Leviticus 19:13

19:13 You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against him. ¹  You must not withhold ²  the wages of the hired laborer overnight until morning.

Matthew 7:12

7:12 In ³  everything, treat others as you would want them ⁴  to treat you, ⁵  for this fulfills ⁶  the law and the prophets.

Matthew 19:18-19

19:18 “Which ones?” he asked. Jesus replied, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19:19 honor your father and mother, ⁷  and love your neighbor as yourself.” ⁸ 

Matthew 22:39

22:39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁹ 

Luke 10:27

10:27 The expert ¹⁰  answered, “Love ¹¹  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, ¹²  and love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹³ 

Luke 10:36-37

10:36 Which of these three do you think became a neighbor ¹⁴  to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 10:37 The expert in religious law ¹⁵  said, “The one who showed mercy ¹⁶  to him.” So ¹⁷  Jesus said to him, “Go and do ¹⁸  the same.”

Romans 13:8-9

Exhortation to Love Neighbors

13:8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 13:9 For the commandments, ¹⁹  “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet,” ²⁰  (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ²¹ 

Romans 13:1

Submission to Civil Government

13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, ²²  and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God.

Colossians 1:4-8

1:4 since ²³  we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints. 1:5 Your faith and love have arisen ²⁴  from the hope laid up ²⁵  for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel ²⁶  1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel ²⁷  is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing ²⁸  among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. 1:7 You learned the gospel ²⁹  from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave ³⁰  – a ³¹  faithful minister of Christ on our ³²  behalf – 1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Galatians 5:14

5:14 For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, ³³  namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” ³⁴ 

James 2:8-13

2:8 But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture, ³⁵  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” ³⁶  you are doing well. 2:9 But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators. ³⁷  2:10 For the one who obeys the whole law but fails ³⁸  in one point has become guilty of all of it. ³⁹  2:11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” ⁴⁰  also said, “Do not murder.” ⁴¹  Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a violator of the law. 2:12 Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom. ⁴²  2:13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over ⁴³  judgment.

James 2:1

Prejudice and the Law of Love

2:1 My brothers and sisters, ⁴⁴  do not show prejudice ⁴⁵  if you possess faith ⁴⁶  in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴⁷ 

James 3:17

3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, ⁴⁸  full of mercy and good fruit, ⁴⁹  impartial, and not hypocritical. ⁵⁰ 

James 4:7-8

4:7 So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you. 4:8 Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded. ⁵¹ 

James 4:1

Passions and Pride

4:1 Where do the conflicts and where ⁵²  do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, ⁵³  from your passions that battle inside you? ⁵⁴ 

[19:13]  ¹ tn Heb “You shall not oppress your neighbor and you shall not rob.”

[19:13]  ² tn Heb “hold back with you”; perhaps “hold back for yourself” (cf. NRSV “keep for yourself”).

[7:12]  ³ tn Grk “Therefore in.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.

[7:12]  ⁴ tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females.

[7:12]  ⁵ sn Jesus’ teaching as reflected in the phrase treat others as you would want them to treat you, known generally as the Golden Rule, is not completely unique in the ancient world, but here it is stated in its most emphatic, selfless form.

[7:12]  ⁶ tn Grk “is.”

[19:19]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12-16; Deut 5:16-20.

[19:19]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[22:39]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[10:27]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (the expert in religious law, shortened here to “the expert”) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:27]  ¹¹ tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

[10:27]  ¹² sn A quotation from Deut 6:5. The fourfold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.

[10:27]  ¹³ tn This portion of the reply is a quotation from Lev 19:18. The verb is repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[10:36]  ¹⁴ sn Jesus reversed the question the expert in religious law asked in v. 29 to one of becoming a neighbor by loving. “Do not think about who they are, but who you are,” was his reply.

[10:37]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (the expert in religious law) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:37]  ¹⁶ sn The neighbor did not do what was required (that is why his response is called mercy) but had compassion and out of kindness went the extra step that shows love. See Mic 6:8. Note how the expert in religious law could not bring himself to admit that the example was a Samaritan, someone who would have been seen as a racial half-breed and one not worthy of respect. So Jesus makes a second point that neighbors may appear in surprising places.

[10:37]  ¹⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding summary.

[10:37]  ¹⁸ tn This recalls the verb of the earlier reply in v. 28.

[13:9]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “For the…” (with the word “commandments” supplied for clarity). The Greek article (“the”) is used here as a substantiver to introduce the commands that are quoted from the second half of the Decalogue (ExSyn 238).

[13:9]  ²⁰ sn A quotation from Exod 20:13-15, 17; Deut 5:17-19, 21.

[13:9]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[13:1]  ²² tn Grk “by God.”

[1:4]  ²³ tn The adverbial participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") is understood to be temporal and translated with “since.” A causal idea may also be in the apostle’s mind, but the context emphasizes temporal ideas, e.g., “from the day” (v. 6).

[1:5]  ²⁴ tn Col 1:3-8 form one long sentence in the Greek text and have been divided at the end of v. 4 and v. 6 and within v. 6 for clarity, in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English toward shorter sentences. Thus the phrase “Your faith and love have arisen from the hope” is literally “because of the hope.” The perfect tense “have arisen” was chosen in the English to reflect the fact that the recipients of the letter had acquired this hope at conversion in the past, but that it still remains and motivates them to trust in Christ and to love one another.

[1:5]  ²⁵ tn BDAG 113 s.v. ἀπόκειμαι 2 renders ἀποκειμένην (apokeimenhn) with the expression “reserved” in this verse.

[1:5]  ²⁶ tn The term “the gospel” (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, tou euangeliou) is in apposition to “the word of truth” (τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας, tw logw th" alhqeia") as indicated in the translation.

[1:6]  ²⁷ tn Grk “just as in the entire world it is bearing fruit.” The antecedent (“the gospel”) of the implied subject (“it”) of ἐστιν (estin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:6]  ²⁸ tn Though the participles are periphrastic with the present tense verb ἐστίν (estin), the presence of the temporal indicator “from the day” in the next clause indicates that this is a present tense that reaches into the past and should be translated as “has been bearing fruit and growing.” For a discussion of this use of the present tense, see ExSyn 519-20.

[1:7]  ²⁹ tn Or “learned it.” The Greek text simply has “you learned” without the reference to “the gospel,” but “the gospel” is supplied to clarify the sense of the clause. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[1:7]  ³⁰ tn The Greek word translated “fellow slave” is σύνδουλος (sundoulo"); the σύν- prefix here denotes association. Though δοῦλος 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.

[1:7]  ³¹ tn The Greek text has “who (ὅς, Jos) is a faithful minister.” The above translation conveys the antecedent of the relative pronoun quite well and avoids the redundancy with the following substantival participle of v. 8, namely, “who told” (ὁ δηλώσας, Jo dhlwsa").

[1:7]  ³² tc ‡ Judging by the superior witnesses for the first person pronoun ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “us”; Ì⁴⁶ א* A B D* F G 326* 1505 al) vs. the second person pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “you”; found in א² C D¹ Ψ 075 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co), ἡμῶν should be regarded as original. Although it is possible that ἡμῶν was an early alteration of ὑμῶν (either unintentionally, as dittography, since it comes seventeen letters after the previous ἡμῶν; or intentionally, to conform to the surrounding first person pronouns), this supposition is difficult to maintain in light of the varied and valuable witnesses for this reading. Further, the second person is both embedded in the verb ἐμάθετε (emaqete) and is explicit in v. 8 (ὑμῶν). Hence, the motivation to change to the first person pronoun is counterbalanced by such evidence. The second person pronoun may have been introduced unintentionally via homoioarcton with the ὑπέρ (Juper) that immediately precedes it. As well, the second person reading is somewhat harder for it seems to address Epaphras’ role only in relation to Paul and his colleagues, rather than in relation to the Colossians. Nevertheless, the decision must be based ultimately on external evidence (because the internal evidence can be variously interpreted), and this strongly supports ἡμῶν.

[5:14]  ³³ tn Or “can be fulfilled in one commandment.”

[5:14]  ³⁴ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[2:8]  ³⁵ tn Grk “according to the scripture.”

[2:8]  ³⁶ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18 (also quoted in Matt 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Rom 13:9; Gal 5:14).

[2:9]  ³⁷ tn Or “transgressors.”

[2:10]  ³⁸ tn Or “stumbles.”

[2:10]  ³⁹ tn Grk “guilty of all.”

[2:11]  ⁴⁰ sn A quotation from Exod 20:14 and Deut 5:18.

[2:11]  ⁴¹ sn A quotation from Exod 20:13 and Deut 5:17.

[2:12]  ⁴² tn Grk “a law of freedom.”

[2:13]  ⁴³ tn Grk “boasts against, exults over,” in victory.

[2:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “partiality.”

[2:1]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.

[2:1]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[3:17]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “willing to yield,” “open to persuasion.”

[3:17]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit.”

[3:17]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “sincere.”

[4:8]  ⁵¹ tn Or “two-minded” (the same description used in 1:8).

[4:1]  ⁵² tn The word “where” is repeated in Greek for emphasis.

[4:1]  ⁵³ tn Grk “from here.”

[4:1]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “in your members [i.e., parts of the body].”