Matthew 13:43

13:43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. ¹  The one who has ears had better listen! ² 

Psalms 16:10-11

16:10 You will not abandon me ³  to Sheol; ⁴ 

you will not allow your faithful follower ⁵  to see ⁶  the Pit. ⁷ 

16:11 You lead me in ⁸  the path of life; ⁹ 

I experience absolute joy in your presence; ¹⁰ 

you always give me sheer delight. ¹¹ 

John 3:15-16

3:15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” ¹² 

3:16 For this is the way ¹³  God loved the world: He gave his one and only ¹⁴  Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish ¹⁵  but have eternal life. ¹⁶ 

John 3:36

3:36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects ¹⁷  the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath ¹⁸  remains ¹⁹  on him.

John 10:27-28

10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 10:28 I give ²⁰  them eternal life, and they will never perish; ²¹  no one will snatch ²²  them from my hand.

Romans 2:7-16

2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, 2:8 but ²³  wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition ²⁴  and do not obey the truth but follow ²⁵  unrighteousness. 2:9 There will be ²⁶  affliction and distress on everyone ²⁷  who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek, ²⁸  2:10 but ²⁹  glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek. 2:11 For there is no partiality with God. 2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law ³⁰  will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 2:13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous. ³¹  2:14 For whenever the Gentiles, ³²  who do not have the law, do by nature ³³  the things required by the law, ³⁴  these who do not have the law are a law to themselves. 2:15 They ³⁵  show that the work of the law is written ³⁶  in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend ³⁷  them, ³⁸  2:16 on the day when God will judge ³⁹  the secrets of human hearts, ⁴⁰  according to my gospel ⁴¹  through Christ Jesus.

Romans 5:21

5:21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:23

6:23 For the payoff ⁴²  of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:1

The Believer’s Freedom from Sin’s Domination

6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to remain in sin so that grace may increase?

Romans 2:25

2:25 For circumcision ⁴³  has its value if you practice the law, but ⁴⁴  if you break the law, ⁴⁵  your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

Romans 5:11-12

5:11 Not ⁴⁶  only this, but we also rejoice ⁴⁷  in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.

The Amplification of Justification

5:12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people ⁴⁸  because ⁴⁹  all sinned –

Jude 1:21

1:21 maintain ⁵⁰  yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating ⁵¹  the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. ⁵² 

[13:43]  ¹ sn An allusion to Dan 12:3.

[13:43]  ² tn The translation “had better listen!” captures the force of the third person imperative more effectively than the traditional “let him hear,” which sounds more like a permissive than an imperative to the modern English reader. This was Jesus’ common expression to listen and heed carefully (cf. Matt 11:15, 13:9; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8, 14:35).

[16:10]  ³ tn Or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.

[16:10]  ⁴ sn In ancient Israelite cosmology Sheol is the realm of the dead, viewed as being under the earth’s surface. See L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 165-76.

[16:10]  ⁵ tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד [khasid], traditionally rendered “holy one”) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10). The psalmist here refers to himself, as the parallel line (“You will not abandon me to Sheol”) indicates.

[16:10]  ⁶ tn That is, “experience.” The psalmist is confident that the Lord will protect him in his present crisis (see v. 1) and prevent him from dying.

[16:10]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew word שָׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 30:9; 49:9; 55:24; 103:4). Note the parallelism with the previous line.

[16:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “cause me to know”; or “cause me to experience.”

[16:11]  ⁶ tn This is a metaphorical way of saying, “you preserve my life.” The phrase “path of life” stands in contrast to death/Sheol in Prov 2:18-19; 5:5-6; 15:24.

[16:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “abundance of joy [is] with your face.” The plural form of the noun שִׂמְחָה (simkhah, “joy”) occurs only here and in Ps 45:15. It may emphasize the degree of joy experienced.

[16:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “delight [is] in your right hand forever.” The plural form of the adjective נָעִים (na’im, “pleasant, delightful”) may here emphasize the degree of delight experienced (see Job 36:11).

[3:15]  ⁷ tn This is the first use of the term ζωὴν αἰώνιον (zwhn aiwnion) in the Gospel, although ζωή (zwh) in chap. 1 is to be understood in the same way without the qualifying αἰώνιος (aiwnios).

[3:16]  ⁹ tn Or “this is how much”; or “in this way.” The Greek adverb οὕτως (Joutws) can refer (1) to the degree to which God loved the world, that is, to such an extent or so much that he gave his own Son (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:133-34; D. A. Carson, John, 204) or (2) simply to the manner in which God loved the world, i.e., by sending his own son (see R. H. Gundry and R. W. Howell, “The Sense and Syntax of John 3:14-17 with Special Reference to the Use of Οὕτως…ὥστε in John 3:16,” NovT 41 [1999]: 24-39). Though the term more frequently refers to the manner in which something is done (see BDAG 741-42 s.v. οὕτω/οὕτως), the following clause involving ὥστε (Jwste) plus the indicative (which stresses actual, but [usually] unexpected result) emphasizes the greatness of the gift God has given. With this in mind, then, it is likely (3) that John is emphasizing both the degree to which God loved the world as well as the manner in which He chose to express that love. This is in keeping with John’s style of using double entendre or double meaning. Thus, the focus of the Greek construction here is on the nature of God's love, addressing its mode, intensity, and extent.

[3:16]  ¹⁰ tn Although this word is often translated “only begotten,” such a translation is misleading, since in English it appears to express a metaphysical relationship. The word in Greek was used of an only child (a son [Luke 7:12, 9:38] or a daughter [Luke 8:42]). It was also used of something unique (only one of its kind) such as the mythological Phoenix (1 Clement 25:2). From here it passes easily to a description of Isaac (Heb 11:17 and Josephus, Ant. 1.13.1 [1.222]) who was not Abraham’s only son, but was one-of-a-kind because he was the child of the promise. Thus the word means “one-of-a-kind” and is reserved for Jesus in the Johannine literature of the NT. While all Christians are children of God (τέκνα θεοῦ, tekna qeou), Jesus is God’s Son in a unique, one-of-a-kind sense. The word is used in this way in all its uses in the Gospel of John (1:14, 1:18, 3:16, and 3:18).

[3:16]  ¹¹ tn In John the word ἀπόλλυμι (apollumi) can mean either (1) to be lost (2) to perish or be destroyed, depending on the context.

[3:16]  ¹² sn The alternatives presented are only two (again, it is typical of Johannine thought for this to be presented in terms of polar opposites): perish or have eternal life.

[3:36]  ¹¹ tn Or “refuses to believe,” or “disobeys.”

[3:36]  ¹² tn Or “anger because of evil,” or “punishment.”

[3:36]  ¹³ tn Or “resides.”

[10:28]  ¹³ tn Grk “And I give.”

[10:28]  ¹⁴ tn Or “will never die” or “will never be lost.”

[10:28]  ¹⁵ tn Or “no one will seize.”

[2:8]  ¹⁵ tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:8]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “those who [are] from selfish ambition.”

[2:8]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “are persuaded by, obey.”

[2:9]  ¹⁷ tn No verb is expressed in this verse, but the verb “to be” is implied by the Greek construction. Literally “suffering and distress on everyone…”

[2:9]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “every soul of man.”

[2:9]  ¹⁹ sn Paul uses the term Greek here and in v. 10 to refer to non-Jews, i.e., Gentiles.

[2:10]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “but even,” to emphasize the contrast. The second word has been omitted since it is somewhat redundant in English idiom.

[2:12]  ²¹ sn This is the first occurrence of law (nomos) in Romans. Exactly what Paul means by the term has been the subject of much scholarly debate. According to J. A. Fitzmyer (Romans [AB], 131-35; 305-6) there are at least four different senses: (1) figurative, as a “principle”; (2) generic, meaning “a law”; (3) as a reference to the OT or some part of the OT; and (4) as a reference to the Mosaic law. This last usage constitutes the majority of Paul’s references to “law” in Romans.

[2:13]  ²³ tn The Greek sentence expresses this contrast more succinctly than is possible in English. Grk “For not the hearers of the law are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous.”

[2:14]  ²⁵ sn Gentile is a NT term for a non-Jew.

[2:14]  ²⁶ tn Some (e.g. C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:135-37) take the phrase φύσει (fusei, “by nature”) to go with the preceding “do not have the law,” thus: “the Gentiles who do not have the law by nature,” that is, by virtue of not being born Jewish.

[2:14]  ²⁷ tn Grk “do by nature the things of the law.”

[2:15]  ²⁷ tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:15]  ²⁸ tn Grk “show the work of the law [to be] written,” with the words in brackets implied by the Greek construction.

[2:15]  ²⁹ tn Or “excuse.”

[2:15]  ³⁰ tn Grk “their conscience bearing witness and between the thoughts accusing or also defending one another.”

[2:16]  ²⁹ tn The form of the Greek word is either present or future, but it is best to translate in future because of the context of future judgment.

[2:16]  ³⁰ tn Grk “of people.”

[2:16]  ³¹ sn On my gospel cf. Rom 16:25; 2 Tim 2:8.

[6:23]  ³¹ tn A figurative extension of ὀψώνιον (oywnion), which refers to a soldier’s pay or wages. Here it refers to the end result of an activity, seen as something one receives back in return. In this case the activity is sin, and the translation “payoff” captures this thought. See also L&N 89.42.

[2:25]  ³³ sn Circumcision refers to male circumcision as prescribed in the OT, which was given as a covenant to Abraham in Gen 17:10-14. Its importance for Judaism can hardly be overstated: According to J. D. G. Dunn (Romans [WBC], 1:120) it was the “single clearest distinguishing feature of the covenant people.” J. Marcus has suggested that the terms used for circumcision (περιτομή, peritomh) and uncircumcision (ἀκροβυστία, akrobustia) were probably derogatory slogans used by Jews and Gentiles to describe their opponents (“The Circumcision and the Uncircumcision in Rome,” NTS 35 [1989]: 77-80).

[2:25]  ³⁴ tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:25]  ³⁵ tn Grk “if you should be a transgressor of the law.”

[5:11]  ³⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[5:11]  ³⁶ tn Or “exult, boast.”

[5:12]  ³⁷ tn Here ἀνθρώπους (anqrwpou") has been translated as a generic (“people”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

[5:12]  ³⁸ tn The translation of the phrase ἐφ᾿ ᾧ (ef Jw) has been heavily debated. For a discussion of all the possibilities, see C. E. B. Cranfield, “On Some of the Problems in the Interpretation of Romans 5.12,” SJT 22 (1969): 324-41. Only a few of the major options can be mentioned here: (1) the phrase can be taken as a relative clause in which the pronoun refers to Adam, “death spread to all people in whom [Adam] all sinned.” (2) The phrase can be taken with consecutive (resultative) force, meaning “death spread to all people with the result that all sinned.” (3) Others take the phrase as causal in force: “death spread to all people because all sinned.”

[1:21]  ³⁹ tn Or “keep.”

[1:21]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “waiting for.”

[1:21]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “unto eternal life.”