over the first καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ and went to the second, hence creating an accidental omission of eleven words.

[13:7]  ⁵⁶ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:7]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “and people,” but καί (kai) has not been translated here or before the following term since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[13:8]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:8]  ⁵⁹ tn The prepositional phrase “since the foundation of the world” is traditionally translated as a modifier of the immediately preceding phrase in the Greek text, “the Lamb who was killed” (so also G. B. Caird, Revelation [HNTC], 168), but it is more likely that the phrase “since the foundation of the world” modifies the verb “written” (as translated above). Confirmation of this can be found in Rev 17:8 where the phrase “written in the book of life since the foundation of the world” occurs with no ambiguity.

[13:8]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[13:14]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “earth, telling.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in Greek.