Luke 9:48

9:48 and said to them, “Whoever welcomes ¹  this child ²  in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me, for the one who is least among you all is the one who is great.” ³ 

Luke 10:23-24

10:23 Then ⁴  Jesus ⁵  turned ⁶  to his ⁷  disciples and said privately, “Blessed ⁸  are the eyes that see what you see! 10:24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings longed to see ⁹  what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

Matthew 11:11

11:11 “I tell you the truth, ¹⁰  among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least ¹¹  in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is.

Matthew 13:16-17

13:16 “But your eyes are blessed ¹²  because they see, and your ears because they hear. 13:17 For I tell you the truth, ¹³  many prophets and righteous people longed to see ¹⁴  what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

Ephesians 3:8-9

3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ¹⁵  – this grace was given, ¹⁶  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ 3:9 and to enlighten ¹⁷  everyone about God’s secret plan ¹⁸  – a secret that has been hidden for ages ¹⁹  in God ²⁰  who has created all things.

Colossians 1:25-27

1:25 I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship ²¹  from God – given to me for you – in order to complete ²²  the word of God, 1:26 that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints. 1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious ²³  riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Hebrews 11:39-40

11:39 And these all were commended ²⁴  for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised. ²⁵  11:40 For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us. ²⁶ 

Hebrews 11:1

People Commended for Their Faith

11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.

Hebrews 1:10-12

1:10 And,

“You founded the earth in the beginning, Lord, ²⁷ 

and the heavens are the works of your hands.

1:11 They will perish, but you continue.

And they will all grow old like a garment,

1:12 and like a robe you will fold them up

and like a garment ²⁸  they will be changed,

but you are the same and your years will never run out.” ²⁹ 

[9:48]  ¹ tn This verb, δέχομαι (decomai), is a term of hospitality (L&N 34.53).

[9:48]  ² sn Children were very insignificant in ancient culture, so this child would be the perfect object lesson to counter the disciples’ selfish ambitions.

[9:48]  ³ tn Grk “among you all, this one is great.” The absence of a comparative term here makes the point that comparison should not be done.

[10:23]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[10:23]  ⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:23]  ⁶ tn Grk “turning to the disciples, he said.” The participle στραφείς (strafei") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[10:23]  ⁷ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[10:23]  ⁸ sn This beatitude highlights the great honor bestowed on the disciples to share in this salvation, as v. 20 also noted. See also Luke 2:30.

[10:24]  ⁹ sn This is what past prophets and kings had wanted very much to see, yet the fulfillment had come to the disciples. This remark is like 1 Pet 1:10-12 or Heb 1:1-2.

[11:11]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[11:11]  ¹¹ sn After John comes a shift of eras. The new era is so great that the lowest member of it (the one who is least in the kingdom of God) is greater than the greatest one of the previous era.

[13:16]  ¹² sn This beatitude highlights the great honor bestowed on the disciples to share in this salvation.

[13:17]  ¹³ tn Grk “truly (ἀμήν, amhn) I say to you.”

[13:17]  ¹⁴ sn This is what past prophets and righteous people had wanted very much to see, yet the fulfillment had come to the disciples. This remark is like 1 Pet 1:10-12 or Heb 1:1-2.

[3:8]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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).

[3:9]  ¹⁷ tn There is a possible causative nuance in the Greek verb, but this is difficult to convey in the translation.

[3:9]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “what is the plan of the divine secret.” Earlier the author had used οἰκονομία (oikonomia; here “plan”) to refer to his own “stewardship” (v. 2). But now he is speaking about the content of this secret, not his own activity in relation to it.

[3:9]  ¹⁹ tn Or “for eternity,” or perhaps “from the Aeons.” Cf. 2:2, 7.

[3:9]  ²⁰ tn Or “by God.” It is possible that ἐν (en) plus the dative here indicates agency, that is, that God has performed the action of hiding the secret. However, this usage of the preposition ἐν is quite rare in the NT, and even though here it does follow a perfect passive verb as in the Classical idiom, it is more likely that a different nuance is intended.

[1:25]  ²¹ tn BDAG 697 s.v. οἰκονομία 1.b renders the term here as “divine office.”

[1:25]  ²² tn See BDAG 828 s.v. πληρόω 3. The idea here seems to be that the apostle wants to “complete the word of God” in that he wants to preach it to every person in the known world (cf. Rom 15:19). See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 82.

[1:27]  ²³ tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”

[11:39]  ²⁴ sn The expression these all were commended forms an inclusio with Heb 11:2: The chapter begins and ends with references to commendation for faith.

[11:39]  ²⁵ tn Grk “the promise,” referring to the thing God promised, not to the pledge itself.

[11:40]  ²⁶ tn The Greek phrasing emphasizes this point by negating the opposite: “so that they would not be made perfect without us.”

[1:10]  ²⁷ sn You founded the earth…your years will never run out. In its original setting Ps 102:25-27 refers to the work of God in creation, but here in Hebrews 1:10-12 the writer employs it in reference to Christ, the Lord, making a strong argument for the essential deity of the Son.

[1:12]  ²⁸ tc The words “like a garment” (ὡς ἱμάτιον, Jw" Jimation) are found in excellent and early mss (Ì⁴⁶ א A B D* 1739) though absent in a majority of witnesses (D¹ Ψ 0243 0278 33 1881 Ï lat sy bo). Although it is possible that longer reading was produced by overzealous scribes who wanted to underscore the frailty of creation, it is much more likely that the shorter reading was produced by scribes who wanted to conform the wording to that of Ps 102:26 (101:27 LXX), which here lacks the second “like a garment.” Both external and internal considerations decidedly favor the longer reading, and point to the author of Hebrews as the one underscoring the difference between the Son and creation.

[1:12]  ²⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 102:25-27.