Luke 23:47-48

23:47 Now when the centurion ¹  saw what had happened, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent!” ²  23:48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. ³ 

Luke 6:27-28

6:27 “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies, ⁴  do good to those who hate you, 6:28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat ⁵  you.

Genesis 50:17

50:17 ‘Tell Joseph this: Please forgive the sin of your brothers and the wrong they did when they treated you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sin of the servants of the God of your father.” When this message was reported to him, Joseph wept. ⁶ 

Psalms 106:16-23

106:16 In the camp they resented ⁷  Moses,

and Aaron, the Lord’s holy priest. ⁸ 

106:17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;

it engulfed ⁹  the group led by Abiram. ¹⁰ 

106:18 Fire burned their group;

the flames scorched the wicked. ¹¹ 

106:19 They made an image of a calf at Horeb,

and worshiped a metal idol.

106:20 They traded their majestic God ¹² 

for the image of an ox that eats grass.

106:21 They rejected ¹³  the God who delivered them,

the one who performed great deeds in Egypt,

106:22 amazing feats in the land of Ham,

mighty ¹⁴  acts by the Red Sea.

106:23 He threatened ¹⁵  to destroy them,

but ¹⁶  Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him ¹⁷ 

and turned back his destructive anger. ¹⁸ 

Matthew 5:44

5:44 But I say to you, love your enemy and ¹⁹  pray for those who persecute you,

Acts 7:60

7:60 Then he fell ²⁰  to his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” ²¹  When ²²  he had said this, he died. ²³ 

Romans 12:14

12:14 Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse.

Romans 12:1

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ²⁴  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ²⁵  – which is your reasonable service.

Colossians 4:12

4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ²⁶  of Christ, ²⁷  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ²⁸  in all the will of God.

Colossians 4:1

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

Colossians 2:20-23

2:20 If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits ²⁹  of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world? 2:21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” 2:22 These are all destined to perish with use, founded as they are ³⁰  on human commands and teachings. ³¹  2:23 Even though they have the appearance of wisdom ³²  with their self-imposed worship and false humility ³³  achieved by an ³⁴  unsparing treatment of the body – a wisdom with no true value – they in reality result in fleshly indulgence. ³⁵ 

Colossians 3:9

3:9 Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with its practices

[23:47]  ¹ sn See the note on the word centurion in 7:2.

[23:47]  ² tn Or “righteous.” It is hard to know whether “innocent” or “righteous” is intended, as the Greek term used can mean either, and both make good sense in this context. Luke has been emphasizing Jesus as innocent, so that is slightly more likely here. Of course, one idea entails the other.

[23:48]  ³ sn Some apparently regretted what had taken place. Beating their breasts was a sign of lamentation.

[6:27]  ⁴ sn Love your enemies is the first of four short exhortations that call for an unusual response to those who are persecuting disciples. Disciples are to relate to hostility in a completely unprecedented manner.

[6:28]  ⁵ tn The substantival participle ἐπηρεαζόντων (ephreazontwn), sometimes translated “those who abuse” (NRSV), is better rendered “those who mistreat,” a more general term (see L&N 88.129).

[50:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “and Joseph wept when they spoke to him.”

[106:16]  ⁷ tn Or “envied.”

[106:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “the holy one of the Lord.”

[106:17]  ⁹ tn Or “covered.”

[106:17]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the assembly of Abiram.”

[106:18]  ¹¹ sn Verses 16-18 describe the events of Num 16:1-40.

[106:20]  ¹² tn Heb “their glory.” According to an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition, the text originally read “his glory” or “my glory.” In Jer 2:11 the Lord states that his people (Israel) exchanged “their glory” (a reference to the Lord) for worthless idols.

[106:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “forgot.”

[106:22]  ¹⁴ tn Or “awe-inspiring.”

[106:23]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he said.”

[106:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “if not,” that is, “[and would have] if [Moses] had not.”

[106:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “stood in the gap before him.”

[106:23]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to turn back his anger from destroying.”

[5:44]  ¹⁹ tc Most mss ([D] L [W] Θ Ë¹³ 33 Ï lat) read “bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you,” before “those who persecute you.” But this is surely a motivated reading, importing the longer form of this aphorism from Luke 6:27-28. The shorter text is found in א B ˹ pc sa, as well as several fathers and versional witnesses.

[7:60]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Then falling to his knees he cried out.” The participle θείς (qeis) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[7:60]  ²¹ sn The remarks Lord Jesus, receive my spirit and Lord, do not hold this sin against them recall statements Jesus made on the cross (Luke 23:34, 46).

[7:60]  ²² tn Grk “And when.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.

[7:60]  ²³ tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.

[12:1]  ²⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[12:1]  ²⁵ tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.

[4:12]  ²⁶ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ²⁷ tc ‡ Strong Alexandrian testimony, along with some other witnesses, suggests that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) follows Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “Christ”; so א A B C I L 0278 33 81 365 629 1175 2464 al lat), but the evidence for the shorter reading is diverse (Ì⁴⁶ D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï it sy Hier), cutting across all major texttypes. There can be little motivation for omitting the name of Jesus; hence, the shorter reading is judged to be original. NA²⁷ has ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[4:12]  ²⁸ tn Or “filled.”

[2:20]  ²⁹ tn See the note on the phrase “elemental spirits” in 2:8.

[2:22]  ³⁰ tn The expression “founded as they are” brings out the force of the Greek preposition κατά (kata).

[2:22]  ³¹ tn Grk “The commands and teachings of men.”

[2:23]  ³² tn Grk “having a word of wisdom.”

[2:23]  ³³ tn Though the apostle uses the term ταπεινοφροσύνῃ (tapeinofrosunh) elsewhere in a positive sense (cf. 3:12), here the sense is negative and reflects the misguided thinking of Paul’s opponents.

[2:23]  ³⁴ tc ‡ The vast bulk of witnesses, including some important ones (א A C D F G H Ψ 075 0278 33 1881 Ï lat sy), have καί (kai) here, but the shorter reading is supported by some early and important witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ B 1739 b m Hil Ambst Spec). The καί looks to be a motivated reading in that it makes ἀφειδία (afeidia) “the third in a series of datives after ἐν, rather than an instrumental dative qualifying the previous prepositional phrase” (TCGNT 556). At the same time, the omission of καί could possibly have been unintentional. A decision is difficult, but the shorter reading is slightly preferred. NA²⁷ puts καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[2:23]  ³⁵ tn The translation understands this verse to contain a concessive subordinate clause within the main clause. The Greek particle μέν (men) is the second word of the embedded subordinate clause. The phrase οὐκ ἐν τιμῇ τινι (ouk en timh tini) modifies the subordinate clause, and the main clause resumes with the preposition πρός (pros). The translation has placed the subordinate clause first in order for clarity instead of retaining its embedded location. For a detailed discussion of this grammatical construction, see B. Hollenbach, “Col 2:23: Which Things Lead to the Fulfillment of the Flesh,” NTS 25 (1979): 254-61.