Nehemiah 9:2

9:2 Those truly of Israelite descent ¹  separated from all the foreigners, ²  standing and confessing their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors. ³ 

Nehemiah 13:3

13:3 When they heard the law, they removed from Israel all who were of mixed ancestry.

Leviticus 20:24

20:24 So I have said to you: You yourselves will possess their land and I myself will give it to you for a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who has set you apart from the other peoples. ⁴ 

Ezra 9:1-2

A Prayer of Ezra

9:1 Now when these things had been completed, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the local residents ⁵  who practice detestable things similar to those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 9:2 Indeed, they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race ⁶  has become intermingled with the local residents. Worse still, the leaders and the officials have been at the forefront of all of this!”

Ezra 10:11-19

10:11 Now give praise to the Lord God of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the local residents ⁷  and from these foreign wives.”

10:12 All the assembly replied in a loud voice: “We will do just as you have said! ⁸  10:13 However, the people are numerous and it is the rainy season. ⁹  We are unable to stand here outside. Furthermore, this business cannot be resolved in a day or two, for we have sinned greatly in this matter. 10:14 Let our leaders take steps ¹⁰  on behalf of all the assembly. Let all those in our towns who have married foreign women come at an appointed time, and with them the elders of each town and its judges, until the hot anger of our God is turned away from us in this matter.”

10:15 Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah were ¹¹  against this, assisted by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite. 10:16 So the exiles proceeded accordingly. Ezra the priest separated out ¹²  by name men who were leaders in their family groups. ¹³  They sat down to consider this matter on the first day of the tenth month, 10:17 and on the first day of the first month they finished considering all the men who had married foreign wives.

Those Who Had Taken Foreign Wives

10:18 It was determined ¹⁴  that from the descendants of the priests, the following had taken foreign wives: from the descendants of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. 10:19 (They gave their word ¹⁵  to send away their wives; their guilt offering was a ram from the flock for their guilt.)

Ezra 10:2

10:2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, from the descendants of Elam, ¹⁶  addressed Ezra:

“We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying ¹⁷  foreign women from the local peoples. ¹⁸  Nonetheless, there is still hope for Israel in this regard. ¹⁹ 

Colossians 1:14-17

1:14 in whom we have redemption, ²⁰  the forgiveness of sins.

The Supremacy of Christ

1:15 ²¹ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn ²²  over all creation, ²³ 

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ²⁴  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ²⁵  in him.

[9:2]  ¹ tn Heb “the seed of Israel.”

[9:2]  ² tn Heb “sons of a foreigner.”

[9:2]  ³ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 9, 16, 23, 32, 34, 36).

[20:24]  ⁴ tc Here and with the same phrase in v. 26, the LXX adds “all,” resulting in the reading “all the peoples.”

[9:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.” So also in v. 2.

[9:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “the holy seed,” referring to the Israelites as God’s holy people.

[10:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “the peoples of the land.”

[10:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “thus according to your word [singular = Qere] concerning us, to do.”

[10:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “the time [is] rain showers.”

[10:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “stand.”

[10:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “stood.”

[10:16]  ¹² tc The translation reads the Hiphil singular וַיַּבְדֵּל לוֹ (vayyavdel lo, “separated for himself”) rather than the Niphal plural וַיִּבָּדְלוּ (vayyibbadÿlu, “were separated”) of the MT.

[10:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers, to the house of their fathers, and all of them by name.”

[10:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “found.”

[10:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “hand.”

[10:2]  ¹⁶ tc The translation reads with the Qere, many medieval Hebrew MSS, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate עֵילָם (’elam, “Elam”) rather than the reading עוֹלָם (’olam, “eternity”) found in the MT.

[10:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in that we have given a dwelling to.” So also in vv. 14, 17, 18.

[10:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”

[10:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “upon this.”

[1:14]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ 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.

[1:16]  ²⁴ tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.

[1:17]  ²⁵ tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.