Numbers 12:7

12:7 My servant ¹  Moses is not like this; he is faithful ²  in all my house.

Matthew 24:45

The Faithful and Wise Slave

24:45 “Who then is the faithful and wise slave, ³  whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves ⁴  their food at the proper time?

Matthew 25:21

25:21 His master answered, ⁵  ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’

Matthew 25:1

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

25:1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

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 4:17

4:17 And tell Archippus, “See to it that you complete the ministry you received in the Lord.”

Colossians 1:25

1:25 I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship ⁶  from God – given to me for you – in order to complete ⁷  the word of God,

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ⁸  brothers and sisters ⁹  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ¹⁰  from God our Father! ¹¹ 

Colossians 1:23

1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ¹²  without shifting ¹³  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

Ephesians 5:21

5:21 and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. ¹⁴ 

Ephesians 5:1

Live in Love

5:1 Therefore, be ¹⁵  imitators of God as dearly loved children

Ephesians 4:6

4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:2

4:2 with all humility and gentleness, ¹⁶  with patience, bearing with ¹⁷  one another in love,

Ephesians 2:2

2:2 in which ¹⁸  you formerly lived ¹⁹  according to this world’s present path, ²⁰  according to the ruler of the kingdom ²¹  of the air, the ruler of ²²  the spirit ²³  that is now energizing ²⁴  the sons of disobedience, ²⁵ 

Hebrews 2:17

2:17 Therefore he had ²⁶  to be made like his brothers and sisters ²⁷  in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement ²⁸  for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 3:2

3:2 who is faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses was also in God’s ²⁹  house. ³⁰ 

[12:7]  ¹ sn The title “my servant” or “servant of the Lord” is reserved in the Bible for distinguished personages, people who are truly spiritual leaders, like Moses, David, Hezekiah, and also the Messiah. Here it underscores Moses’ obedience.

[12:7]  ² tn The word “faithful” is נֶאֱמָן (ne’eman), the Niphal participle of the verb אָמַן (’aman). This basic word has the sense of “support, be firm.” In the Niphal it describes something that is firm, reliable, dependable – what can be counted on. It could actually be translated “trustworthy.”

[24:45]  ³ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[24:45]  ⁴ tn Grk “give them.”

[25:21]  ⁵ tn Grk “His master said to him.”

[1:25]  ⁶ tn BDAG 697 s.v. οἰκονομία 1.b renders the term here as “divine office.”

[1:25]  ⁷ tn See BDAG 828 s.v. πληρόω 3. The idea here seems to be that the apostle wants to “complete the word of God” in that he wants to preach it to every person in the known world (cf. Rom 15:19). See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 82.

[1:2]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ¹¹ 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.

[1:23]  ¹² tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

[1:23]  ¹³ tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.

[5:21]  ¹⁴ sn Eph 5:19-21. In Eph 5:18 the author gives the command to be filled by means of the Holy Spirit. In 5:19-21 there follows five participles: (1) speaking; (2) singing; (3) making music; (4) giving thanks; (5) submitting. These participles have been variously interpreted, but perhaps the two most likely interpretations are (1) the participles indicate the means by which one is filled by the Spirit; (2) the participles indicate the result of being filled by the Spirit. The fact that the participles are present tense and follow the command (i.e., “be filled”) would tend to support both of these options. But it seems out of Paul’s character to reduce the filling of the Spirit to a formula of some kind. To the extent that this is true, it is unlikely then that the author is here stating the means for being filled by the Spirit. Because it is in keeping with Pauline theology and has good grammatical support, it is better to take the participles as indicating certain results of being filled by the Spirit. See ExSyn 639.

[5:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “become.”

[4:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “meekness.” The word is often used in Hellenistic Greek of the merciful execution of justice on behalf of those who have no voice by those who are in a position of authority (Matt 11:29; 21:5).

[4:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “putting up with”; or “forbearing.”

[2:2]  ¹⁸ sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.

[2:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “walked.”

[2:2]  ²⁰ tn Or possibly “Aeon.”

[2:2]  ²¹ tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”

[2:2]  ²² tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).

[2:2]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Grk “working in.”

[2:2]  ²⁵ 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.

[2:17]  ²⁶ tn Or “he was obligated.”

[2:17]  ²⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[2:17]  ²⁸ tn Or “propitiation.”

[3:2]  ²⁹ tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

[3:2]  ³⁰ tc ‡ The reading adopted by the translation follows a few early mss and some versions (Ì^13,46vid B vg^ms co Ambr). The majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy) insert “all” (“in all his house”), apparently in anticipation of Heb 3:5 which quotes directly from Num 12:7. On balance, the omission better explains the rise of ὅλῳ ({olw, “all”) than vice versa. NA²⁷ puts ὅλῳ in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.