John 1:47

1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and exclaimed, ¹  “Look, a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” ² 

John 1:2

1:2 The Word ³  was with God in the beginning.

Colossians 1:12

1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share ⁴  in the saints’ ⁵  inheritance in the light.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁶  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 2:1-2

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ⁷  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ⁸  2:2 My goal is that ⁹  their hearts, having been knit together ¹⁰  in love, may be encouraged, and that ¹¹  they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ¹² 

Revelation 14:5

14:5 and no lie was found on their lips; ¹³  they ¹⁴  are blameless.

[1:47]  ¹ tn Grk “said about him.”

[1:47]  ² tn Or “treachery.”

[1:2]  ³ tn Grk “He”; the referent (the Word) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:12]  ⁴ tn BDAG 473 s.v. ἱκανόω states, “τινὰ εἴς τι someone for someth. Col 1:12.” The point of the text is that God has qualified the saints for a “share” or “portion” in the inheritance of the saints.

[1:12]  ⁵ tn Grk “the inheritance of the saints.” The genitive noun τῶν ἁγίων (twn Jagiwn) is a possessive genitive: “the saints’ inheritance.”

[1:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[2:1]  ⁷ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”

[2:2]  ⁹ tn Verse two begins a subordinate ἵνα (Jina) clause which was divided up into two sentences for the sake of clarity in English. Thus the phrase “My goal is that” is an attempt to reflect in the translation the purpose expressed through the ἵνα clauses.

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβιβάζω 1.b reads “unite, knit together.” Some commentators take the verb as a reference to instruction, “instructed in love.” See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 93.

[2:2]  ¹¹ tn The phrase “and that” translates the first εἰς (eis) clause of v. 2 and reflects the second goal of Paul’s striving and struggle for the Colossians – the first is “encouragement” and the second is “full assurance.”

[2:2]  ¹² tc There are at least a dozen variants here, almost surely generated by the unusual wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ (tou qeou, Cristou, “of God, Christ”; so Ì⁴⁶ B Hil). Scribes would be prone to conform this to more common Pauline expressions such as “of God, who is in Christ” (33), “of God, the Father of Christ” (א* A C 048^vid 1175 bo), and “of the God and Father of Christ” (א² Ψ 075 0278 365 1505 pc). Even though the external support for the wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ is hardly overwhelming, it clearly best explains the rise of the other readings and should thus be regarded as authentic.

[14:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “in their mouth was not found a lie.”

[14:5]  ¹⁴ tc Several mss (Ì⁴⁷ א 1 1006 1611 2351 Ï^K pc) have the conjunction “for” (γάρ, gar) here so that the phrase reads: “for they are blameless.” Other important mss (A C P 1854 2053 al lat) lack the word. The shorter reading is to be preferred since the scribes were more likely to make the connection explicit through the addition of “for” than they would have been to omit the conjunction. As it is, the passage without the conjunction makes good sense and evokes a very somber tone.