Matthew 10:13

10:13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹ 

Mark 16:15

16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

Luke 2:14

2:14 “Glory ²  to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among people ³  with whom he is pleased!” ⁴ 

Luke 10:5-6

10:5 Whenever ⁵  you enter a house, ⁶  first say, ‘May peace ⁷  be on this house!’ 10:6 And if a peace-loving person ⁸  is there, your peace will remain on him, but if not, it will return to you. ⁹ 

Acts 2:39

2:39 For the promise ¹⁰  is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”

Acts 10:36

10:36 You know ¹¹  the message ¹²  he sent to the people ¹³  of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace ¹⁴  through ¹⁵  Jesus Christ ¹⁶  (he is Lord ¹⁷  of all) –

Acts 10:2

10:2 He ¹⁸  was a devout, God-fearing man, ¹⁹  as was all his household; he did many acts of charity for the people ²⁰  and prayed to God regularly.

Colossians 1:20-21

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ²¹  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ²²  minds ²³  as expressed through ²⁴  your evil deeds,

Ephesians 2:14-17

2:14 For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one ²⁵  and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, 2:15 when he nullified ²⁶  in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man ²⁷  out of two, ²⁸  thus making peace, 2:16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. ²⁹  2:17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near,

[10:13]  ¹ sn The response to these messengers determines how God’s blessing is bestowed – if the messengers are not welcomed, their blessing will return to them. Jesus shows just how important their mission is by this remark.

[2:14]  ² sn Glory here refers to giving honor to God.

[2:14]  ³ tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") referring to both males and females.

[2:14]  ⁴ tc Most witnesses (א² B² L Θ Ξ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï sy bo) have ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία (en anqrwpoi" eudokia, “good will among people”) instead of ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκίας (en anqrwpoi" eudokia", “among people with whom he is pleased”), a reading attested by א* A B* D W pc (sa). Most of the Itala witnesses and some other versional witnesses reflect a Greek text which has the genitive εὐδοκίας but drops the preposition ἐν. Not only is the genitive reading better attested, but it is more difficult than the nominative. “The meaning seems to be, not that divine peace can be bestowed only where human good will is already present, but that at the birth of the Saviour God’s peace rests on those whom he has chosen in accord with his good pleasure” (TCGNT 111).

[10:5]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:5]  ⁶ tn Grk “Into whatever house you enter.” This acts as a distributive, meaning every house they enter; this is expressed more naturally in English as “whenever you enter a house.”

[10:5]  ⁷ sn The statement ‘May peace be on this house!’ is really a benediction, asking for God’s blessing. The requested shalom (peace) is understood as coming from God.

[10:6]  ⁸ tn Grk “a son of peace,” a Hebrew idiom for a person of a certain class or kind, as specified by the following genitive construction (in this case, “of peace”). Such constructions are discussed further in L&N 9.4. Here the expression refers to someone who responds positively to the disciples’ message, like “wisdom’s child” in Luke 7:30.

[10:6]  ⁹ sn The response to these messengers determines how God’s blessing is bestowed – if they are not welcomed with peace, their blessing will return to them. Jesus shows just how important their mission is by this remark.

[2:39]  ¹⁰ sn The promise refers to the promise of the Holy Spirit that Jesus received from the Father in 2:33 and which he now pours out on others. The promise consists of the Holy Spirit (see note in 2:33). Jesus is the active mediator of God’s blessing.

[10:36]  ¹¹ tn The subject and verb (“you know”) do not actually occur until the following verse, but have been repeated here because of the requirements of English word order.

[10:36]  ¹² tn Grk “the word.”

[10:36]  ¹³ tn Grk “to the sons.”

[10:36]  ¹⁴ sn Peace is a key OT concept: Isa 52:7; Nah 1:15; also for Luke: Luke 1:79; 2:14; Acts 9:31. See also the similar phrase in Eph 2:17.

[10:36]  ¹⁵ tn Or “by.”

[10:36]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[10:36]  ¹⁷ sn He is Lord of all. Though a parenthetical remark, this is the theological key to the speech. Jesus is Lord of all, so the gospel can go to all. The rest of the speech proclaims Jesus’ authority.

[10:2]  ¹⁸ tn In the Greek text this represents a continuation of the previous sentence. Because of the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[10:2]  ¹⁹ sn The description of Cornelius as a devout, God-fearing man probably means that he belonged to the category called “God-fearers,” Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 43-44, and Sir 11:17; 27:11; 39:27.

[10:2]  ²⁰ tn Or “gave many gifts to the poor.” This was known as “giving alms,” or acts of mercy (Sir 7:10; BDAG 315-16 s.v. ἐλεημοσύνη).

[1:20]  ²¹ tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally important witnesses have it (Ì⁴⁶ א A C D¹ Ψ 048^vid 33 Ï). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as original. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In short, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original.

[1:21]  ²² tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[1:21]  ²³ tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.

[1:21]  ²⁴ tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.

[2:14]  ²⁵ tn Grk “who made the both one.”

[2:15]  ²⁶ tn Or “rendered inoperative.” This is a difficult text to translate because it is not easy to find an English term which communicates well the essence of the author’s meaning, especially since legal terminology is involved. Many other translations use the term “abolish” (so NRSV, NASB, NIV), but this term implies complete destruction which is not the author’s meaning here. The verb καταργέω (katargew) can readily have the meaning “to cause someth. to lose its power or effectiveness” (BDAG 525 s.v. 2, where this passage is listed), and this meaning fits quite naturally here within the author’s legal mindset. A proper English term which communicates this well is “nullify” since this word carries the denotation of “making something legally null and void.” This is not, however, a common English word. An alternate term like “rendered inoperative [or ineffective]” is also accurate but fairly inelegant. For this reason, the translation retains the term “nullify”; it is the best choice of the available options, despite its problems.

[2:15]  ²⁷ tn In this context the author is not referring to a new individual, but instead to a new corporate entity united in Christ (cf. BDAG 497 s.v. καινός 3.b: “All the Christians together appear as κ. ἄνθρωπος Eph 2:15”). This is clear from the comparison made between the Gentiles and Israel in the immediately preceding verses and the assertion in v. 14 that Christ “made both groups into one.” This is a different metaphor than the “new man” of Eph 4:24; in that passage the “new man” refers to the new life a believer has through a relationship to Christ.

[2:15]  ²⁸ tn Grk “in order to create the two into one new man.” Eph 2:14-16 is one sentence in Greek. A new sentence was started here in the translation for clarity since contemporary English is less tolerant of extended sentences.

[2:16]  ²⁹ tn Grk “by killing the hostility in himself.”