Discovery BoxMatthew 10:40
Context10:40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. 1
John 1:12-13
Context1:12 But to all who have received him – those who believe in his name 2 – he has given the right to become God’s children 1:13 – children not born 3 by human parents 4 or by human desire 5 or a husband’s 6 decision, 7 but by God.
John 13:20
Context13:20 I tell you the solemn truth, 8 whoever accepts 9 the one I send accepts me, and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” 10
John 13:1
Context13:1 Just before the Passover feast, Jesus knew that his time 11 had come to depart 12 from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now loved them to the very end. 13
Colossians 1:1
Context1:1 From Paul, 14 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
Hebrews 3:14
Context3:14 For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence 15 firm until the end.
Hebrews 3:1
Context3:1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, 16 partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess, 17
Hebrews 5:11-12
Context5:11 On this topic we have much to say 18 and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish 19 in hearing. 5:12 For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, 20 you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. 21 You have gone back to needing 22 milk, not 23 solid food.
Hebrews 5:1-2
Context5:1 For every high priest is taken from among the people 24 and appointed 25 to represent them before God, 26 to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 5:2 He is able to deal compassionately with those who are ignorant and erring, since he also is subject to weakness,
Hebrews 1:8-9
Context1:8 but of 27 the Son he says, 28
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, 29
and a righteous scepter 30 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 31 with the oil of rejoicing.” 32
Jude 1:3
Context1:3 Dear friends, although I have been eager to write to you 33 about our common salvation, I now feel compelled 34 instead to write to encourage 35 you to contend earnestly 36 for the faith 37 that was once for all 38 entrusted to the saints. 39
[10:40] 1 sn The one who sent me refers to God.
[1:12] 2 tn On the use of the πιστεύω + εἰς (pisteuw + ei") construction in John: The verb πιστεύω occurs 98 times in John (compared to 11 times in Matthew, 14 times in Mark [including the longer ending], and 9 times in Luke). One of the unsolved mysteries is why the corresponding noun form πίστις (pistis) is never used at all. Many have held the noun was in use in some pre-Gnostic sects and this rendered it suspect for John. It might also be that for John, faith was an activity, something that men do (cf. W. Turner, “Believing and Everlasting Life – A Johannine Inquiry,” ExpTim 64 [1952/53]: 50-52). John uses πιστεύω in 4 major ways: (1) of believing facts, reports, etc., 12 times; (2) of believing people (or the scriptures), 19 times; (3) of believing “in” Christ” (πιστεύω + εἰς + acc.), 36 times; (4) used absolutely without any person or object specified, 30 times (the one remaining passage is 2:24, where Jesus refused to “trust” himself to certain individuals). Of these, the most significant is the use of πιστεύω with εἰς + accusative. It is not unlike the Pauline ἐν Χριστῷ (en Cristw) formula. Some have argued that this points to a Hebrew (more likely Aramaic) original behind the Fourth Gospel. But it probably indicates something else, as C. H. Dodd observed: “πιστεύειν with the dative so inevitably connoted simple credence, in the sense of an intellectual judgment, that the moral element of personal trust or reliance inherent in the Hebrew or Aramaic phrase – an element integral to the primitive Christian conception of faith in Christ – needed to be otherwise expressed” (The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, 183).
[1:13] 3 tn The Greek term translated “born” here also involves conception.
[1:13] 4 tn Grk “of blood(s).” The plural αἱμάτων (Jaimatwn) has seemed a problem to many interpreters. At least some sources in antiquity imply that blood was thought of as being important in the development of the fetus during its time in the womb: thus Wis 7:1: “in the womb of a mother I was molded into flesh, within the period of 10 months, compacted with blood, from the seed of a man and the pleasure of marriage.” In John 1:13, the plural αἱμάτων may imply the action of both parents. It may also refer to the “genetic” contribution of both parents, and so be equivalent to “human descent” (see BDAG 26 s.v. αἷμα 1.a). E. C. Hoskyns thinks John could not have used the singular here because Christians are in fact ‘begotten’ by the blood of Christ (The Fourth Gospel, 143), although the context would seem to make it clear that the blood in question is something other than the blood of Christ.
[1:13] 5 tn Or “of the will of the flesh.” The phrase οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκός (oude ek qelhmato" sarko") is more clearly a reference to sexual desire, but it should be noted that σάρξ (sarx) in John does not convey the evil sense common in Pauline usage. For John it refers to the physical nature in its weakness rather than in its sinfulness. There is no clearer confirmation of this than the immediately following verse, where the λόγος (logos) became σάρξ.
[1:13] 7 tn The third phrase, οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρός (oude ek qelhmato" andros), means much the same as the second one. The word here (ἀνηρ, anhr) is often used for a husband, resulting in the translation “or a husband’s decision,” or more generally, “or of any human volition whatsoever.” L. Morris may be right when he sees here an emphasis directed at the Jewish pride in race and patriarchal ancestry, although such a specific reference is difficult to prove (John [NICNT], 101).
[13:20] 8 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
[13:20] 9 tn Or “receives,” and so throughout this verse.
[13:20] 10 sn The one who sent me refers to God.
[13:1] 12 tn Grk “that he should depart.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause in Koine Greek frequently encroached on the simple infinitive (for the sake of greater clarity).
[13:1] 13 tn Or “he now loved them completely,” or “he now loved them to the uttermost” (see John 19:30). All of John 13:1 is a single sentence in Greek, although in English this would be unacceptably awkward. At the end of the verse the idiom εἰς τέλος (eis telos) was translated literally as “to the end” and the modern equivalents given in the note above, because there is an important lexical link between this passage and John 19:30, τετέλεσται (tetelestai, “It is ended”).
[1:1] 14 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
[3:14] 15 tn Grk “the beginning of the confidence.”
[3:1] 16 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.
[3:1] 17 tn Grk “of our confession.”
[5:11] 18 tn Grk “concerning which the message for us is great.”
[5:12] 20 tn Grk “because of the time.”
[5:12] 21 tn Grk “the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God.”
[5:12] 22 tn Grk “you have come to have a need for.”
[5:12] 23 tc ‡ Most texts, including some early and important ones (א2 A B* D Ψ 0122 0278 1881 Ï sy Cl), have καί (kai, “and”) immediately preceding οὐ (ou, “not”), but other equally significant witnesses (Ì46 א* B2 C 33 81 1739 lat Or Did) lack the conjunction. As it was a natural tendency for scribes to add a coordinating conjunction, the καί appears to be a motivated reading. On balance, it is probably best to regard the shorter reading as authentic. NA27 has καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
[5:1] 24 tn Grk “from among men,” but since the point in context is shared humanity (rather than shared maleness), the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) has been translated “people.”
[5:1] 25 tn Grk “who is taken from among people is appointed.”
[5:1] 26 tn Grk “appointed on behalf of people in reference to things relating to God.”
[1:8] 28 tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.
[1:8] 29 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] 30 tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.
[1:9] 31 sn God…has anointed you over your companions. God’s anointing gives the son a superior position and authority over his fellows.
[1:9] 32 sn A quotation from Ps 45:6-7.
[1:3] 33 tn Grk “while being quite diligent to write to you,” or “while making all haste to write to you.” Two issues are at stake: (1) whether σπουδή (spoudh) here means diligence, eagerness, or haste; (2) whether ποιούμενος γράφειν (poioumeno" grafein) is to be taken conatively (“I was about to write”) or progressively (“I was writing”). Without knowing more of the background, it is difficult to tell which option is to be preferred.
[1:3] 34 tn Grk “I had the necessity.” The term ἀνάγκη (anankh, “necessity”) often connotes urgency or distress. In this context, Jude is indicating that the more comprehensive treatment about the faith shared between himself and his readers was not nearly as urgent as the letter he found it now necessary to write.
[1:3] 35 tn Grk “encouraging.” Παρακαλῶν (parakalwn) is most likely a telic participle. In keeping with other participles of purpose, it is present tense and occurs after the main verb.
[1:3] 36 tn the verb ἐπαγωνίζομαι (epagwnizomai) is an intensive form of ἀγωνίζομαι (agwnizomai). As such, the notion of struggling, fighting, contending, etc. is heightened.
[1:3] 37 tn Τῇ πίστει (th pistei) here is taken as a dative of advantage (“on behalf of the faith”). Though rare (see BDAG 820 s.v. 3), it is not unexampled and must have this meaning here.
[1:3] 38 sn The adverb once for all (ἅπαξ, Japax) seems to indicate that the doctrinal convictions of the early church had been substantially codified. That is to say, Jude could appeal to written documents of the Christian faith in his arguments with the false teachers. Most likely, these documents were the letters of Paul and perhaps one or more gospels. First and Second Peter may also have been among the documents Jude has in mind (see also the note on the phrase entrusted to the saints in this verse).
[1:3] 39 sn I now feel compelled instead…saints. Apparently news of some crisis has reached Jude, prompting him to write a different letter than what he had originally planned. A plausible scenario (assuming authenticity of 2 Peter or at least that there are authentic Petrine snippets in it) is that after Peter’s death, Jude intended to write to the same Gentile readers that Peter had written to (essentially, Paul’s churches). Jude starts by affirming that the gospel the Gentiles had received from Paul was the same as the one the Jewish Christians had received from the other apostles (our common salvation). But in the midst of writing this letter, Jude felt that the present crisis deserved another, shorter piece. The crisis, as the letter reveals, is that the false teachers whom Peter prophesied have now infiltrated the church. The letter of Jude is thus an ad hoc letter, intended to confirm the truth of Peter’s letter and encourage the saints to ground their faith in the written documents of the nascent church, rather than listen to the twisted gospel of the false teachers. In large measure, the letter of Jude illustrates the necessity of clinging to the authority of scripture as opposed to those who claim to be prophets.
