Matthew 5:48

5:48 So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. ¹ 

Luke 1:74-75

1:74 that we, being rescued from the hand of our ²  enemies,

may serve him without fear, ³ 

1:75 in holiness and righteousness ⁴  before him for as long as we live. ⁵ 

Luke 1:2

1:2 like the accounts ⁶  passed on ⁷  to us by those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the word ⁸  from the beginning. ⁹ 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁰  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Ephesians 5:1-2

Live in Love

5:1 Therefore, be ¹¹  imitators of God as dearly loved children 5:2 and live ¹²  in love, just as Christ also loved us ¹³  and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering ¹⁴  to God.

Philippians 1:27

1:27 Only conduct yourselves ¹⁵  in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ so that – whether I come and see you or whether I remain absent – I should hear that ¹⁶  you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, by contending side by side for the faith of the gospel, ¹⁷ 

Philippians 2:15-16

2:15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world ¹⁸  2:16 by holding on to ¹⁹  the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.

Philippians 2:1

Christian Unity and Christ’s Humility

2:1 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, ²⁰  any affection or mercy, ²¹ 

Philippians 4:3-7

4:3 Yes, I say also to you, true companion, ²²  help them. They have struggled together in the gospel ministry ²³  along with me and Clement and my other coworkers, whose names are in the book of life. 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice! 4:5 Let everyone see your gentleness. ²⁴  The Lord is near! 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. 4:7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds ²⁵  in Christ Jesus.

Titus 2:11-14

2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. ²⁶  2:12 It trains us ²⁷  to reject godless ways ²⁸  and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 2:13 as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing ²⁹  of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. ³⁰  2:14 He ³¹  gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, ³²  who are eager to do good. ³³ 

Titus 3:8

Summary of the Letter

3:8 This saying ³⁴  is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on such truths, ³⁵  so that those who have placed their faith in God may be intent on engaging in good works. These things are good and beneficial for all people.

Titus 3:14

3:14 Here is another way that our people ³⁶  can learn ³⁷  to engage in good works to meet pressing needs and so not be unfruitful.

Hebrews 12:14

Do Not Reject God’s Warning

12:14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, ³⁸  for without it no one will see the Lord.

Hebrews 12:2

12:2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. ³⁹ 

Hebrews 1:4-10

1:4 Thus he became ⁴⁰  so far better than the angels as ⁴¹  he has inherited a name superior to theirs.

The Son Is Superior to Angels

1:5 For to which of the angels did God ⁴²  ever say, “You are my son! Today I have fathered you”? ⁴³  And in another place ⁴⁴  he says, ⁴⁵  “I will be his father and he will be my son.” ⁴⁶  1:6 But when he again brings ⁴⁷  his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him!” ⁴⁸  1:7 And he says ⁴⁹  of the angels, “He makes ⁵⁰  his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire,” ⁵¹  1:8 but of ⁵²  the Son he says, ⁵³ 

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, ⁵⁴ 

and a righteous scepter ⁵⁵  is the scepter of your kingdom.

1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

So God, your God, has anointed you over your companions ⁵⁶  with the oil of rejoicing.” ⁵⁷ 

1:10 And,

“You founded the earth in the beginning, Lord, ⁵⁸ 

and the heavens are the works of your hands.

[5:48]  ¹ sn This remark echoes the more common OT statements like Lev 19:2 or Deut 18:13: “you must be holy as I am holy.”

[1:74]  ² tc Many important early mss (א B L W [0130] Ë^1,13 565 892 pc) lack “our,” while most (A C D [K] Θ Ψ 0177 33 Ï pc) supply it. Although the addition is most likely not authentic, “our” has been included in the translation due to English stylistic requirements.

[1:74]  ³ tn This phrase in Greek is actually thrown forward to the front of the verse to give it emphasis.

[1:75]  ⁴ sn The phrases that we…might serve him…in holiness and righteousness from Luke 1:74-75 well summarize a basic goal for a believer in the eyes of Luke. Salvation frees us up to serve God without fear through a life full of ethical integrity.

[1:75]  ⁵ tn Grk “all our days.”

[1:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “even as”; this compares the recorded tradition of 1:1 with the original eyewitness tradition of 1:2.

[1:2]  ⁷ tn Or “delivered.”

[1:2]  ⁸ sn The phrase eyewitnesses and servants of the word refers to a single group of people who faithfully passed on the accounts about Jesus. The language about delivery (passed on) points to accounts faithfully passed on to the early church.

[1:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “like the accounts those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word passed on to us.” The location of “in the beginning” in the Greek shows that the tradition is rooted in those who were with Jesus from the start.

[1:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[5:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “become.”

[5:2]  ¹² tn Grk “walk.” The NT writers often used the verb “walk” (περιπατέω, peripatew) to refer to ethical conduct (cf. Rom 8:4; Gal 5:16; Col 4:5).

[5:2]  ¹³ tc A number of important witnesses have ὑμᾶς (Jumas, “you”; e.g., א* A B P 0159 81 1175 al it co as well as several fathers). Other, equally important witnesses read ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “us”; Ì⁴⁶ א² D F G Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 al lat sy). It is possible that ἡμᾶς was accidentally introduced via homoioarcton with the previous word (ἠγάπησεν, hgaphsen). On the other hand, ὑμᾶς may have been motivated by the preceding ὑμῖν (Jumin) in 4:32 and second person verbs in 5:1, 2. Further, the flow of argument seems to require the first person pronoun. A decision is difficult to make, but the first person pronoun has a slightly greater probability of being original.

[5:2]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “an offering and sacrifice to God as a smell of fragrance.” The first expression, προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν (prosforan kai qusian), is probably a hendiadys and has been translated such that “sacrificial” modifies “offering.” The second expression, εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας (ei" osmhn euwdia", “as a smell of fragrance”) has been translated as “a fragrant offering”; see BDAG 728-29 s.v. ὀσμή 2. Putting these two together in a clear fashion in English yields the translation: “a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.”

[1:27]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “live as citizens.” The verb πολιτεύεσθε (politeuesqe) connotes the life of a freeman in a free Roman colony.

[1:27]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the things concerning you, [namely,] that.” The ὅτι (Joti) clause is appositional to τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν (ta peri Jumwn) and therefore “the things concerning you” was not translated.

[1:27]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase “the faith of the gospel” could mean one of three things: “the faith that is the gospel” (genitive of apposition), “the faith that originates from the gospel” (genitive of source), or “faith in the gospel” (objective genitive).

[2:15]  ¹⁸ tn Or “as stars in the universe.”

[2:16]  ¹⁹ tn Or “holding out, holding forth.”

[2:1]  ²⁰ tn Or “spiritual fellowship” if πνεύματος (pneumato") is an attributive genitive; or “fellowship brought about by the Spirit” if πνεύματος is a genitive of source or production.

[2:1]  ²¹ tn Grk “and any affection and mercy.” The Greek idea, however, is best expressed by “or” in English.

[4:3]  ²² tn Or “faithful fellow worker.” This is more likely a descriptive noun, although some scholars interpret the word σύζυγος (suzugos) here as a proper name (“Syzygos”), L&N 42.45.

[4:3]  ²³ tn Grk “in the gospel,” a metonymy in which the gospel itself is substituted for the ministry of making the gospel known.

[4:5]  ²⁴ tn Grk “let your gentleness be seen by all.” The passive voice construction has been converted to active voice in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[4:7]  ²⁵ tn Grk “will guard the hearts of you and the minds of you.” To improve the English style, the second occurrence of ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “of you”) has not been translated, since it is somewhat redundant in English.

[2:11]  ²⁶ tn Grk “all men”; but ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpois) is generic here, referring to both men and women.

[2:12]  ²⁷ tn Grk “training us” (as a continuation of the previous clause). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 12 by translating the participle παιδεύουσα (paideuousa) as a finite verb and supplying the pronoun “it” as subject.

[2:12]  ²⁸ tn Grk “ungodliness.”

[2:13]  ²⁹ tn Grk “the blessed hope and glorious appearing.”

[2:13]  ³⁰ tn The terms “God and Savior” both refer to the same person, Jesus Christ. This is one of the clearest statements in the NT concerning the deity of Christ. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. The only issue is whether terms such as “God” and “Savior” could be considered common nouns as opposed to proper names. Sharp and others who followed (such as T. F. Middleton in his masterful The Doctrine of the Greek Article) demonstrated that a proper name in Greek was one that could not be pluralized. Since both “God” (θεός, qeos) and “savior” (σωτήρ, swthr) were occasionally found in the plural, they did not constitute proper names, and hence, do fit Sharp’s rule. Although there have been 200 years of attempts to dislodge Sharp’s rule, all attempts have been futile. Sharp’s rule stands vindicated after all the dust has settled. For more information on Sharp’s rule see ExSyn 270-78, esp. 276. See also 2 Pet 1:1 and Jude 4.

[2:14]  ³¹ tn Grk “who” (as a continuation of the previous clause).

[2:14]  ³² tn Or “a people who are his very own.”

[2:14]  ³³ tn Grk “for good works.”

[3:8]  ³⁴ sn This saying (Grk “the saying”) refers to the preceding citation (Titus 3:4-7). See 1 Tim 1:15; 3:1; 4:9; 2 Tim 2:11 for other occurrences of this phrase.

[3:8]  ³⁵ tn Grk “concerning these things.”

[3:14]  ³⁶ tn Grk “that those who are ours” (referring to the Christians).

[3:14]  ³⁷ tn Grk “and also let our people learn.”

[12:14]  ³⁸ sn The references to peace and holiness show the close connection between this paragraph and the previous one. The pathway toward “holiness” and the need for it is cited in Heb 12:10 and 14. More importantly Prov 4:26-27 sets up the transition from one paragraph to the next: It urges people to stay on godly paths (Prov 4:26, quoted here in v. 13) and promises that God will lead them in peace if they do so (Prov 4:27 [LXX], quoted in v. 14).

[12:2]  ³⁹ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.

[1:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “having become.” This is part of the same sentence that extends from v. 1 through v. 4 in the Greek text.

[1:4]  ⁴¹ tn Most modern English translations attempt to make the comparison somewhat smoother by treating “name” as if it were the subject of the second element: “as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, CEV). However, the Son is the subject of both the first and second elements: “he became so far better”; “he has inherited a name.” The present translation maintains this parallelism even though it results in a somewhat more awkward rendering.

[1:5]  ⁴² tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:5]  ⁴³ tn Grk “I have begotten you.”

[1:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “And again,” quoting another OT passage.

[1:5]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me.”

[1:6]  ⁴⁷ 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]  ⁴⁸ sn A quotation combining themes from Deut 32:43 and Ps 97:7.

[1:7]  ⁴⁹ 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]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “He who makes.”

[1:7]  ⁵¹ sn A quotation from Ps 104:4.

[1:8]  ⁵² tn Or “to.”

[1:8]  ⁵³ tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.

[1:8]  ⁵⁴ 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]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.

[1:9]  ⁵⁶ sn God…has anointed you over your companions. God’s anointing gives the son a superior position and authority over his fellows.

[1:9]  ⁵⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 45:6-7.

[1:10]  ⁵⁸ sn You founded the earth…your years will never run out. In its original setting Ps 102:25-27 refers to the work of God in creation, but here in Hebrews 1:10-12 the writer employs it in reference to Christ, the Lord, making a strong argument for the essential deity of the Son.