Matthew 7:11

7:11 If you then, although you are evil, ¹  know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts ²  to those who ask him!

Luke 11:13

11:13 If you then, although you are ³  evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit ⁴  to those who ask him!”

Luke 15:21-24

15:21 Then ⁵  his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven ⁶  and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ⁷  15:22 But the father said to his slaves, ⁸  ‘Hurry! Bring the best robe, ⁹  and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger ¹⁰  and sandals ¹¹  on his feet! 15:23 Bring ¹²  the fattened calf ¹³  and kill it! Let us eat ¹⁴  and celebrate, 15:24 because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again – he was lost and is found!’ ¹⁵  So ¹⁶  they began to celebrate.

Ephesians 1:6-7

1:6 to the praise of the glory of his grace ¹⁷  that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son. ¹⁸  1:7 In him ¹⁹  we have redemption through his blood, ²⁰  the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace

Ephesians 2:7-8

2:7 to demonstrate in the coming ages ²¹  the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward ²²  us in Christ Jesus. 2:8 For by grace you are saved ²³  through faith, ²⁴  and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God;

Ephesians 2:2

2:2 in which ²⁵  you formerly lived ²⁶  according to this world’s present path, ²⁷  according to the ruler of the kingdom ²⁸  of the air, the ruler of ²⁹  the spirit ³⁰  that is now energizing ³¹  the sons of disobedience, ³² 

Ephesians 1:9

1:9 He did this when he revealed ³³  to us the secret ³⁴  of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth ³⁵  in Christ, ³⁶ 

[7:11]  ¹ tn The participle ὄντες (ontes) has been translated concessively.

[7:11]  ² sn The provision of the good gifts is probably a reference to the wisdom and guidance supplied in response to repeated requests. The teaching as a whole stresses not that we get everything we want, but that God gives the good that we need.

[11:13]  ³ tn The participle ὑπάρχοντες (Juparconte") has been translated as a concessive participle.

[11:13]  ⁴ sn The provision of the Holy Spirit is probably a reference to the wisdom and guidance supplied in response to repeated requests. Some apply it to the general provision of the Spirit, but this would seem to look only at one request in a context that speaks of repeated asking. The teaching as a whole stresses not that God gives everything his children want, but that God gives the good that they need. The parallel account in Matthew (7:11) refers to good things where Luke mentions the Holy Spirit.

[15:21]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[15:21]  ⁶ sn The phrase against heaven is a circumlocution for God. 1st century Judaism tended to minimize use of the divine name out of reverence.

[15:21]  ⁷ sn The younger son launches into his confession just as he had planned. See vv. 18-19.

[15:22]  ⁸ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

[15:22]  ⁹ sn With the instructions Hurry! Bring the best robe, there is a total acceptance of the younger son back into the home.

[15:22]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “hand”; but χείρ (ceir) can refer to either the whole hand or any relevant part of it (L&N 8.30).

[15:22]  ¹¹ sn The need for sandals underlines the younger son’s previous destitution, because he was barefoot.

[15:23]  ¹² tn Grk “And bring.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[15:23]  ¹³ tn Or “the prize calf” (L&N 65.8). See also L&N 44.2, “grain-fattened.” Such a calf was usually reserved for religious celebrations.

[15:23]  ¹⁴ tn The participle φαγόντες (fagontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[15:24]  ¹⁵ sn This statement links the parable to the theme of 15:6, 9.

[15:24]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the father’s remarks in the preceding verses.

[1:6]  ¹⁷ tn Or “to the praise of his glorious grace.” Many translations translate δόξης τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ (doxh" th" carito" autou, literally “of the glory of his grace”) with τῆς χάριτος as an attributed genitive (cf., e.g., NIV, NRSV, ESV). The translation above has retained a literal rendering in order to make clear the relationship of this phrase to the other two similar phrases in v. 12 and 14, which affect the way one divides the material in the passage.

[1:6]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “the beloved.” The term ἠγαπημένῳ (hgaphmenw) means “beloved,” but often bears connotations of “only beloved” in an exclusive sense. “His dearly loved Son” picks up this connotation.

[1:7]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “in whom” (the relative clause of v. 7 is subordinate to v. 6). The “him” refers to Christ.

[1:7]  ²⁰ sn In this context his blood, the blood of Jesus Christ, refers to the price paid for believers’ redemption, which is the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross.

[2:7]  ²¹ tn Or possibly “to the Aeons who are about to come.”

[2:7]  ²² tn Or “upon.”

[2:8]  ²³ tn See note on the same expression in v. 5.

[2:8]  ²⁴ tc The feminine article is found before πίστεως (pistews, “faith”) in the Byzantine text as well as in A Ψ 1881 pc. Perhaps for some scribes the article was intended to imply creedal fidelity as a necessary condition of salvation (“you are saved through the faith”), although elsewhere in the corpus Paulinum the phrase διὰ τῆς πίστεως (dia th" pistew") is used for the act of believing rather than the content of faith (cf. Rom 3:30, 31; Gal 3:14; Eph 3:17; Col 2:12). On the other side, strong representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texts (א B D* F G P 0278 6 33 1739 al bo) lack the article. Hence, both text-critically and exegetically, the meaning of the text here is most likely “saved through faith” as opposed to “saved through the faith.” Regarding the textual problem, the lack of the article is the preferred reading.

[2:2]  ²⁵ sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.

[2:2]  ²⁶ tn Grk “walked.”

[2:2]  ²⁷ tn Or possibly “Aeon.”

[2:2]  ²⁸ tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”

[2:2]  ²⁹ tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).

[2:2]  ³⁰ sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).

[2:2]  ³¹ tn Grk “working in.”

[2:2]  ³² sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.

[1:9]  ³³ tn Or “He did this by revealing”; Grk “making known, revealing.” Verse 9 begins with a participle dependent on “lavished” in v. 8; the adverbial participle could be understood as temporal (“when he revealed”), which would be contemporaneous to the action of the finite verb “lavished,” or as means (“by revealing”). The participle has been translated here with the temporal nuance to allow for means to also be a possible interpretation. If the translation focused instead upon means, the temporal nuance would be lost as the time frame for the action of the participle would become indistinct.

[1:9]  ³⁴ tn Or “mystery.” In the NT μυστήριον (musthrion) refers to a divine secret previously undisclosed.

[1:9]  ³⁵ tn Or “purposed,” “publicly displayed.” Cf. Rom 3:25.

[1:9]  ³⁶ tn Grk “in him”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.