Matthew 12:41-42

12:41 The people ¹  of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them ²  – and now, ³  something greater than Jonah is here! 12:42 The queen of the South ⁴  will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, ⁵  something greater than Solomon is here!

Matthew 23:17-21

23:17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 23:18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. ⁶  But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.’ 23:19 You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 23:20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 23:21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it.

Matthew 23:2

23:2 “The ⁷  experts in the law ⁸  and the Pharisees ⁹  sit on Moses’ seat.

Matthew 6:18

6:18 so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

Haggai 2:7-9

2:7 I will also shake up all the nations, and they ¹⁰  will offer their treasures; ¹¹  then I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord who rules over all. 2:8 ‘The silver and gold will be mine,’ says the Lord who rules over all. 2:9 ‘The future splendor of this temple will be greater than that of former times,’ ¹²  the Lord who rules over all declares, ‘and in this place I will give peace.’” ¹³ 

Malachi 3:1

3:1 “I am about to send my messenger, ¹⁴  who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord ¹⁵  you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger ¹⁶  of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming,” says the Lord who rules over all.

John 2:19-21

2:19 Jesus replied, ¹⁷  “Destroy ¹⁸  this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” 2:20 Then the Jewish leaders ¹⁹  said to him, “This temple has been under construction ²⁰  for forty-six years, ²¹  and are you going to raise it up in three days?” 2:21 But Jesus ²²  was speaking about the temple of his body. ²³ 

Ephesians 2:20-22

2:20 because you have been built ²⁴  on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, ²⁵  with Christ Jesus himself as ²⁶  the cornerstone. ²⁷  2:21 In him ²⁸  the whole building, ²⁹  being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 2:22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Colossians 2:9

2:9 For in him all the fullness of deity lives ³⁰  in bodily form,

Colossians 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ³¹  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ³² 

Colossians 2:4-5

2:4 I say this so that no one will deceive you through arguments ³³  that sound reasonable. ³⁴  2:5 For though ³⁵  I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing to see ³⁶  your morale ³⁷  and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

[12:41]  ¹ tn Grk “men”; the word here (ἀνήρ, anhr) usually indicates males or husbands, but occasionally is used in a generic sense of people in general, as here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 1.a, 2).

[12:41]  ² tn Grk “at the preaching of Jonah.”

[12:41]  ³ tn Grk “behold.”

[12:42]  ⁴ sn On the queen of the South see 1 Kgs 10:1-3 and 2 Chr 9:1-12, as well as Josephus, Ant. 8.6.5-6 (8.165-175). The South most likely refers to modern southwest Arabia, possibly the eastern part of modern Yemen, although there is an ancient tradition reflected in Josephus which identifies this geo-political entity as Ethiopia.

[12:42]  ⁵ tn Grk “behold.”

[23:18]  ⁶ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing.”

[23:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[23:2]  ⁸ tn Or “The scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:2]  ⁹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[2:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “all the nations.”

[2:7]  ¹¹ tn Though the subject here is singular (חֶמְדַּה, khemdah; “desire”), the preceding plural predicate mandates a collective subject, “desired (things)” or, better, an emendation to a plural form, חֲמֻדֹת (khamudot, “desirable [things],” hence “treasures”). Cf. ASV “the precious things”; NASB “the wealth”; NRSV “the treasure.” In the OT context this has no direct reference to the coming of the Messiah.

[2:9]  ¹² tn Heb “greater will be the latter splendor of this house than the former”; NAB “greater will be the future glory.”

[2:9]  ¹³ tn In the Hebrew text there is an implicit play on words in the clause “in this place [i.e., Jerusalem] I will give peace”: in יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (yÿrushalayim) there will be שָׁלוֹם (shalom).

[3:1]  ¹⁴ tn In Hebrew the phrase “my messenger” is מַלְאָכִי (mal’akhi), the same form as the prophet’s name (see note on the name “Malachi” in 1:1). However, here the messenger appears to be an eschatological figure who is about to appear, as the following context suggests. According to 4:5, this messenger is “Elijah the prophet,” whom the NT identifies as John the Baptist (Matt 11:10; Mark 1:2) because he came in the “spirit and power” of Elijah (Matt 11:14; 17:11-12; Lk 1:17).

[3:1]  ¹⁵ tn Here the Hebrew term הָאָדוֹן (ha’adon) is used, not יְהוָה (yÿhvah, typically rendered Lord). Thus the focus is not on the Lord as the covenant God, but on his role as master.

[3:1]  ¹⁶ sn This messenger of the covenant may be equated with my messenger (that is, Elijah) mentioned earlier in the verse, or with the Lord himself. In either case the messenger functions as an enforcer of the covenant. Note the following verses, which depict purifying judgment on a people that has violated the Lord’s covenant.

[2:19]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[2:19]  ¹⁸ tn The imperative here is really more than a simple conditional imperative (= “if you destroy”); its semantic force here is more like the ironical imperative found in the prophets (Amos 4:4, Isa 8:9) = “Go ahead and do this and see what happens.”

[2:20]  ¹⁹ tn See the note on this phrase in v. 18.

[2:20]  ²⁰ tn A close parallel to the aorist οἰκοδομήθη (oikodomhqh) can be found in Ezra 5:16 (LXX), where it is clear from the following verb that the construction had not yet been completed. Thus the phrase has been translated “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years.” Some, however, see the term ναός (naos) here as referring only to the sanctuary and the aorist verb as consummative, so that the meaning would be “this temple was built forty-six years ago” (so ExSyn 560-61). Ultimately in context the logic of the authorities’ reply appears to fit more naturally if it compares length of time for original construction with length of time to reconstruct it.

[2:20]  ²¹ sn According to Josephus (Ant. 15.11.1 [15.380]), work on this temple was begun in the 18th year of Herod the Great’s reign, which would have been ca. 19 b.c. (The reference in the Ant. is probably more accurate than the date given in J. W. 1.21.1 [1.401]). Forty-six years later would be around the Passover of a.d. 27/28.

[2:21]  ²² tn Grk “that one”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. This Greek term is frequently used as a way of referring to Jesus in the Johannine letters (cf. 1 John 2:6; 3:3, 5, 7, 16; 4:17).

[2:21]  ²³ tn The genitive “of his body” (τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ, tou swmato" autou) is a genitive of apposition, clarifying which temple Jesus was referring to. Thus, Jesus not only was referring to his physical resurrection, but also to his participation in the resurrection process. The New Testament thus records the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as all performing the miracle of Christ's resurrection.

[2:20]  ²⁴ tn Grk “having been built.”

[2:20]  ²⁵ sn Apostles and prophets. Because the prophets appear after the mention of the apostles and because they are linked together in 3:5 as recipients of revelation about the church, they are to be regarded not as Old Testament prophets, but as New Testament prophets.

[2:20]  ²⁶ tn Grk “while Christ Jesus himself is” or “Christ Jesus himself being.”

[2:20]  ²⁷ tn Or perhaps “capstone” (NAB). The meaning of ἀκρογωνιαῖος (akrogwniaio") is greatly debated. The meaning “capstone” is proposed by J. Jeremias (TDNT 1:792), but the most important text for this meaning (T. Sol. 22:7-23:4) is late and possibly not even an appropriate parallel. The only place ἀκρογωνιαῖος is used in the LXX is Isa 28:16, and there it clearly refers to a cornerstone that is part of a foundation. Furthermore, the imagery in this context has the building growing off the cornerstone upward, whereas if Christ were the capstone, he would not assume his position until the building was finished, which vv. 21-22 argue against.

[2:21]  ²⁸ tn Grk “in whom” (v. 21 is a relative clause, subordinate to v. 20).

[2:21]  ²⁹ tc Although several important witnesses (א¹ A C P 6 81 326 1739^c 1881) have πᾶσα ἡ οἰκοδομή (pasa Jh oikodomh), instead of πᾶσα οἰκοδομή (the reading of א* B D F G Ψ 33 1739* Ï), the article is almost surely a scribal addition intended to clarify the meaning of the text, for with the article the meaning is unambiguously “the whole building.”

[2:9]  ³⁰ sn In him all the fullness of deity lives. The present tense in this verse (“lives”) is significant. Again, as was stated in the note on 1:19, this is not a temporary dwelling, but a permanent one. Paul’s point is polemical against the idea that the fullness of God dwells anywhere else, as the Gnostics believed, except in Christ alone. At the incarnation, the second person of the Trinity assumed humanity, and is forever the God-man.

[2:1]  ³¹ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ³² tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”

[2:4]  ³³ tn BDAG 812 s.v. πιθανολογία states, “persuasive speech, art of persuasion (so Pla., Theaet. 162e) in an unfavorable sense in its only occurrence in our lit. ἐν πιθανολογίᾳ by specious arguments Col 2:4 (cp. PLips 40 III, 7 διὰ πιθανολογίας).”

[2:4]  ³⁴ sn Paul’s point is that even though the arguments seem to make sense (sound reasonable), they are in the end false. Paul is not here arguing against the study of philosophy or serious thinking per se, but is arguing against the uncritical adoption of a philosophy that is at odds with a proper view of Christ and the ethics of the Christian life.

[2:5]  ³⁵ tn The conditional particle εἰ (ei) together with καί (kai) here indicates a first class condition in Greek and carries a concessive force, especially when seen in contrast to the following phrase which begins with ἀλλά (alla).

[2:5]  ³⁶ tn Grk “rejoicing and seeing.”

[2:5]  ³⁷ tn The Greek word τάξις can mean “order,” “discipline,” or even “unbroken ranks” (REB).