Matthew 25:43

25:43 I was a stranger and you did not receive me as a guest, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’

Genesis 18:2-8

18:2 Abraham ¹  looked up ²  and saw ³  three men standing across ⁴  from him. When he saw them ⁵  he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low ⁶  to the ground. ⁷ 

18:3 He said, “My lord, ⁸  if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by and leave your servant. ⁹  18:4 Let a little water be brought so that ¹⁰  you may all ¹¹  wash your feet and rest under the tree. 18:5 And let me get ¹²  a bit of food ¹³  so that you may refresh yourselves ¹⁴  since you have passed by your servant’s home. After that you may be on your way.” ¹⁵  “All right,” they replied, “you may do as you say.”

18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Take ¹⁶  three measures ¹⁷  of fine flour, knead it, and make bread.” ¹⁸  18:7 Then Abraham ran to the herd and chose a fine, tender calf, and gave it to a servant, ¹⁹  who quickly prepared it. ²⁰  18:8 Abraham ²¹  then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food ²²  before them. They ate while ²³  he was standing near them under a tree.

Genesis 19:1-3

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while ²⁴  Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. ²⁵  When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.

19:2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night ²⁶  and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” ²⁷  “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” ²⁸ 

19:3 But he urged ²⁹  them persistently, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them, including bread baked without yeast, and they ate.

Acts 16:15

16:15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, ³⁰  “If ³¹  you consider me to be a believer in the Lord, ³²  come and stay in my house.” And she persuaded ³³  us.

Romans 12:13

12:13 Contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality.

Romans 16:23

16:23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus the city treasurer and our brother Quartus greet you.

Romans 16:1

Personal Greetings

16:1 Now I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant ³⁴  of the church in Cenchrea,

Romans 5:10

5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life?

Hebrews 13:1-3

Final Exhortations

13:1 Brotherly love must continue. 13:2 Do not neglect hospitality, because through it some have entertained angels without knowing it. ³⁵  13:3 Remember those in prison as though you were in prison with them, ³⁶  and those ill-treated as though you too felt their torment. ³⁷ 

Hebrews 13:1

Final Exhortations

13:1 Brotherly love must continue.

Hebrews 4:9

4:9 Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God.

Hebrews 4:3

4:3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” ³⁸  And yet God’s works ³⁹  were accomplished from the foundation of the world.

Hebrews 1:5-8

The Son Is Superior to Angels

1:5 For to which of the angels did God ⁴⁰  ever say, “You are my son! Today I have fathered you”? ⁴¹  And in another place ⁴²  he says, ⁴³  “I will be his father and he will be my son.” ⁴⁴  1:6 But when he again brings ⁴⁵  his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him!” ⁴⁶  1:7 And he says ⁴⁷  of the angels, “He makes ⁴⁸  his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire,” ⁴⁹  1:8 but of ⁵⁰  the Son he says, ⁵¹ 

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, ⁵² 

and a righteous scepter ⁵³  is the scepter of your kingdom.

[18:2]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:2]  ² tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

[18:2]  ³ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to what he saw. The drawn-out description focuses the reader’s attention on Abraham’s deliberate, fixed gaze and indicates that what he is seeing is significant.

[18:2]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew preposition עַל (’al) indicates the three men were nearby, but not close by, for Abraham had to run to meet them.

[18:2]  ⁵ tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

[18:2]  ⁶ tn The form וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (vayyishtakhu, “and bowed low”) is from the verb הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה (hishtakhavah, “to worship, bow low to the ground”). It is probably from a root חָוָה (khavah), though some derive it from שָׁחָה (shakhah).

[18:2]  ⁷ sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the Lord and two angels (see Gen 19:1). It is not certain how soon Abraham recognized the true identity of the visitors. His actions suggest he suspected this was something out of the ordinary, though it is possible that his lavish treatment of the visitors was done quite unwittingly. Bowing down to the ground would be reserved for obeisance of kings or worship of the Lord. Whether he was aware of it or not, Abraham’s action was most appropriate.

[18:3]  ⁸ tc The MT has the form אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Master”) which is reserved for God. This may reflect later scribal activity. The scribes, knowing it was the Lord, may have put the proper pointing with the word instead of the more common אֲדֹנִי (’adoni, “my master”).

[18:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “do not pass by from upon your servant.”

[18:4]  ¹⁰ tn The imperative after the jussive indicates purpose here.

[18:4]  ¹¹ tn The word “all” has been supplied in the translation because the Hebrew verb translated “wash” and the pronominal suffix on the word “feet” are plural, referring to all three of the visitors.

[18:5]  ¹² tn The Qal cohortative here probably has the nuance of polite request.

[18:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “a piece of bread.” The Hebrew word לֶחֶם (lekhem) can refer either to bread specifically or to food in general. Based on Abraham’s directions to Sarah in v. 6, bread was certainly involved, but v. 7 indicates that Abraham had a more elaborate meal in mind.

[18:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “strengthen your heart.” The imperative after the cohortative indicates purpose here.

[18:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “so that you may refresh yourselves, after [which] you may be on your way – for therefore you passed by near your servant.”

[18:6]  ¹⁶ tn The word “take” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the sentence lacks a verb other than the imperative “hurry.” The elliptical structure of the language reflects Abraham’s haste to get things ready quickly.

[18:6]  ¹⁷ sn Three measures (Heb “three seahs”) was equivalent to about twenty quarts (twenty-two liters) of flour, which would make a lot of bread. The animal prepared for the meal was far more than the three visitors needed. This was a banquet for royalty. Either it had been a lonely time for Abraham and the presence of visitors made him very happy, or he sensed this was a momentous visit.

[18:6]  ¹⁸ sn The bread was the simple, round bread made by bedouins that is normally prepared quickly for visitors.

[18:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the young man.”

[18:7]  ²⁰ tn The construction uses the Piel preterite, “he hurried,” followed by the infinitive construct; the two probably form a verbal hendiadys: “he quickly prepared.”

[18:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:8]  ²² tn The words “the food” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

[18:8]  ²³ tn The disjunctive clause is a temporal circumstantial clause subordinate to the main verb.

[19:1]  ²⁴ tn The disjunctive clause is temporal here, indicating what Lot was doing at the time of their arrival.

[19:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “sitting in the gate of Sodom.” The phrase “the gate of Sodom” has been translated “the city’s gateway” for stylistic reasons.

[19:2]  ²⁶ tn The imperatives have the force of invitation.

[19:2]  ²⁷ tn These two verbs form a verbal hendiadys: “you can rise up early and go” means “you can go early.”

[19:2]  ²⁸ sn The town square refers to the wide street area at the gate complex of the city.

[19:3]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew verb פָּצַר (patsar, “to press, to insist”) ironically foreshadows the hostile actions of the men of the city (see v. 9, where the verb also appears). The repetition of the word serves to contrast Lot to his world.

[16:15]  ³⁰ tn Grk “urged us, saying.” The participle λέγουσα (legousa) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[16:15]  ³¹ tn This is a first class condition in Greek, with the statement presented as real or true for the sake of the argument.

[16:15]  ³² tn Or “faithful to the Lord.” BDAG 821 s.v. πίστος 2 states concerning this verse, “Of one who confesses the Christian faith believing or a believer in the Lord, in Christ, in God πιστ. τῷ κυρίῳ Ac 16:15.” L&N 11.17 has “one who is included among the faithful followers of Christ – ‘believer, Christian, follower.’”

[16:15]  ³³ tn Although BDAG 759 s.v. παραβιάζομαι has “urge strongly, prevail upon,” in contemporary English “persuade” is a more frequently used synonym for “prevail upon.”

[16:1]  ³⁴ tn Or “deaconess.” It is debated whether διάκονος (diakonos) here refers to a specific office within the church. One contextual argument used to support this view is that Phoebe is associated with a particular church, Cenchrea, and as such would therefore be a deacon of that church. In the NT some who are called διάκονος are related to a particular church, yet the scholarly consensus is that such individuals are not deacons, but “servants” or “ministers” (other viable translations for διάκονος). For example, Epaphras is associated with the church in Colossians and is called a διάκονος in Col 1:7, but no contemporary translation regards him as a deacon. In 1 Tim 4:6 Paul calls Timothy a διάκονος; Timothy was associated with the church in Ephesus, but he obviously was not a deacon. In addition, the lexical evidence leans away from this view: Within the NT, the διακον- word group rarely functions with a technical nuance. In any case, the evidence is not compelling either way. The view accepted in the translation above is that Phoebe was a servant of the church, not a deaconess, although this conclusion should be regarded as tentative.

[13:2]  ³⁵ sn This is a vague allusion to people described in scripture and extra-biblical literature and may include Abraham and Sarah (Gen 18:2-15), Lot (Gen 19:1-14), Gideon (Judg 6:11-18), Manoah (Judg 13:3-22), and possibly Tobit (Tob 12:1-20).

[13:3]  ³⁶ tn Grk “as being imprisoned together.”

[13:3]  ³⁷ tn Or “since you too are vulnerable”; Grk “you also being in the body.”

[4:3]  ³⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 95:11.

[4:3]  ³⁹ tn Grk “although the works,” continuing the previous reference to God. The referent (God) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:5]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:5]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “I have begotten you.”

[1:5]  ⁴² tn Grk “And again,” quoting another OT passage.

[1:5]  ⁴³ tn The words “he says” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to make a complete English sentence. In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence, but English does not normally employ such long and complex sentences.

[1:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me.”

[1:6]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “And again when he brings.” The translation adopted in the text looks forward to Christ’s second coming to earth. Some take “again” to introduce the quotation (as in 1:5) and understand this as Christ’s first coming, but this view does not fit well with Heb 2:7. Others understand it as his exaltation/ascension to heaven, but this takes the phrase “into the world” in an unlikely way.

[1:6]  ⁴⁶ sn A quotation combining themes from Deut 32:43 and Ps 97:7.

[1:7]  ⁴⁷ sn The Greek correlative conjunctions μέν and δέ (men and de) emphasize the contrastive parallelism of vs. 7 (what God says about the angels) over against vv. 8-9 and vv. 10-12 (what God says about the son).

[1:7]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “He who makes.”

[1:7]  ⁴⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 104:4.

[1:8]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “to.”

[1:8]  ⁵¹ tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.

[1:8]  ⁵² tn Or possibly, “Your throne is God forever and ever.” This translation is quite doubtful, however, since (1) in the context the Son is being contrasted to the angels and is presented as far better than they. The imagery of God being the Son’s throne would seem to be of God being his authority. If so, in what sense could this not be said of the angels? In what sense is the Son thus contrasted with the angels? (2) The μέν…δέ (men…de) construction that connects v. 7 with v. 8 clearly lays out this contrast: “On the one hand, he says of the angels…on the other hand, he says of the Son.” Thus, although it is grammatically possible that θεός (qeos) in v. 8 should be taken as a predicate nominative, the context and the correlative conjunctions are decidedly against it. Hebrews 1:8 is thus a strong affirmation of the deity of Christ.

[1:8]  ⁵³ tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.