Matthew 16:18

16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades ¹  will not overpower it.

Psalms 92:13-15

92:13 Planted in the Lord’s house,

they grow in the courts of our God.

92:14 They bear fruit even when they are old;

they are filled with vitality and have many leaves. ² 

92:15 So they proclaim that the Lord, my protector,

is just and never unfair. ³ 

Psalms 125:1-2

Psalm 125 ⁴ 

A song of ascents. ⁵ 

125:1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion;

it cannot be upended and will endure forever.

125:2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, ⁶ 

so the Lord surrounds his people,

now and forevermore.

Ephesians 3:17

3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love,

Colossians 2:7

2:7 rooted ⁷  and built up in him and firm ⁸  in your ⁹  faith just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Colossians 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ¹⁰  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ¹¹ 

Colossians 1:5

1:5 Your faith and love have arisen ¹²  from the hope laid up ¹³  for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel ¹⁴ 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁵  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 2:19

2:19 He has not held fast ¹⁶  to the head from whom the whole body, supported ¹⁷  and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God. ¹⁸ 

[16:18]  ¹ tn Or “and the power of death” (taking the reference to the gates of Hades as a metonymy).

[92:14]  ² tn Heb “they are juicy and fresh.”

[92:15]  ³ tn Heb “so that [they] proclaim that upright [is] the Lord, my rocky summit, and there is no injustice in him.”

[125:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 125. The psalmist affirms his confidence in the Lord’s protection and justice.

[125:1]  ⁵ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[125:2]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:7]  ⁷ tn Or “having been rooted.”

[2:7]  ⁸ sn The three participles rooted, built up, and firm belong together and reflect three different metaphors. The first participle “rooted” (perfect tense) indicates a settled condition on the part of the Colossian believers and refers to horticulture. The second participle “built up” (present passive) comes from the world of architecture. The third participle “firm [established]” (present passive) comes from the law courts. With these three metaphors (as well as the following comment on thankfulness) Paul explains what he means when he commands them to continue to live their lives in Christ. The use of the passive probably reflects God’s activity among them. It was he who had rooted them, had been building them up, and had established them in the faith (cf. 1 Cor 3:5-15 for the use of mixed metaphors).

[2:7]  ⁹ tn The Greek text has the article τῇ (th), not the possessive pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn), but the article often functions as a possessive pronoun and was translated as such here (ExSyn 215).

[2:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”

[1:5]  ¹² tn Col 1:3-8 form one long sentence in the Greek text and have been divided at the end of v. 4 and v. 6 and within v. 6 for clarity, in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English toward shorter sentences. Thus the phrase “Your faith and love have arisen from the hope” is literally “because of the hope.” The perfect tense “have arisen” was chosen in the English to reflect the fact that the recipients of the letter had acquired this hope at conversion in the past, but that it still remains and motivates them to trust in Christ and to love one another.

[1:5]  ¹³ tn BDAG 113 s.v. ἀπόκειμαι 2 renders ἀποκειμένην (apokeimenhn) with the expression “reserved” in this verse.

[1:5]  ¹⁴ tn The term “the gospel” (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, tou euangeliou) is in apposition to “the word of truth” (τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας, tw logw th" alhqeia") as indicated in the translation.

[1:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[2:19]  ¹⁶ tn The Greek participle κρατῶν (kratwn) was translated as a finite verb to avoid an unusually long and pedantic sentence structure in English.

[2:19]  ¹⁷ tn See BDAG 387 s.v. ἐπιχορηγέω 3.

[2:19]  ¹⁸ tn The genitive τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) has been translated as a genitive of source, “from God.”