Matthew 20:1

Workers in the Vineyard

20:1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner ¹  who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

Mark 13:34

13:34 It is like a man going on a journey. He left his house and put his slaves ²  in charge, assigning ³  to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert.

Mark 13:1

The Destruction of the Temple

13:1 Now ⁴  as Jesus ⁵  was going out of the temple courts, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look at these tremendous stones and buildings!” ⁶ 

Colossians 1:10

1:10 so that you may live ⁷  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ⁸  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ⁹  brothers and sisters ¹⁰  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ¹¹  from God our Father! ¹² 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹³  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Philippians 2:25

2:25 But for now ¹⁴  I have considered it necessary to send Epaphroditus to you. For he is my brother, ¹⁵  coworker and fellow soldier, and your messenger ¹⁶  and minister ¹⁷  to me in my need. ¹⁸ 

Philippians 2:30

2:30 since it was because of the work of Christ that he almost died. He risked his life so that he could make up for your inability to serve me. ¹⁹ 

Colossians 1:29

1:29 Toward this goal ²⁰  I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully ²¹  works in me.

Colossians 4:12

4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ²²  of Christ, ²³  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ²⁴  in all the will of God.

Colossians 4:1

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

Colossians 2:9

2:9 For in him all the fullness of deity lives ²⁵  in bodily form,

Colossians 1:12

1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share ²⁶  in the saints’ ²⁷  inheritance in the light.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁸  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 4:10

4:10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him).

Colossians 4:15-16

4:15 Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters ²⁹  who are in Laodicea and to Nympha and the church that meets in her ³⁰  house. ³¹  4:16 And after ³²  you have read this letter, have it read ³³  to the church of Laodicea. In turn, read the letter from Laodicea ³⁴  as well.

Colossians 1:17-18

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ³⁵  in him.

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ³⁶  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ³⁷ 

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ³⁸  brothers and sisters ³⁹  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ⁴⁰  from God our Father! ⁴¹ 

Colossians 2:3-6

2:3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 2:4 I say this so that no one will deceive you through arguments ⁴²  that sound reasonable. ⁴³  2:5 For though ⁴⁴  I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing to see ⁴⁵  your morale ⁴⁶  and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Warnings Against the Adoption of False Philosophies

2:6 Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, ⁴⁷  continue to live your lives ⁴⁸  in him,

Colossians 4:5

4:5 Conduct yourselves ⁴⁹  with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities.

Philemon 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁵⁰  a prisoner of Christ Jesus, ⁵¹  and Timothy our ⁵²  brother, to Philemon, our dear friend ⁵³  and colaborer,

[20:1]  ¹ sn The term landowner here refers to the owner and manager of a household.

[13:34]  ² tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.

[13:34]  ³ tn Grk “giving.”

[13:1]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[13:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:1]  ⁶ sn The Jerusalem temple was widely admired around the world. See Josephus, Ant. 15.11 [15.380-425]; J. W. 5.5 [5.184-227] and Tacitus, History 5.8, who called it “immensely opulent.” Josephus compared it to a beautiful snowcapped mountain.

[1:10]  ⁷ tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

[1:10]  ⁸ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”

[1:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ¹² tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[1:1]  ¹³ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[2:25]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “But.” The temporal notion (“for now”) is implied in the epistolary aorist (“I have considered”), for Epaphroditus was dispatched with this letter to the Philippians.

[2:25]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “my brother” instead of “For he is my brother.” Verse 25 constitutes one sentence in Greek, with “my brother…” functioning appositionally to “Epaphroditus.”

[2:25]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “apostle.”

[2:25]  ¹⁷ tn The Greek word translated “minister” here is λειτουργός (leitourgo").

[2:25]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “servant of my need.”

[2:30]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “make up for your lack of service to me.”

[1:29]  ²⁰ tn The Greek phrase εἴς ὅ (eis Jo, “toward which”) implies “movement toward a goal” and has been rendered by the English phrase “Toward this goal.”

[1:29]  ²¹ tn The prepositional phrase ἐν δυνάμει (en dunamei) seems to be functioning adverbially, related to the participle, and has therefore been translated “powerfully.”

[4:12]  ²² tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ²³ tc ‡ Strong Alexandrian testimony, along with some other witnesses, suggests that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) follows Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “Christ”; so א A B C I L 0278 33 81 365 629 1175 2464 al lat), but the evidence for the shorter reading is diverse (Ì⁴⁶ D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï it sy Hier), cutting across all major texttypes. There can be little motivation for omitting the name of Jesus; hence, the shorter reading is judged to be original. NA²⁷ has ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[4:12]  ²⁴ tn Or “filled.”

[2:9]  ²⁵ sn In him all the fullness of deity lives. The present tense in this verse (“lives”) is significant. Again, as was stated in the note on 1:19, this is not a temporary dwelling, but a permanent one. Paul’s point is polemical against the idea that the fullness of God dwells anywhere else, as the Gnostics believed, except in Christ alone. At the incarnation, the second person of the Trinity assumed humanity, and is forever the God-man.

[1:12]  ²⁶ tn BDAG 473 s.v. ἱκανόω states, “τινὰ εἴς τι someone for someth. Col 1:12.” The point of the text is that God has qualified the saints for a “share” or “portion” in the inheritance of the saints.

[1:12]  ²⁷ tn Grk “the inheritance of the saints.” The genitive noun τῶν ἁγίων (twn Jagiwn) is a possessive genitive: “the saints’ inheritance.”

[1:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[4:15]  ²⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[4:15]  ³⁰ tc If the name Nympha is accented with a circumflex on the ultima (Νυμφᾶν, Numfan), then it refers to a man; if it receives an acute accent on the penult (Νύμφαν), the reference is to a woman. Scribes that considered Nympha to be a man’s name had the corresponding masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ here (autou, “his”; so D [F G] Ψ Ï), while those who saw Nympha as a woman read the feminine αὐτῆς here (auth", “her”; B 0278 6 1739^[*^] 1881 sa). Several mss (א A C P 075 33 81 104 326 1175 2464 bo) have αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”), perhaps because of indecisiveness on the gender of Nympha, perhaps because they included ἀδελφούς (adelfou", here translated “brothers and sisters”) as part of the referent. (Perhaps because accents were not part of the original text, scribes were particularly confused here.) The harder reading is certainly αὐτῆς, and thus Nympha should be considered a woman.

[4:15]  ³¹ tn Grk “the church in her house.” The meaning is that Paul sends greetings to the church that meets at Nympha’s house.

[4:16]  ³² tn Grk “when.”

[4:16]  ³³ tn The construction beginning with the imperative ποιήσατε ἵνα…ἀναγνωσθῇ (poihsate Jina…anagnwsqh) should be translated as “have it read” where the conjunction ἵνα functions to mark off its clause as the direct object of the imperative ποιήσατε. The content of the clause (“reading the letter”) is what Paul commands with the imperative ποιήσατε. Thus the translation “have it read” has been used here.

[4:16]  ³⁴ sn This letter is otherwise unknown, but some have suggested that it is the letter known today as Ephesians.

[1:17]  ³⁵ tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.

[1:18]  ³⁶ tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.

[1:18]  ³⁷ tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

[1:2]  ³⁸ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ³⁹ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ⁴¹ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[2:4]  ⁴² tn BDAG 812 s.v. πιθανολογία states, “persuasive speech, art of persuasion (so Pla., Theaet. 162e) in an unfavorable sense in its only occurrence in our lit. ἐν πιθανολογίᾳ by specious arguments Col 2:4 (cp. PLips 40 III, 7 διὰ πιθανολογίας).”

[2:4]  ⁴³ sn Paul’s point is that even though the arguments seem to make sense (sound reasonable), they are in the end false. Paul is not here arguing against the study of philosophy or serious thinking per se, but is arguing against the uncritical adoption of a philosophy that is at odds with a proper view of Christ and the ethics of the Christian life.

[2:5]  ⁴⁴ tn The conditional particle εἰ (ei) together with καί (kai) here indicates a first class condition in Greek and carries a concessive force, especially when seen in contrast to the following phrase which begins with ἀλλά (alla).

[2:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “rejoicing and seeing.”

[2:5]  ⁴⁶ tn The Greek word τάξις can mean “order,” “discipline,” or even “unbroken ranks” (REB).

[2:6]  ⁴⁷ tn Though the verb παρελάβετε (parelabete) does not often take a double accusative, here it seems to do so. Both τὸν Χριστὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν (ton Criston Ihsoun) and τὸν κύριον (ton kurion) are equally definite insofar as they both have an article, but both the word order and the use of “Christ Jesus” as a proper name suggest that it is the object (cf. Rom 10:9, 10). Thus Paul is affirming that the tradition that was delivered to the Colossians by Epaphras was Christ-centered and focused on him as Lord.

[2:6]  ⁴⁸ tn The present imperative περιπατεῖτε (peripateite) implies, in this context, a continuation of something already begun. This is evidenced by the fact that Paul has already referred to their faith as “orderly” and “firm” (2:5), despite the struggles of some of them with this deceptive heresy (cf. 2:16-23). The verb is used literally to refer to a person “walking” and is thus used metaphorically (i.e., ethically) to refer to the way a person lives his or her life.

[4:5]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “walk.” The verb περιπατέω (peripatew) is a common NT idiom for one’s lifestyle, behavior, or manner of conduct (L&N 41.11).

[1:1]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁵¹ sn The phrase a prisoner of Christ Jesus implies that Paul was being held prisoner because of his testimony for Christ Jesus. Paul’s imprisonment was due to his service to Christ, in the same manner as John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos because of his testimony (Rev 1:9).

[1:1]  ⁵² tn “our” is not present in the Greek text, but was supplied to bring out the sense in English.

[1:1]  ⁵³ tn Grk “dear.” The adjective is functioning as a substantive; i.e., “dear one” or “dear friend.”