Luke 2:32

2:32 a light, ¹ 

for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory ²  to your people Israel.”

Acts 10:34

10:34 Then Peter started speaking: ³  “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism in dealing with people, ⁴ 

Acts 13:46-48

13:46 Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously, ⁵  “It was necessary to speak the word of God ⁶  to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy ⁷  of eternal life, we ⁸  are turning to the Gentiles. ⁹  13:47 For this ¹⁰  is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have appointed ¹¹  you to be a light ¹²  for the Gentiles, to bring salvation ¹³  to the ends of the earth.’” ¹⁴  13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began to rejoice ¹⁵  and praise ¹⁶  the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed for eternal life ¹⁷  believed.

Romans 10:12

10:12 For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him.

Romans 10:18

10:18 But I ask, have they ¹⁸  not heard? ¹⁹  Yes, they have: ²⁰  Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. ²¹ 

Galatians 2:8

2:8 (for he who empowered ²²  Peter for his apostleship ²³  to the circumcised ²⁴  also empowered me for my apostleship to the Gentiles) ²⁵ 

Ephesians 3:5-8

3:5 Now this secret ²⁶  was not disclosed to people ²⁷  in former ²⁸  generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by ²⁹  the Spirit, 3:6 namely, that through the gospel ³⁰  the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members ³¹  of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. 3:7 I became a servant of this gospel ³²  according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by ³³  the exercise of his power. ³⁴  3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ³⁵  – this grace was given, ³⁶  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

Colossians 1:27

1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious ³⁷  riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

[2:32]  ¹ tn The syntax of this verse is disputed. Most read “light” and “glory” in parallelism, so Jesus is a light for revelation to the Gentiles and is glory to the people for Israel. Others see “light” (1:78-79) as a summary, while “revelation” and “glory” are parallel, so Jesus is light for all, but is revelation for the Gentiles and glory for Israel. Both readings make good sense and either could be correct, but Luke 1:78-79 and Acts 26:22-23 slightly favor this second option.

[2:32]  ² sn In other words, Jesus is a special cause for praise and honor (“glory”) for the nation.

[10:34]  ³ tn Grk “Opening his mouth Peter said” (a Semitic idiom for beginning to speak in a somewhat formal manner). The participle ἀνοίξας (anoixa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[10:34]  ⁴ tn Grk “God is not one who is a respecter of persons,” that is, “God is not one to show partiality” (cf. BDAG 887 s.v. προσωπολήμπτης). L&N 88.239 translates this verse “I realize that God does not show favoritism (in dealing with people).” The underlying Hebrew idiom includes the personal element (“respecter of persons”) so the phrase “in dealing with people” is included in the present translation. It fits very well with the following context and serves to emphasize the relational component of God’s lack of partiality. The latter is a major theme in the NT: Rom 2:11; Eph 2:11-22; Col 3:25; Jas 2:1; 1 Pet 1:17. This was the lesson of Peter’s vision.

[13:46]  ⁵ tn Grk “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out courageously and said.” The redundancy is removed in the translation and the verb “replied” is used in keeping with the logical sequence of events. The theme of boldness reappears: Acts 4:24-30; 9:27-28.

[13:46]  ⁶ tn Grk “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.

[13:46]  ⁷ tn Or “and consider yourselves unworthy.”

[13:46]  ⁸ tn Grk “behold, we.” In this context ἰδού (idou) is not easily translated into English.

[13:46]  ⁹ sn This turning to the Gentiles would be a shocking rebuke to 1st century Jews who thought they alone were the recipients of the promise.

[13:47]  ¹⁰ tn Here οὕτως (Joutws) is taken to refer to what follows, the content of the quotation, as given for this verse by BDAG 742 s.v. οὕτω/οὕτως 2.

[13:47]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 1004 s.v. τίθημι 3.a has “τιθέναι τινὰ εἴς τι place/appoint someone to or for (to function as) someth….Ac 13:47.” This is a double accusative construction of object (“you”) and complement (“a light”).

[13:47]  ¹² sn Paul alludes here to the language of the Servant in Isaiah, pointing to Isa 42:6; 49:6. He and Barnabas do the work of the Servant in Isaiah.

[13:47]  ¹³ tn Grk “that you should be for salvation,” but more simply “to bring salvation.”

[13:47]  ¹⁴ sn An allusion to Isa 42:6 and 49:6. The expression the ends of the earth recalls Luke 3:6 and Acts 1:8. Paul sees himself and Barnabas as carrying out the commission of Luke 24:27. (See 2 Cor 6:2, where servant imagery also appears concerning Paul’s message.)

[13:48]  ¹⁵ tn The imperfect verb ἔχαιρον (ecairon) and the following ἐδόξαζον (edoxazon) are translated as ingressive imperfects.

[13:48]  ¹⁶ tn Or “glorify.” Although “honor” is given by BDAG 258 s.v. δοξάζω as a translation, it would be misleading here, because the meaning is “to honor in the sense of attributing worth to something,” while in contemporary English usage one speaks of “honoring” a contract in the sense of keeping its stipulations. It is not a synonym for “obey” in this context (“obey the word of the Lord”), but that is how many English readers would understand it.

[13:48]  ¹⁷ sn Note the contrast to v. 46 in regard to eternal life.

[10:18]  ¹⁸ tn That is, Israel (see the following verse).

[10:18]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “they have not ‘not heard,’ have they?” This question is difficult to render in English. The basic question is a negative sentence (“Have they not heard?”), but it is preceded by the particle μή (mh) which expects a negative response. The end result in English is a double negative (“They have not ‘not heard,’ have they?”). This has been changed to a positive question in the translation for clarity. See BDAG 646 s.v. μή 3.a.; D. Moo, Romans (NICNT), 666, fn. 32; and C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans (ICC), 537, for discussion.

[10:18]  ²⁰ tn Here the particle μενοῦνγε (menounge) is correcting the negative response expected by the particle μή (mh) in the preceding question. Since the question has been translated positively, the translation was changed here to reflect that rendering.

[10:18]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Ps 19:4.

[2:8]  ²² tn Or “worked through”; the same word is also used in relation to Paul later in this verse.

[2:8]  ²³ tn Or “his ministry as an apostle.”

[2:8]  ²⁴ tn Grk “to the circumcision,” i.e., the Jewish people.

[2:8]  ²⁵ tn Grk “also empowered me to the Gentiles.”

[3:5]  ²⁶ tn Grk “which.” Verse 5 is technically a relative clause, subordinate to the thought of v. 4.

[3:5]  ²⁷ tn Grk “the sons of men” (a Semitic idiom referring to human beings, hence, “people”).

[3:5]  ²⁸ tn Grk “other.”

[3:5]  ²⁹ tn Or “in.”

[3:6]  ³⁰ sn The phrase through the gospel is placed last in the sentence in Greek for emphasis. It has been moved forward for clarity.

[3:6]  ³¹ tn Grk “and fellow members.”

[3:7]  ³² tn Grk “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”

[3:7]  ³³ tn Grk “according to.”

[3:7]  ³⁴ sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.

[3:8]  ³⁵ sn In Pauline writings saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.

[3:8]  ³⁶ sn The parallel phrases to proclaim and to enlighten which follow indicate why God’s grace was manifested to Paul. Grace was not something just to be received, but to be shared with others (cf. Acts 13:47).

[1:27]  ³⁷ tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”