Nehemiah 4:3-4

4:3 Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was close by, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”

4:4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised! Return their reproach on their own head! Reduce them to plunder in a land of exile!

Isaiah 53:2-3

53:2 He sprouted up like a twig before God, ¹ 

like a root out of parched soil; ² 

he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, ³ 

no special appearance that we should want to follow him. ⁴ 

53:3 He was despised and rejected by people, ⁵ 

one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;

people hid their faces from him; ⁶ 

he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. ⁷ 

John 13:6

13:6 Then he came to Simon Peter. Peter ⁸  said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash ⁹  my feet?”

John 13:1

Washing the Disciples’ Feet

13:1 Just before the Passover feast, Jesus knew that his time ¹⁰  had come to depart ¹¹  from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now loved them to the very end. ¹² 

Colossians 4:10-13

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). 4:11 And Jesus who is called Justus also sends greetings. In terms of Jewish converts, ¹³  these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ¹⁴  of Christ, ¹⁵  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ¹⁶  in all the will of God. 4:13 For I can testify that he has worked hard ¹⁷  for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Philippians 2:7-8

2:7 but emptied himself

by taking on the form of a slave, ¹⁸ 

by looking like other men, ¹⁹ 

and by sharing in human nature. ²⁰ 

2:8 He humbled himself,

by becoming obedient to the point of death

– even death on a cross!

[53:2]  ¹ tn Heb “before him.” Some suggest an emendation to “before us.” If the third singular suffix of the Hebrew text is retained, it probably refers to the Lord (see v. 1b). For a defense of this reading, see R. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66 (NCBC), 173-74.

[53:2]  ² sn The metaphor in this verse suggests insignificance.

[53:2]  ³ tn Heb “that we might see him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See GKC 504-5 §166.a.

[53:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “that we should desire him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See GKC 504-5 §166.a.

[53:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “lacking of men.” If the genitive is taken as specifying (“lacking with respect to men”), then the idea is that he lacked company because he was rejected by people. Another option is to take the genitive as indicating genus or larger class (i.e., “one lacking among men”). In this case one could translate, “he was a transient” (cf. the use of חָדֵל [khadel] in Ps 39:5 HT [39:4 ET]).

[53:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “like a hiding of the face from him,” i.e., “like one before whom the face is hidden” (see BDB 712 s.v. מַסְתֵּר).

[53:3]  ⁷ sn The servant is likened to a seriously ill person who is shunned by others because of his horrible disease.

[13:6]  ⁸ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Peter) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:6]  ⁹ tn Grk “do you wash” or “are you washing.”

[13:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “his hour.”

[13:1]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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”).

[4:11]  ¹³ tn Grk “those of the circumcision.” The verse as a whole is difficult to translate because it is unclear whether Paul is saying (1) that the only people working with him are Jewish converts at the time the letter is being written or previously, or (2) that Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus Justus were the only Jewish Christians who ever worked with him. Verses 12-14 appear to indicate that Luke and Demas, who were Gentiles, were also working currently with Paul. This is the view adopted in the translation. See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 207-8.

[4:12]  ¹⁴ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Or “filled.”

[4:13]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “pain.” This word appears only three times in the NT outside of this verse (Rev 16:10, 11; 21:4) where the translation “pain” makes sense. For the present verse it has been translated “worked hard.” See BDAG 852 s.v. πόνος 1.

[2:7]  ¹⁸ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 1:1.

[2:7]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “by coming in the likeness of people.”

[2:7]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and by being found in form as a man.” The versification of vv. 7 and 8 (so also NRSV) is according to the versification in the NA²⁷ and UBS⁴ editions of the Greek text. Some translations, however, break the verses in front of this phrase (NKJV, NASB, NIV, NLT). The same material has been translated in each case; the only difference is the versification of that material.