Leviticus 19:17-18

19:17 You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him. ¹  19:18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge ²  against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. ³  I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:1

Religious and Social Regulations

19:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:

Colossians 1:5

1:5 Your faith and love have arisen ⁴  from the hope laid up ⁵  for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel ⁶ 

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ⁷  brothers and sisters ⁸  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ⁹  from God our Father! ¹⁰ 

Colossians 2:6-10

Warnings Against the Adoption of False Philosophies

2:6 Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, ¹¹  continue to live your lives ¹²  in him, 2:7 rooted ¹³  and built up in him and firm ¹⁴  in your ¹⁵  faith just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 2:8 Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you ¹⁶  through an empty, deceitful philosophy ¹⁷  that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits ¹⁸  of the world, and not according to Christ. 2:9 For in him all the fullness of deity lives ¹⁹  in bodily form, 2:10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

Colossians 1:8

1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Colossians 1:10

1:10 so that you may live ²⁰  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ²¹  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Galatians 6:1

Support One Another

6:1 Brothers and sisters, ²²  if a person ²³  is discovered in some sin, ²⁴  you who are spiritual ²⁵  restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. ²⁶  Pay close attention ²⁷  to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too.

Galatians 6:1

Support One Another

6:1 Brothers and sisters, ²⁸  if a person ²⁹  is discovered in some sin, ³⁰  you who are spiritual ³¹  restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. ³²  Pay close attention ³³  to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too.

Galatians 5:14

5:14 For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, ³⁴  namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” ³⁵ 

Jude 1:22-23

1:22 And have mercy on those who waver; 1:23 save ³⁶  others by snatching them out of the fire; have mercy ³⁷  on others, coupled with a fear of God, ³⁸  hating even the clothes stained ³⁹  by the flesh. ⁴⁰ 

[19:17]  ¹ tn Heb “and you will not lift up on him sin.” The meaning of the line is somewhat obscure. It means either (1) that one should rebuke one’s neighbor when he sins lest one also becomes guilty, which is the way it is rendered here (see NIV, NRSV, NEB, JB; see also B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 129-30, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 303, and the discussion on pp. 316-17), or (2) one may rebuke one’s neighbor without incurring sin just as long as he does not hate him in his heart (see the first part of the verse; cf. NASB, NAB).

[19:18]  ² tn Heb “and you shall not retain [anger?].” This line seems to refer to the retaining or maintaining of some vengeful feelings toward someone. Compare the combination of the same terms for taking vengeance and maintaining wrath against enemies in Nahum 1:2 (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 305).

[19:18]  ³ sn Some scholars make a distinction between the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) with the direct object and the more unusual construction with the preposition לְ (lamed) as it is here and in Lev 19:34 and 2 Chr 19:2 only. If there is a distinction, the construction here probably calls for direct and helpful action toward one’s neighbor (see the discussion in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 305, and esp. 317-18). Such love stands in contrast to taking vengeance or bearing a grudge against someone and, in NT terms, amounts to fulfilling the so-called “golden rule” (Matt 7:12).

[1:5]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn BDAG 113 s.v. ἀπόκειμαι 2 renders ἀποκειμένην (apokeimenhn) with the expression “reserved” in this verse.

[1:5]  ⁶ 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.

[1:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ⁸ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ⁹ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ¹⁰ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[2:6]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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.

[2:7]  ¹³ tn Or “having been rooted.”

[2:7]  ¹⁴ sn The three participles rooted, built up, and firm belong together and reflect three different metaphors. The first participle “rooted” (perfect tense) indicates a settled condition on the part of the Colossian believers and refers to horticulture. The second participle “built up” (present passive) comes from the world of architecture. The third participle “firm [established]” (present passive) comes from the law courts. With these three metaphors (as well as the following comment on thankfulness) Paul explains what he means when he commands them to continue to live their lives in Christ. The use of the passive probably reflects God’s activity among them. It was he who had rooted them, had been building them up, and had established them in the faith (cf. 1 Cor 3:5-15 for the use of mixed metaphors).

[2:7]  ¹⁵ tn The Greek text has the article τῇ (th), not the possessive pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn), but the article often functions as a possessive pronoun and was translated as such here (ExSyn 215).

[2:8]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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).

[2:9]  ¹⁹ sn In him all the fullness of deity lives. The present tense in this verse (“lives”) is significant. Again, as was stated in the note on 1:19, this is not a temporary dwelling, but a permanent one. Paul’s point is polemical against the idea that the fullness of God dwells anywhere else, as the Gnostics believed, except in Christ alone. At the incarnation, the second person of the Trinity assumed humanity, and is forever the God-man.

[1:10]  ²⁰ tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

[1:10]  ²¹ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”

[6:1]  ²² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[6:1]  ²³ tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.

[6:1]  ²⁴ tn Or “some transgression” (L&N 88.297).

[6:1]  ²⁵ sn Who are spiritual refers to people who are controlled and directed by God’s Spirit.

[6:1]  ²⁶ tn Or “with a gentle spirit” or “gently.”

[6:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “taking careful notice.”

[6:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[6:1]  ²⁹ tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.

[6:1]  ³⁰ tn Or “some transgression” (L&N 88.297).

[6:1]  ³¹ sn Who are spiritual refers to people who are controlled and directed by God’s Spirit.

[6:1]  ³² tn Or “with a gentle spirit” or “gently.”

[6:1]  ³³ tn Grk “taking careful notice.”

[5:14]  ³⁴ tn Or “can be fulfilled in one commandment.”

[5:14]  ³⁵ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[1:23]  ³⁶ tn Grk “and save.”

[1:23]  ³⁷ tn Grk “and have mercy.”

[1:23]  ³⁸ tn Grk “with fear.” But as this contrasts with ἀφόβως (afobw") in v. 12 (without reverence), the posture of the false teachers, it most likely refers to reverence for God.

[1:23]  ³⁹ sn The imagery here suggests that the things close to the sinners are contaminated by them, presumably during the process of sinning.

[1:23]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “hating even the tunic spotted by the flesh.” The “flesh” in this instance could refer to the body or to the sin nature. It makes little difference in one sense: Jude is thinking primarily of sexual sins, which are borne of the sin nature and manifest themselves in inappropriate deeds done with the body. At the same time, he is not saying that the body is intrinsically bad, a view held by the opponents of Christianity. Hence, it is best to see “flesh” as referring to the sin nature here and the language as metaphorical.