Mark 9:35

9:35 After he sat down, he called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

Matthew 20:26-27

20:26 It must not be this way among you! Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, 20:27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave ¹  –

Matthew 23:8-12

23:8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. 23:9 And call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 23:10 Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one teacher, the Christ. ²  23:11 The ³  greatest among you will be your servant. 23:12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Luke 9:48

9:48 and said to them, “Whoever welcomes ⁴  this child ⁵  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.” ⁶ 

Luke 14:11

14:11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but ⁷  the one who humbles ⁸  himself will be exalted.”

Luke 18:14

18:14 I tell you that this man went down to his home justified ⁹  rather than the Pharisee. ¹⁰  For everyone who exalts ¹¹  himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

John 13:13-18

13:13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and do so correctly, ¹²  for that is what I am. ¹³  13:14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet. 13:15 For I have given you an example ¹⁴  – you should do just as I have done for you. 13:16 I tell you the solemn truth, ¹⁵  the slave ¹⁶  is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent as a messenger ¹⁷  greater than the one who sent him. 13:17 If you understand ¹⁸  these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

The Announcement of Jesus’ Betrayal

13:18 “What I am saying does not refer to all of you. I know the ones I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture, ¹⁹  ‘The one who eats my bread ²⁰  has turned against me.’ ²¹ 

John 13:1

Washing the Disciples’ Feet

13:1 Just before the Passover feast, Jesus knew that his time ²²  had come to depart ²³  from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now loved them to the very end. ²⁴ 

Colossians 1:19-23

1:19 For God ²⁵  was pleased to have all his ²⁶  fullness dwell ²⁷  in the Son ²⁸ 

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ²⁹  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ³⁰  minds ³¹  as expressed through ³²  your evil deeds, 1:22 but now he has reconciled you ³³  by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him – 1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ³⁴  without shifting ³⁵  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

Galatians 5:13

Practice Love

5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; ³⁶  only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, ³⁷  but through love serve one another. ³⁸ 

Galatians 5:1

Freedom of the Believer

5:1 For freedom ³⁹  Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke ⁴⁰  of slavery.

Galatians 5:5-6

5:5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait expectantly for the hope of righteousness. 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision carries any weight – the only thing that matters is faith working through love. ⁴¹ 

[20:27]  ¹ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[23:10]  ¹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[23:11]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[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.

[14:11]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context, which involves the reversal of expected roles.

[14:11]  ² sn The point of the statement the one who humbles himself will be exalted is humility and the reversal imagery used to underline it is common: Luke 1:52-53; 6:21; 10:15; 18:14.

[18:14]  ¹ sn The prayer that was heard and honored was the one given with humility; in a surprising reversal it was the tax collector who went down to his home justified.

[18:14]  ² tn Grk “the other”; the referent (the Pharisee, v. 10) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:14]  ³ sn Everyone who exalts himself. See Luke 14:11. Jesus often called for humility and condemned those who sought honor.

[13:13]  ¹ tn Or “rightly.”

[13:13]  ² tn Grk “and I am these things.”

[13:15]  ¹ sn I have given you an example. Jesus tells his disciples after he has finished washing their feet that what he has done is to set an example for them. In the previous verse he told them they were to wash one another’s feet. What is the point of the example? If it is simply an act of humble service, as most interpret the significance, then Jesus is really telling his disciples to serve one another in humility rather than seeking preeminence over one another. If, however, the example is one of self-sacrifice up to the point of death, then Jesus is telling them to lay down their lives for one another (cf. 15:13).

[13:16]  ¹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[13:16]  ² tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.

[13:16]  ³ tn Or “nor is the apostle” (“apostle” means “one who is sent” in Greek).

[13:17]  ¹ tn Grk “If you know.”

[13:18]  ¹ tn Grk “But so that the scripture may be fulfilled.”

[13:18]  ² tn Or “The one who shares my food.”

[13:18]  ³ tn Or “has become my enemy”; Grk “has lifted up his heel against me.” The phrase “to lift up one’s heel against someone” reads literally in the Hebrew of Ps 41 “has made his heel great against me.” There have been numerous interpretations of this phrase, but most likely it is an idiom meaning “has given me a great fall,” “has taken cruel advantage of me,” or “has walked out on me.” Whatever the exact meaning of the idiom, it clearly speaks of betrayal by a close associate. See E. F. F. Bishop, “‘He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me’ – Jn xiii.18 (Ps xli.9),” ExpTim 70 (1958-59): 331-33.

[13:1]  ¹ tn Grk “his hour.”

[13:1]  ² tn Grk “that he should depart.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause in Koine Greek frequently encroached on the simple infinitive (for the sake of greater clarity).

[13:1]  ³ tn Or “he now loved them completely,” or “he now loved them to the uttermost” (see John 19:30). All of John 13:1 is a single sentence in Greek, although in English this would be unacceptably awkward. At the end of the verse the idiom εἰς τέλος (eis telos) was translated literally as “to the end” and the modern equivalents given in the note above, because there is an important lexical link between this passage and John 19:30, τετέλεσται (tetelestai, “It is ended”).

[1:19]  ¹ tn The noun “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but since God is the one who reconciles the world to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:19), he is clearly the subject of εὐδόκησεν (eudokhsen).

[1:19]  ² tn The Greek article τό (to), insofar as it relates to God, may be translated as a possessive pronoun, i.e., “his.” BDAG 404 s.v. εὐδοκέω 1 translates the phrase as “all the fullness willed to dwell in him” thus leaving the referent as impersonal. Insofar as Paul is alluding to the so-called emanations from God this is acceptable. But the fact that “the fullness” dwells in a person (i.e., “in him”) seems to argue for the translation “his fullness” where “his” refers to God.

[1:19]  ³ tn The aorist verb κατοικῆσαι (katoikhsai) could be taken as an ingressive, in which case it refers to the incarnation and may be translated as “begin to dwell, to take up residence.” It is perhaps better, though, to take it as a constative aorist and simply a reference to the fact that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus Christ. This is a permanent dwelling, though, not a temporary one, as the present tense in 2:9 makes clear.

[1:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the Son; see v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:20]  ¹ tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally important witnesses have it (Ì⁴⁶ א A C D¹ Ψ 048^vid 33 Ï). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as original. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In short, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original.

[1:21]  ¹ tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[1:21]  ² tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.

[1:21]  ³ tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.

[1:22]  ¹ tc Some of the better representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texts have a passive verb here instead of the active ἀποκατήλλαξεν (apokathllaxen, “he has reconciled”): ἀποκατηλλάγητε (apokathllaghte) in (Ì⁴⁶) B, ἀποκατήλλακται [sic] (apokathllaktai) in 33, and ἀποκαταλλαγέντες (apokatallagente") in D* F G. Yet the active verb is strongly supported by א A C D² Ψ 048 075 [0278] 1739 1881 Ï lat sy. Internally, the passive creates an anacoluthon in that it looks back to the accusative ὑμᾶς (Juma", “you”) of v. 21 and leaves the following παραστῆσαι (parasthsai) dangling (“you were reconciled…to present you”). The passive reading is certainly the harder reading. As such, it may well explain the rise of the other readings. At the same time, it is possible that the passive was produced by scribes who wanted some symmetry between the ποτε (pote, “at one time”) of v. 21 and the νυνὶ δέ (nuni de, “but now”) of v. 22: Since a passive periphrastic participle is used in v. 21, there may have a temptation to produce a corresponding passive form in v. 22, handling the ὑμᾶς of v. 21 by way of constructio ad sensum. Since παραστῆσαι occurs ten words later, it may not have been considered in this scribal modification. Further, the Western reading (ἀποκαταλλαγέντες) hardly seems to have arisen from ἀποκατηλλάγητε (contra TCGNT 555). As difficult as this decision is, the preferred reading is the active form because it is superior externally and seems to explain the rise of all forms of the passive readings.

[1:23]  ¹ tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

[1:23]  ² tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.

[5:13]  ¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[5:13]  ² tn Grk “as an opportunity for the flesh”; BDAG 915 s.v. σάρξ 2.c.α states: “In Paul’s thought esp., all parts of the body constitute a totality known as σ. or flesh, which is dominated by sin to such a degree that wherever flesh is, all forms of sin are likew. present, and no good thing can live in the σάρξ…Gal 5:13, 24;…Opp. τὸ πνεῦμα…Gal 3:3; 5:16, 17ab; 6:8ab.”

[5:13]  ³ tn It is possible that the verb δουλεύετε (douleuete) should be translated “serve one another in a humble manner” here, referring to the way in which slaves serve their masters (see L&N 35.27).

[5:1]  ¹ tn Translating the dative as “For freedom” shows the purpose for Christ setting us free; however, it is also possible to take the phrase in the sense of means or instrument (“with [or by] freedom”), referring to the freedom mentioned in 4:31 and implied throughout the letter.

[5:1]  ² sn Here the yoke figuratively represents the burdensome nature of slavery.

[5:6]  ¹ tn Grk “but faith working through love.”