Matthew 24:11

24:11 And many false prophets will appear and deceive ¹  many,

Matthew 24:24

24:24 For false messiahs ²  and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Matthew 24:2

24:2 And he said to them, ³  “Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, ⁴  not one stone will be left on another. ⁵  All will be torn down!” ⁶ 

Colossians 2:17

2:17 these are only ⁷  the shadow of the things to come, but the reality ⁸  is Christ! ⁹ 

Colossians 4:2

Exhortation to Pray for the Success of Paul’s Mission

4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 1:13-15

1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁰  1:14 in whom we have redemption, ¹¹  the forgiveness of sins.

The Supremacy of Christ

1:15 ¹² He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn ¹³  over all creation, ¹⁴ 

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ¹⁵  brothers and sisters ¹⁶  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ¹⁷  from God our Father! ¹⁸ 

Colossians 2:9-10

2:9 For in him all the fullness of deity lives ¹⁹  in bodily form, 2:10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

Colossians 2:2

2:2 My goal is that ²⁰  their hearts, having been knit together ²¹  in love, may be encouraged, and that ²²  they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ²³ 

Colossians 2:18

2:18 Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths ²⁴  about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind. ²⁵ 

Revelation 13:11-14

13:11 Then ²⁶  I saw another beast ²⁷  coming up from the earth. He ²⁸  had two horns like a lamb, ²⁹  but ³⁰  was speaking like a dragon. 13:12 He ³¹  exercised all the ruling authority ³²  of the first beast on his behalf, ³³  and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed. 13:13 He ³⁴  performed momentous signs, even making fire come down from heaven in front of people ³⁵  13:14 and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth. He told ³⁶  those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword, but still lived.

Revelation 19:20

19:20 Now ³⁷  the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf ³⁸  – signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. ³⁹ 

[24:11]  ¹ tn Or “and lead many astray.”

[24:24]  ² tn Or “false christs”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[24:2]  ³ tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (ajpokriqei") is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[24:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[24:2]  ⁵ sn With the statement not one stone will be left on another Jesus predicted the total destruction of the temple, something that did occur in a.d. 70.

[24:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “not one stone will be left here on another which will not be thrown down.”

[2:17]  ⁷ tn The word “only,” though not in the Greek text, is supplied in the English translation to bring out the force of the Greek phrase.

[2:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “but the body of Christ.” The term body here, when used in contrast to shadow (σκιά, skia) indicates the opposite meaning, i.e., the reality or substance itself.

[2:17]  ⁹ tn The genitive τοῦ Χριστοῦ (tou Cristou) is appositional and translated as such: “the reality is Christ.”

[1:13]  ¹⁰ tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).

[1:14]  ¹¹ tc διὰ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ (dia tou {aimato" autou, “through his blood”) is read at this juncture by several minuscule mss (614 630 1505 2464 al) as well as a few, mostly secondary, versional and patristic witnesses. But the reading was prompted by the parallel in Eph 1:7 where the wording is solid. If these words had been in the original of Colossians, why would scribes omit them here but not in Eph 1:7? Further, the testimony on behalf of the shorter reading is quite overwhelming: {א A B C D F G Ψ 075 0150 6 33 1739 1881 Ï latt co as well as several other versions and fathers}. The conviction that “through his blood” is not authentic in Col 1:14 is as strong as the conviction that these words are authentic in Eph 1:7.

[1:15]  ¹² sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[1:15]  ¹³ tn The Greek term πρωτότοκος (prwtotokos) could refer either to first in order of time, such as a first born child, or it could refer to one who is preeminent in rank. M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 43, expresses the meaning of the word well: “The ‘firstborn’ was either the eldest child in a family or a person of preeminent rank. The use of this term to describe the Davidic king in Ps 88:28 LXX (=Ps 89:27 EVV), ‘I will also appoint him my firstborn (πρωτότοκον), the most exalted of the kings of the earth,’ indicates that it can denote supremacy in rank as well as priority in time. But whether the πρωτό- element in the word denotes time, rank, or both, the significance of the -τοκος element as indicating birth or origin (from τίκτω, give birth to) has been virtually lost except in ref. to lit. birth.” In Col 1:15 the emphasis is on the priority of Jesus’ rank as over and above creation (cf. 1:16 and the “for” clause referring to Jesus as Creator).

[1:15]  ¹⁴ tn The genitive construction πάσης κτίσεως (pash" ktisew") is a genitive of subordination and is therefore translated as “over all creation.” See ExSyn 103-4.

[1:2]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ¹⁸ 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.

[2:9]  ¹⁹ 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.

[2:2]  ²⁰ tn Verse two begins a subordinate ἵνα (Jina) clause which was divided up into two sentences for the sake of clarity in English. Thus the phrase “My goal is that” is an attempt to reflect in the translation the purpose expressed through the ἵνα clauses.

[2:2]  ²¹ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβιβάζω 1.b reads “unite, knit together.” Some commentators take the verb as a reference to instruction, “instructed in love.” See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 93.

[2:2]  ²² tn The phrase “and that” translates the first εἰς (eis) clause of v. 2 and reflects the second goal of Paul’s striving and struggle for the Colossians – the first is “encouragement” and the second is “full assurance.”

[2:2]  ²³ tc There are at least a dozen variants here, almost surely generated by the unusual wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ (tou qeou, Cristou, “of God, Christ”; so Ì⁴⁶ B Hil). Scribes would be prone to conform this to more common Pauline expressions such as “of God, who is in Christ” (33), “of God, the Father of Christ” (א* A C 048^vid 1175 bo), and “of the God and Father of Christ” (א² Ψ 075 0278 365 1505 pc). Even though the external support for the wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ is hardly overwhelming, it clearly best explains the rise of the other readings and should thus be regarded as authentic.

[2:18]  ²⁴ tn For the various views on the translation of ἐμβατεύων (embateuwn), see BDAG 321 s.v. ἐμβατεύω 4. The idea in this context seems to be that the individual in question loves to talk on and on about his spiritual experiences, but in reality they are only coming out of his own sinful flesh.

[2:18]  ²⁵ tn Grk “by the mind of his flesh.” In the translation above, σαρκός (sarkos) is taken as an attributive genitive. The phrase could also be translated “by his sinful thoughts,” since it appears that Paul is using σάρξ (sarx, “flesh”) here in a morally negative way.

[13:11]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[13:11]  ²⁷ sn This second beast is identified in Rev 16:13 as “the false prophet.”

[13:11]  ²⁸ tn Grk “and it had,” a continuation of the preceding sentence. On the use of the pronoun “he” to refer to the second beast, see the note on the word “It” in 13:1.

[13:11]  ²⁹ tn Or perhaps, “like a ram.” Here L&N 4.25 states, “In the one context in the NT, namely, Re 13:11, in which ἀρνίον refers literally to a sheep, it is used in a phrase referring to the horns of an ἀρνίον. In such a context the reference is undoubtedly to a ‘ram,’ that is to say, the adult male of sheep.” In spite of this most translations render the word “lamb” here to maintain the connection between this false lamb and the true Lamb of the Book of Revelation, Jesus Christ.

[13:11]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:12]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:12]  ³² tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:12]  ³³ tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”

[13:13]  ³⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:13]  ³⁵ tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both men and women.

[13:14]  ³⁶ tn Grk “earth, telling.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in Greek.

[19:20]  ³⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of an unexpected development in the account: The opposing armies do not come together in battle; rather the leader of one side is captured.

[19:20]  ³⁸ tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”

[19:20]  ³⁹ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”