John 7:26

7:26 Yet here he is, speaking publicly, ¹  and they are saying nothing to him. ²  Do the rulers really know that this man ³  is the Christ? ⁴ 

John 7:50

7:50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus ⁵  before and who was one of the rulers, ⁶  said, ⁷ 

John 12:42

12:42 Nevertheless, even among the rulers ⁸  many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees ⁹  they would not confess Jesus to be the Christ, ¹⁰  so that they would not be put out of ¹¹  the synagogue. ¹² 

Jeremiah 5:4-5

5:4 I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. ¹³ 

They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. ¹⁴ 

They do not know what their God requires of them. ¹⁵ 

5:5 I will go to the leaders ¹⁶ 

and speak with them.

Surely they know what the Lord demands. ¹⁷ 

Surely they know what their God requires of them.” ¹⁸ 

Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority

and refuse to submit to him. ¹⁹ 

Matthew 11:25

Jesus’ Invitation

11:25 At that time Jesus said, ²⁰  “I praise ²¹  you, Father, Lord ²²  of heaven and earth, because ²³  you have hidden these things from the wise ²⁴  and intelligent, and revealed them to little children.

Acts 6:7

6:7 The word of God continued to spread, ²⁵  the number of disciples in Jerusalem ²⁶  increased greatly, and a large group ²⁷  of priests became obedient to the faith.

Acts 6:1

The Appointment of the First Seven Deacons

6:1 Now in those ²⁸  days, when the disciples were growing in number, ²⁹  a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews ³⁰  against the native Hebraic Jews, ³¹  because their widows ³²  were being overlooked ³³  in the daily distribution of food. ³⁴ 

Colossians 1:20

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ³⁵  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Colossians 1:22-28

1:22 but now he has reconciled you ³⁶  by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him – 1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ³⁷  without shifting ³⁸  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.

1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body – for the sake of his body, the church – what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ. 1:25 I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship ³⁹  from God – given to me for you – in order to complete ⁴⁰  the word of God, 1:26 that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints. 1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious ⁴¹  riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 1:28 We proclaim him by instructing ⁴²  and teaching ⁴³  all people ⁴⁴  with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature ⁴⁵  in Christ.

Colossians 2:8

2:8 Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you ⁴⁶  through an empty, deceitful philosophy ⁴⁷  that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits ⁴⁸  of the world, and not according to Christ.

[7:26]  ¹ tn Or “speaking openly.”

[7:26]  ² sn They are saying nothing to him. Some people who had heard Jesus were so impressed with his teaching that they began to infer from the inactivity of the opposing Jewish leaders a tacit acknowledgment of Jesus’ claims.

[7:26]  ³ tn Grk “this one.”

[7:26]  ⁴ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[7:50]  ⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:50]  ⁶ tn Grk “who was one of them”; the referent (the rulers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:50]  ⁷ tn Grk “said to them.”

[12:42]  ⁸ sn The term rulers here denotes members of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in 3:1.

[12:42]  ⁹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[12:42]  ¹⁰ tn The words “Jesus to be the Christ” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (see 9:22). As is often the case in Greek, the direct object is omitted for the verb ὡμολόγουν (Jwmologoun). Some translators supply an ambiguous “it,” or derive the implied direct object from the previous clause “believed in him” so that the rulers would not confess “their faith” or “their belief.” However, when one compares John 9:22, which has many verbal parallels to this verse, it seems clear that the content of the confession would have been “Jesus is the Christ (i.e., Messiah).”

[12:42]  ¹¹ tn Or “be expelled from.”

[12:42]  ¹² sn Compare John 9:22. See the note on synagogue in 6:59.

[5:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “Surely they are poor.” The translation is intended to make clear the explicit contrasts and qualifications drawn in this verse and the next.

[5:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”

[5:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”

[5:5]  ¹⁶ tn Or “people in power”; Heb “the great ones.”

[5:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”

[5:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”

[5:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “have broken the yoke and torn off the yoke ropes.” Compare Jer 2:20 and the note there.

[11:25]  ²⁰ tn Grk “At that time, answering, Jesus said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[11:25]  ²¹ tn Or “thank.”

[11:25]  ²² sn The title Lord is an important name for God, showing his sovereignty, but it is interesting that it comes next to a reference to the Father, a term indicative of God’s care. The two concepts are often related in the NT; see Eph 1:3-6.

[11:25]  ²³ tn Or “that.”

[11:25]  ²⁴ sn See 1 Cor 1:26-31.

[6:7]  ²⁵ tn Grk “kept on spreading”; the verb has been translated as a progressive imperfect.

[6:7]  ²⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:7]  ²⁷ tn Grk “a great multitude.”

[6:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “these.” The translation uses “those” for stylistic reasons.

[6:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “were multiplying.”

[6:1]  ³⁰ tn Grk “the Hellenists,” but this descriptive term is largely unknown to the modern English reader. The translation “Greek-speaking Jews” attempts to convey something of who these were, but it was more than a matter of language spoken; it involved a degree of adoption of Greek culture as well.

[6:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “against the Hebrews,” but as with “Hellenists” this needs further explanation for the modern reader.

[6:1]  ³² sn The care of widows is a major biblical theme: Deut 10:18; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12-13; 27:19; Isa 1:17-23; Jer 7:6; Mal 3:5.

[6:1]  ³³ tn Or “neglected.”

[6:1]  ³⁴ tn Grk “in the daily serving.”

[1:20]  ³⁵ tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally important witnesses have it (Ì⁴⁶ א A C D¹ Ψ 048^vid 33 Ï). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as original. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In short, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original.

[1:22]  ³⁶ tc Some of the better representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texts have a passive verb here instead of the active ἀποκατήλλαξεν (apokathllaxen, “he has reconciled”): ἀποκατηλλάγητε (apokathllaghte) in (Ì⁴⁶) B, ἀποκατήλλακται [sic] (apokathllaktai) in 33, and ἀποκαταλλαγέντες (apokatallagente") in D* F G. Yet the active verb is strongly supported by א A C D² Ψ 048 075 [0278] 1739 1881 Ï lat sy. Internally, the passive creates an anacoluthon in that it looks back to the accusative ὑμᾶς (Juma", “you”) of v. 21 and leaves the following παραστῆσαι (parasthsai) dangling (“you were reconciled…to present you”). The passive reading is certainly the harder reading. As such, it may well explain the rise of the other readings. At the same time, it is possible that the passive was produced by scribes who wanted some symmetry between the ποτε (pote, “at one time”) of v. 21 and the νυνὶ δέ (nuni de, “but now”) of v. 22: Since a passive periphrastic participle is used in v. 21, there may have a temptation to produce a corresponding passive form in v. 22, handling the ὑμᾶς of v. 21 by way of constructio ad sensum. Since παραστῆσαι occurs ten words later, it may not have been considered in this scribal modification. Further, the Western reading (ἀποκαταλλαγέντες) hardly seems to have arisen from ἀποκατηλλάγητε (contra TCGNT 555). As difficult as this decision is, the preferred reading is the active form because it is superior externally and seems to explain the rise of all forms of the passive readings.

[1:23]  ³⁷ tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

[1:23]  ³⁸ tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.

[1:25]  ³⁹ tn BDAG 697 s.v. οἰκονομία 1.b renders the term here as “divine office.”

[1:25]  ⁴⁰ tn See BDAG 828 s.v. πληρόω 3. The idea here seems to be that the apostle wants to “complete the word of God” in that he wants to preach it to every person in the known world (cf. Rom 15:19). See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 82.

[1:27]  ⁴¹ tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”

[1:28]  ⁴² tn Or “admonishing,” or “warning.” BDAG 679 s.v. νουθετέω states, “to counsel about avoidance or cessation of an improper course of conduct,, admonish, warn, instruct.” After the participle νουθετοῦντες (nouqetounte", “instructing”) the words πάντα ἄνθρωπον (panta anqrwpon, “all men”) occur in the Greek text, but since the same phrase appears again after διδάσκοντες (didaskontes) it was omitted in translation to avoid redundancy in English.

[1:28]  ⁴³ tn The two participles “instructing” (νουθετοῦντες, nouqetounte") and “teaching” (διδάσκοντες, didaskonte") are translated as participles of means (“by”) related to the finite verb “we proclaim” (καταγγέλλομεν, katangellomen).

[1:28]  ⁴⁴ tn Here ἄνθρωπον (anqrwpon) is twice translated as a generic (“people” and “person”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

[1:28]  ⁴⁵ tn Since Paul’s focus is on the present experience of the Colossians, “mature” is a better translation of τέλειον (teleion) than “perfect,” since the latter implies a future, eschatological focus.

[2:8]  ⁴⁶ tn The Greek construction here is somewhat difficult and can be literally rendered “Be careful, lest someone shall be the one who takes you captive.”

[2:8]  ⁴⁷ tn The Greek reads τῆς φιλοσοφίας καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης (th" filosofia" kai kenh" apath"). The two nouns φιλοσοφίας and κενῆς are joined by one article and probably form a hendiadys. Thus the second noun was taken as modifying the first, as the translation shows.

[2:8]  ⁴⁸ tn The phrase κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου (kata ta stoiceia tou kosmou) is difficult to translate because of problems surrounding the precise meaning of στοιχεῖα in this context. Originally it referred to the letters of the alphabet, with the idea at its root of “things in a row”; see C. Vaughn, “Colossians,” EBC 11:198. M. J. Harris (Colossians and Philemon [EGGNT], 93) outlines three probable options: (1) the material elements which comprise the physical world; (2) the elementary teachings of the world (so NEB, NASB, NIV); (3) the elemental spirits of the world (so NEB, RSV). The first option is highly unlikely because Paul is not concerned here with the physical elements, e.g., carbon or nitrogen. The last two options are both possible. Though the Gnostic-like heresy at Colossae would undoubtedly have been regarded by Paul as an “elementary teaching” at best, because the idea of “spirits” played such a role in Gnostic thought, he may very well have had in mind elemental spirits that operated in the world or controlled the world (i.e., under God’s authority and permission).