Luke 5:8

5:8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, ¹  for I am a sinful man!” ² 

Luke 7:6-7

7:6 So ³  Jesus went with them. When ⁴  he was not far from the house, the centurion ⁵  sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, ⁶  for I am not worthy ⁷  to have you come under my roof. 7:7 That is why ⁸  I did not presume ⁹  to come to you. Instead, say the word, and my servant must be healed. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 32:10

32:10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love ¹¹  you have shown ¹²  your servant. With only my walking stick ¹³  I crossed the Jordan, ¹⁴  but now I have become two camps.

Job 42:6

42:6 Therefore I despise myself, ¹⁵ 

and I repent in dust and ashes!

Job 42:1

Job’s Confession

42:1 Then Job answered the Lord:

Colossians 1:9

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ¹⁶  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ¹⁷  to fill ¹⁸  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁹  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 1:13-16

1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, ²⁰  1:14 in whom we have redemption, ²¹  the forgiveness of sins.

The Supremacy of Christ

1:15 ²² He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn ²³  over all creation, ²⁴ 

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ²⁵  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

[5:8]  ¹ sn Lord is a term of high respect in this context. God’s presence in the work of Jesus makes Peter recognize his authority. This vocative is common in Luke (20 times), but does not yet have its full confessional force.

[5:8]  ² sn Peter was intimidated that someone who was obviously working with divine backing was in his presence (“Go away from me”). He feared his sinfulness might lead to judgment, but Jesus would show him otherwise.

[7:6]  ³ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the resultative action.

[7:6]  ⁴ tn The participle ἀπέχοντος (apeconto") has been taken temporally.

[7:6]  ⁵ sn See the note on the word centurion in 7:2.

[7:6]  ⁶ tn Or “do not be bothered.”

[7:6]  ⁷ sn Note the humility in the centurion’s statement I am not worthy in light of what others think (as v. 4 notes). See Luke 5:8 for a similar example of humility.

[7:7]  ⁸ tn Or “roof; therefore.”

[7:7]  ⁹ tn Grk “I did not consider myself worthy to come to you.” See BDAG 94 s.v. ἀξιόω 1. “Presume” assumes this and expresses the idea in terms of offense.

[7:7]  ¹⁰ tc The aorist imperative ἰαθήτω (iaqhtw, “must be healed”) is found in Ì^75vid B L 1241 sa. Most mss (א A C D W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt bo) have instead a future indicative, ἰαθήσεται (iaqhsetai, “will be healed”). This is most likely an assimilation to Matt 8:8, and thus, as a motivated reading, should be considered secondary. The meaning either way is essentially the same.

[32:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the loving deeds and faithfulness” (see 24:27, 49).

[32:10]  ¹² tn Heb “you have done with.”

[32:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “for with my staff.” The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally translated “staff,” has been rendered as “walking stick” because a “staff” in contemporary English refers typically to the support personnel in an organization.

[32:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “this Jordan.”

[42:6]  ¹⁵ tn Or “despise what I said.” There is no object on the verb; Job could be despising himself or the things he said (see L. J. Kuyper, “Repentance of Job,” VT 9 [1959]: 91-94).

[1:9]  ¹⁶ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ¹⁷ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ¹⁸ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[1:1]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:13]  ²⁰ tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).

[1:14]  ²¹ tc διὰ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ (dia tou {aimato" autou, “through his blood”) is read at this juncture by several minuscule mss (614 630 1505 2464 al) as well as a few, mostly secondary, versional and patristic witnesses. But the reading was prompted by the parallel in Eph 1:7 where the wording is solid. If these words had been in the original of Colossians, why would scribes omit them here but not in Eph 1:7? Further, the testimony on behalf of the shorter reading is quite overwhelming: {א A B C D F G Ψ 075 0150 6 33 1739 1881 Ï latt co as well as several other versions and fathers}. The conviction that “through his blood” is not authentic in Col 1:14 is as strong as the conviction that these words are authentic in Eph 1:7.

[1:15]  ²² sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[1:15]  ²³ tn The Greek term πρωτότοκος (prwtotokos) could refer either to first in order of time, such as a first born child, or it could refer to one who is preeminent in rank. M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 43, expresses the meaning of the word well: “The ‘firstborn’ was either the eldest child in a family or a person of preeminent rank. The use of this term to describe the Davidic king in Ps 88:28 LXX (=Ps 89:27 EVV), ‘I will also appoint him my firstborn (πρωτότοκον), the most exalted of the kings of the earth,’ indicates that it can denote supremacy in rank as well as priority in time. But whether the πρωτό- element in the word denotes time, rank, or both, the significance of the -τοκος element as indicating birth or origin (from τίκτω, give birth to) has been virtually lost except in ref. to lit. birth.” In Col 1:15 the emphasis is on the priority of Jesus’ rank as over and above creation (cf. 1:16 and the “for” clause referring to Jesus as Creator).

[1:15]  ²⁴ tn The genitive construction πάσης κτίσεως (pash" ktisew") is a genitive of subordination and is therefore translated as “over all creation.” See ExSyn 103-4.

[1:16]  ²⁵ tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.