John 6:68-69

6:68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 6:69 We ¹  have come to believe and to know ²  that you are the Holy One of God!” ³ 

John 8:31

Abraham’s Children and the Devil’s Children

8:31 Then Jesus said to those Judeans ⁴  who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, ⁵  you are really ⁶  my disciples

The Song of Songs 8:5

The Awakening of Love

The Maidens about His Beloved:

8:5 Who is this coming up from the desert,

leaning on her beloved?

The Beloved to Her Lover:

Under the apple tree I aroused you; ⁷ 

there your mother conceived you,

there she who bore you was in labor of childbirth. ⁸ 

Luke 8:15

8:15 But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing ⁹  the word, cling to it ¹⁰  with an honest and good ¹¹  heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance. ¹² 

Acts 11:23

11:23 When ¹³  he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain true ¹⁴  to the Lord with devoted hearts, ¹⁵ 

Acts 14:22

14:22 They strengthened ¹⁶  the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue ¹⁷  in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom ¹⁸  of God through many persecutions.” ¹⁹ 

Galatians 2:20

2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, ²⁰  and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So ²¹  the life I now live in the body, ²²  I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, ²³  who loved me and gave himself for me.

Colossians 1:23

1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ²⁴  without shifting ²⁵  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

Colossians 2:6

Warnings Against the Adoption of False Philosophies

2:6 Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, ²⁶  continue to live your lives ²⁷  in him,

Colossians 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ²⁸  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ²⁹ 

Colossians 3:5

3:5 So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: ³⁰  sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, ³¹  evil desire, and greed which is idolatry.

Hebrews 10:39

10:39 But we are not among those who shrink back and thus perish, but are among those who have faith and preserve their souls. ³² 

Hebrews 10:1

Concluding Exposition: Old and New Sacrifices Contrasted

10:1 For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship. ³³ 

Hebrews 2:6

2:6 Instead someone testified somewhere:

“What is man that you think of him ³⁴  or the son of man that you care for him?

Hebrews 2:1-2

Warning Against Drifting Away

2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2:2 For if the message spoken through angels ³⁵  proved to be so firm that every violation ³⁶  or disobedience received its just penalty,

Hebrews 1:9

1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

So God, your God, has anointed you over your companions ³⁷  with the oil of rejoicing.” ³⁸ 

Jude 1:20-21

1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, ³⁹  1:21 maintain ⁴⁰  yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating ⁴¹  the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. ⁴² 

[6:69]  ¹ tn Grk “And we.”

[6:69]  ² sn See 1 John 4:16.

[6:69]  ³ tc The witnesses display a bewildering array of variants here. Instead of “the Holy One of God” (ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ θεοῦ, Jo {agio" tou qeou), Tertullian has ὁ Χριστός (Jo Cristo", “the Christ”); C³ Θ* ˹ 33 565 lat read ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ (Jo Cristo" Jo Juio" tou qeou, “the Christ, the Son of God”); two versional witnesses (b sy^c) have ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ (“the Son of God”); the Byzantine text as well as many others (Ψ 0250 ˹³ 33 Ï) read ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος (Jo Cristo" Jo Juio" tou qeou tou zwnto", “the Christ, the Son of the living God”); and Ì⁶⁶ as well as a few versions have ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ θεοῦ (“the Christ, the Holy One of God”). The reading ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ θεοῦ is, however, well supported by Ì⁷⁵ א B C* D L W as well as versional witnesses. It appears that Peter’s confession in the Synoptic Gospels (especially Matt 16:16) supplied the motivation for the variations. Although the witnesses in Matt 16:16; Mark 8:29; and Luke 9:20 vary considerably, the readings are all intra-synoptic, that is, they do not pull in “the Holy One of God” but reflect various permutations of “Christ”/“Christ of God”/“Christ, the Son of God”/“Christ, the Son of the living God.” The wording “the Holy One of God” (without “Christ”) in important witnesses here is thus unique among Peter’s confessions, and best explains the rise of the other readings.

[8:31]  ⁴ tn Grk “to the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory (i.e., “Judeans”), the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9; also BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e.) Here the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple and had believed his claim to be the Messiah, hence, “those Judeans who had believed him.” The term “Judeans” is preferred here to the more general “people” because the debate concerns descent from Abraham (v. 33).

[8:31]  ⁵ tn Grk “If you continue in my word.”

[8:31]  ⁶ tn Or “truly.”

[8:5]  ⁷ sn The imagery of v. 6 is romantic: (1) His mother originally conceived him with his father under the apple tree, (2) his mother gave birth to him under the apple tree, and (3) the Beloved had now awakened him to love under the same apple tree. The cycle of life and love had come around full circle under the apple tree. While his mother had awakened his eyes to life, the Beloved had awakened him to love. His parents had made love under the apple tree to conceive him in love, and now Solomon and his Beloved were making love under the same apple tree of love.

[8:5]  ⁸ tn Or “went into labor.” The verb חָבַל (khaval, “become pregnant”) is repeated in 8:6b and 8:6c, and has a two-fold range of meaning: (1) transitive: “to conceive [a child]” and (2) intransitive: “to be in travail [of childbirth]” (HALOT 286 s.v. IV חבל). In 8:6b it denotes “to conceive,” and in 8:6c it is “to be in travail [of childbirth].”

[8:15]  ⁹ tn The aorist participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally, reflecting action antecedent (prior to) that of the main verb.

[8:15]  ¹⁰ sn There is a tenacity that is a part of spiritual fruitfulness.

[8:15]  ¹¹ sn In an ancient context, the qualifier good described the ethical person who possessed integrity. Here it is integrity concerning God’s revelation through Jesus.

[8:15]  ¹² sn Given the pressures noted in the previous soils, bearing fruit takes time (steadfast endurance), just as it does for the farmer. See Jas 1:2-4.

[11:23]  ¹³ tn Grk “Antioch, who when.” The relative pronoun was omitted and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek.

[11:23]  ¹⁴ tn BDAG 883 s.v. προσμένω 1.a.β has “remain true to the Lord” for προσμένειν (prosmenein) in this verse.

[11:23]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “with purpose of heart”; BDAG 869 s.v. πρόθεσις 2.a translates this phrase “purpose of heart, i.e. devotion” here.

[14:22]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “to Antioch, strengthening.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here. This participle (ἐπιστηρίζοντες, episthrizonte") and the following one (παρακαλοῦντες, parakalounte") have been translated as finite verbs connected by the coordinating conjunction “and.”

[14:22]  ¹⁷ sn And encouraged them to continue. The exhortations are like those noted in Acts 11:23; 13:43. An example of such a speech is found in Acts 20:18-35. Christianity is now characterized as “the faith.”

[14:22]  ¹⁸ sn This reference to the kingdom of God clearly refers to its future arrival.

[14:22]  ¹⁹ tn Or “sufferings.”

[2:20]  ²⁰ tn Both the NA²⁷/UBS⁴ Greek text and the NRSV place the phrase “I have been crucified with Christ” at the end of v. 19, but most English translations place these words at the beginning of v. 20.

[2:20]  ²¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “So” to bring out the connection of the following clauses with the preceding ones. What Paul says here amounts to a result or inference drawn from his co-crucifixion with Christ and the fact that Christ now lives in him. In Greek this is a continuation of the preceding sentence, but the construction is too long and complex for contemporary English style, so a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:20]  ²² tn Grk “flesh.”

[2:20]  ²³ tc A number of important witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ B D* F G) have θεοῦ καὶ Χριστοῦ (qeou kai Cristou, “of God and Christ”) instead of υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ (Juiou tou qeou, “the Son of God”), found in the majority of mss, including several important ones (א A C D¹ Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co). The construction “of God and Christ” appears to be motivated as a more explicit affirmation of the deity of Christ (following as it apparently does the Granville Sharp rule). Although Paul certainly has an elevated Christology, explicit “God-talk” with reference to Jesus does not normally appear until the later books (cf., e.g., Titus 2:13, Phil 2:10-11, and probably Rom 9:5). For different arguments but the same textual conclusions, see TCGNT 524.

[1:23]  ²⁴ tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

[1:23]  ²⁵ tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.

[2:6]  ²⁶ tn Though the verb παρελάβετε (parelabete) does not often take a double accusative, here it seems to do so. Both τὸν Χριστὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν (ton Criston Ihsoun) and τὸν κύριον (ton kurion) are equally definite insofar as they both have an article, but both the word order and the use of “Christ Jesus” as a proper name suggest that it is the object (cf. Rom 10:9, 10). Thus Paul is affirming that the tradition that was delivered to the Colossians by Epaphras was Christ-centered and focused on him as Lord.

[2:6]  ²⁷ tn The present imperative περιπατεῖτε (peripateite) implies, in this context, a continuation of something already begun. This is evidenced by the fact that Paul has already referred to their faith as “orderly” and “firm” (2:5), despite the struggles of some of them with this deceptive heresy (cf. 2:16-23). The verb is used literally to refer to a person “walking” and is thus used metaphorically (i.e., ethically) to refer to the way a person lives his or her life.

[2:1]  ²⁸ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”

[3:5]  ³⁰ tn Grk “the members which are on the earth.” See BDAG 628 s.v. μέλος 1, “put to death whatever in you is worldly.”

[3:5]  ³¹ tn Or “lust.”

[10:39]  ³² tn Grk “not…of shrinking back to perdition but of faith to the preservation of the soul.”

[10:1]  ³³ tn Grk “those who approach.”

[2:6]  ³⁴ tn Grk “remember him.”

[2:2]  ³⁵ sn The message spoken through angels refers to the OT law, which according to Jewish tradition was mediated to Moses through angels (cf. Deut 33:2; Ps 68:17-18; Acts 7:38, 53; Gal 3:19; and Jub. 1:27, 29; Josephus, Ant. 15.5.3 [15.136]).

[2:2]  ³⁶ tn Grk “through angels became valid and every violation.”

[1:9]  ³⁷ sn God…has anointed you over your companions. God’s anointing gives the son a superior position and authority over his fellows.

[1:9]  ³⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 45:6-7.

[1:20]  ³⁹ tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.

[1:21]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “keep.”

[1:21]  ⁴¹ tn Or “waiting for.”

[1:21]  ⁴² tn Grk “unto eternal life.”