Matthew 10:17

10:17 Beware ¹  of people, because they will hand you over to councils ²  and flog ³  you in their synagogues. ⁴ 

Matthew 16:6

16:6 “Watch out,” Jesus said to them, “beware of the yeast of the Pharisees ⁵  and Sadducees.” ⁶ 

Matthew 16:11

16:11 How could you not understand that I was not speaking to you about bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”

Mark 12:38

Warnings About Experts in the Law

12:38 In his teaching Jesus ⁷  also said, “Watch out for the experts in the law. ⁸  They like walking ⁹  around in long robes and elaborate greetings ¹⁰  in the marketplaces,

Luke 12:15

12:15 Then ¹¹  he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourself from ¹²  all types of greed, ¹³  because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Acts 13:40

13:40 Watch out, ¹⁴  then, that what is spoken about by ¹⁵  the prophets does not happen to you:

Philippians 3:2

3:2 Beware of the dogs, ¹⁶  beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! ¹⁷ 

Colossians 2:8

2:8 Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you ¹⁸  through an empty, deceitful philosophy ¹⁹  that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits ²⁰  of the world, and not according to Christ.

Colossians 2:2

2:2 My goal is that ²¹  their hearts, having been knit together ²²  in love, may be encouraged, and that ²³  they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ²⁴ 

Colossians 3:17

3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

[10:17]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:17]  ² sn Councils in this context refers to local judicial bodies attached to the Jewish synagogue. This group would be responsible for meting out justice and discipline within the Jewish community.

[10:17]  ³ tn BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”

[10:17]  ⁴ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[16:6]  ⁵ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[16:6]  ⁶ sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.

[12:38]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:38]  ⁸ tn Or “for the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[12:38]  ⁹ tn In Greek this is the only infinitive in vv. 38-39. It would be awkward in English to join an infinitive to the following noun clauses, so this has been translated as a gerund.

[12:38]  ¹⁰ sn There is later Jewish material in the Talmud that spells out such greetings in detail. See H. Windisch, TDNT 1:498.

[12:15]  ¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:15]  ¹² tn See L&N 13.154 for this use of the middle voice of φυλάσσω (fulassw) in this verse.

[12:15]  ¹³ tn Or “avarice,” “covetousness.” Note the warning covers more than money and gets at the root attitude – the strong desire to acquire more and more possessions and experiences.

[13:40]  ¹⁴ sn The speech closes with a warning, “Watch out,” that also stresses culpability.

[13:40]  ¹⁵ tn Or “in.”

[3:2]  ¹⁶ sn Dogs is a figurative reference to false teachers whom Paul regards as just as filthy as dogs.

[3:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “beware of the mutilation.”

[2:8]  ¹⁸ tn The Greek construction here is somewhat difficult and can be literally rendered “Be careful, lest someone shall be the one who takes you captive.”

[2:8]  ¹⁹ tn The Greek reads τῆς φιλοσοφίας καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης (th" filosofia" kai kenh" apath"). The two nouns φιλοσοφίας and κενῆς are joined by one article and probably form a hendiadys. Thus the second noun was taken as modifying the first, as the translation shows.

[2:8]  ²⁰ tn The phrase κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου (kata ta stoiceia tou kosmou) is difficult to translate because of problems surrounding the precise meaning of στοιχεῖα in this context. Originally it referred to the letters of the alphabet, with the idea at its root of “things in a row”; see C. Vaughn, “Colossians,” EBC 11:198. M. J. Harris (Colossians and Philemon [EGGNT], 93) outlines three probable options: (1) the material elements which comprise the physical world; (2) the elementary teachings of the world (so NEB, NASB, NIV); (3) the elemental spirits of the world (so NEB, RSV). The first option is highly unlikely because Paul is not concerned here with the physical elements, e.g., carbon or nitrogen. The last two options are both possible. Though the Gnostic-like heresy at Colossae would undoubtedly have been regarded by Paul as an “elementary teaching” at best, because the idea of “spirits” played such a role in Gnostic thought, he may very well have had in mind elemental spirits that operated in the world or controlled the world (i.e., under God’s authority and permission).

[2:2]  ²¹ tn Verse two begins a subordinate ἵνα (Jina) clause which was divided up into two sentences for the sake of clarity in English. Thus the phrase “My goal is that” is an attempt to reflect in the translation the purpose expressed through the ἵνα clauses.

[2:2]  ²² tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβιβάζω 1.b reads “unite, knit together.” Some commentators take the verb as a reference to instruction, “instructed in love.” See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 93.

[2:2]  ²³ tn The phrase “and that” translates the first εἰς (eis) clause of v. 2 and reflects the second goal of Paul’s striving and struggle for the Colossians – the first is “encouragement” and the second is “full assurance.”

[2:2]  ²⁴ tc There are at least a dozen variants here, almost surely generated by the unusual wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ (tou qeou, Cristou, “of God, Christ”; so Ì⁴⁶ B Hil). Scribes would be prone to conform this to more common Pauline expressions such as “of God, who is in Christ” (33), “of God, the Father of Christ” (א* A C 048^vid 1175 bo), and “of the God and Father of Christ” (א² Ψ 075 0278 365 1505 pc). Even though the external support for the wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ is hardly overwhelming, it clearly best explains the rise of the other readings and should thus be regarded as authentic.