Numbers 16:9-11

16:9 Does it seem too small a thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel to bring you near to himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the community to minister to them? 16:10 He has brought you near and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. Do you now seek ¹  the priesthood also? 16:11 Therefore you and all your company have assembled together against the Lord! And Aaron – what is he that you murmur against him?” ² 

Numbers 17:5

17:5 And the staff of the man whom I choose will blossom; so I will rid myself of the complaints of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.”

Numbers 17:1

The Budding of Aaron’s Staff

17:1 ³ The Lord spoke to Moses:

Numbers 28:4-5

28:4 The first lamb you must offer in the morning, and the second lamb you must offer in the late afternoon, ⁴  28:5 with one-tenth of an ephah ⁵  of finely ground flour as a grain offering mixed with one quarter of a hin ⁶  of pressed olive oil.

Jeremiah 1:5

1:5 “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb ⁷  I chose you. ⁸ 

Before you were born I set you apart.

I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah 17:16

17:16 But I have not pestered you to bring disaster. ⁹ 

I have not desired the time of irreparable devastation. ¹⁰ 

You know that.

You are fully aware of every word that I have spoken. ¹¹ 

Amos 7:15

7:15 Then the Lord took me from tending ¹²  flocks and gave me this commission, ¹³  ‘Go! Prophesy to my people Israel!’

Matthew 25:15

25:15 To ¹⁴  one he gave five talents, ¹⁵  to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.

Mark 13:34

13:34 It is like a man going on a journey. He left his house and put his slaves ¹⁶  in charge, assigning ¹⁷  to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert.

Romans 1:5

1:5 Through him ¹⁸  we have received grace and our apostleship ¹⁹  to bring about the obedience ²⁰  of faith ²¹  among all the Gentiles on behalf of his name.

Romans 12:6

12:6 And we have different gifts ²²  according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith.

Romans 12:1

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ²³  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ²⁴  – which is your reasonable service.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁵  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 2:12-14

2:12 Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your ²⁶  faith in the power ²⁷  of God who raised him from the dead. 2:13 And even though you were dead in your ²⁸  transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless ²⁹  made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions. 2:14 He has destroyed ³⁰  what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness ³¹  expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 3:5

3:5 So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: ³²  sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, ³³  evil desire, and greed which is idolatry.

Colossians 4:7

Personal Greetings and Instructions

4:7 Tychicus, a dear brother, faithful minister, and fellow slave ³⁴  in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. ³⁵ 

Colossians 1:11

1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ³⁶  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

Colossians 1:10

1:10 so that you may live ³⁷  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ³⁸  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Galatians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³⁹  an apostle (not from men, nor by human agency, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead)

Ephesians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁴⁰  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints [in Ephesus], ⁴¹  the faithful ⁴²  in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 3:7-8

3:7 I became a servant of this gospel ⁴³  according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by ⁴⁴  the exercise of his power. ⁴⁵  3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ⁴⁶  – this grace was given, ⁴⁷  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

Ephesians 3:1

Paul's Relationship to the Divine Mystery

3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus ⁴⁸  for the sake of you Gentiles –

Ephesians 2:7

2:7 to demonstrate in the coming ages ⁴⁹  the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward ⁵⁰  us in Christ Jesus.

James 1:17

1:17 All generous giving and every perfect gift ⁵¹  is from above, coming down ⁵²  from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. ⁵³ 

James 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From James, ⁵⁴  a slave ⁵⁵  of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. ⁵⁶  Greetings!

James 4:10-11

4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.

4:11 Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. ⁵⁷  He who speaks against a fellow believer ⁵⁸  or judges a fellow believer speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but its judge. ⁵⁹ 

[16:10]  ¹ tn The verb is the Piel perfect. There is no imperfect tense before this, which makes the construction a little difficult. If the vav (ו) is classified as a consecutive, then the form would stand alone as an equivalent to the imperfect, and rendered as a modal nuance such as “would you [now] seek,” or as a progressive imperfect, “are you seeking.” This latter nuance can be obtained by treating it as a regular perfect tense, with an instantaneous nuance: “do you [now] seek.”

[16:11]  ² sn The question indicates that they had been murmuring against Aaron, that is, expressing disloyalty and challenging his leadership. But it is actually against the Lord that they had been murmuring because the Lord had put Aaron in that position.

[17:1]  ³ sn Num 17:1 in the English Bible is 17:16 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note on 16:36.

[28:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “between the evenings” meaning between dusk and dark.

[28:5]  ⁵ sn That is about two quarts.

[28:5]  ⁶ sn That is about one quart.

[1:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “the womb.” The words “your mother’s” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “I knew you.” The parallelism here with “set you apart” and “appointed you” make clear that Jeremiah is speaking of his foreordination to be a prophet. For this same nuance of the Hebrew verb see Gen 18:19; Amos 3:2.

[17:16]  ⁹ tc Heb “I have not run after you for the sake of disaster.” The translation follows the suggestion of some ancient versions. The Hebrew text reads “I have not run from being a shepherd after you.” The translation follows two Greek versions (Aquila and Symmachus) and the Syriac in reading the word “evil” or “disaster” here in place of the word “shepherd” in the Hebrew text. The issue is mainly one of vocalization. The versions mentioned are reading a form מֵרָעָה (mera’ah) instead of מֵרֹעֶה (mero’eh). There does not appear to be any clear case of a prophet being called a shepherd, especially in Jeremiah where it is invariably used of the wicked leaders/rulers of Judah, the leaders/rulers of the enemy that he brings to punish them, or the righteous ruler that he will bring in the future. Moreover, there are no cases where the preposition “after” is used with the verb “shepherd.” Parallelism also argues for the appropriateness of this reading; “disaster” parallels the “incurable day.” The thought also parallels the argument thus far. Other than 11:20; 12:3; 15:15 where he has prayed for vindication by the Lord punishing his persecutors as they deserve, he has invariably responded to the Lord’s word of disaster with laments and prayers for his people (see 4:19-21; 6:24; 8:18; 10:19-25; 14:7-9, 19-22).

[17:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the incurable day.” For the use of this word see the note on 17:9.

[17:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “that which goes out of my lip is right in front of your face.”

[7:15]  ¹² tn Heb “from [following] after.”

[7:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the Lord said to me.”

[25:15]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[25:15]  ¹⁵ sn A talent was equal to 6000 denarii. See the note on this term in 18:24.

[13:34]  ¹⁶ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.

[13:34]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “giving.”

[1:5]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “through whom.”

[1:5]  ¹⁹ tn Some interpreters understand the phrase “grace and apostleship” as a hendiadys, translating “grace [i.e., gift] of apostleship.” The pronoun “our” is supplied in the translation to clarify the sense of the statement.

[1:5]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and apostleship for obedience.”

[1:5]  ²¹ tn The phrase ὑπακοὴν πίστεως has been variously understood as (1) an objective genitive (a reference to the Christian faith, “obedience to [the] faith”); (2) a subjective genitive (“the obedience faith produces [or requires]”); (3) an attributive genitive (“believing obedience”); or (4) as a genitive of apposition (“obedience, [namely] faith”) in which “faith” further defines “obedience.” These options are discussed by C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans (ICC), 1:66. Others take the phrase as deliberately ambiguous; see D. B. Garlington, “The Obedience of Faith in the Letter to the Romans: Part I: The Meaning of ὑπακοὴ πίστεως (Rom 1:5; 16:26),” WTJ 52 (1990): 201-24.

[12:6]  ²² tn This word comes from the same root as “grace” in the following clause; it means “things graciously given,” “grace-gifts.”

[12:1]  ²³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[12:1]  ²⁴ tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.

[1:1]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[2:12]  ²⁶ tn The article with the genitive modifier τῆς πίστεως (th" pistew") is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[2:12]  ²⁷ tn The genitive τῆς ἐνεργείας (th" energeia") has been translated as an objective genitive, “faith in the power.”

[2:13]  ²⁸ tn The article τοῖς (tois) with παραπτώμασιν (paraptwmasin) is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[2:13]  ²⁹ tn The word “nevertheless,” though not in the Greek text, was supplied in the translation to bring out the force of the concessive participle ὄντας (ontas).

[2:14]  ³⁰ tn The participle ἐξαλείψας (exaleiyas) is a temporal adverbial participle of contemporaneous time related to the previous verb συνεζωοποίησεν (sunezwopoihsen), but has been translated as a finite verb because of the complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences. For the meaning “destroy” see BDAG 344-45 s.v. ἐξαλείφω 2.

[2:14]  ³¹ tn On the translation of χειρόγραφον (ceirografon), see BDAG 1083 s.v. which refers to it as “a certificate of indebtedness.”

[3:5]  ³² tn Grk “the members which are on the earth.” See BDAG 628 s.v. μέλος 1, “put to death whatever in you is worldly.”

[3:5]  ³³ tn Or “lust.”

[4:7]  ³⁴ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:7]  ³⁵ tn Grk “all things according to me.”

[1:11]  ³⁶ tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.

[1:10]  ³⁷ tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

[1:10]  ³⁸ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”

[1:1]  ³⁹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁴¹ tc The earliest and most important mss omit “in Ephesus” (Ì⁴⁶ א* B* 6 1739 [Mcion^T,E]), yet the opening line of this epistle makes little sense without the phrase (“to the saints who are and are faithful…”? or perhaps “to the saints who are also faithful,” though with this sense the οὖσιν [ousin] is redundant and the καί [kai] is treated somewhat unnaturally). What is interesting is Marcion’s canon list which speaks of the letter to the Laodiceans among Paul’s authentic epistles. This, coupled with some internal evidence that the writer did not know his audience personally (cf. 1:15; 3:2; absence of personal names throughout), suggests that Ephesians was an encyclical letter, intended for more than one audience. Does this mean that the shorter reading is to be preferred? Yes and no. A plausible scenario is as follows, assuming Pauline authorship (though this is strongly contested today; for arguments on behalf of Pauline authorship, see M. Barth, Ephesians [AB 34], 1:36-50; P. T. O’Brien, Ephesians, 4-47; and H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 2-61): Paul sent the letter from Rome, intending it first to go to Ephesus. At the same time, Colossians was dispatched. Going counterclockwise through Asia Minor, this letter would first come to Ephesus, the port of entry, then to Laodicea, then Colossae. Tychicus’ instructions may well have been for each church to “fill in the blank” on the address line. The church at Ephesus would have certainly made the most copies, being Paul’s home base for nearly three years. Hence, most of the surviving copies have “in Ephesus” in v. 1 (so א² A B² D F G Ψ 0278 33 1881 Ï latt sy co). But one might expect a hint of evidence that Laodicea also made a few copies: Both Marcion’s list and Col 4:16 may well imply this. What is to account for the early Alexandrian evidence, then? These mss were perhaps made from a very early copy, one reflecting the blank line before each church filled it in. Although it is of course only speculation (as is necessary in a historical investigation lacking some of the pieces to the puzzle), this scenario accounts for all of the data: (1) “in Ephesus” in most mss; (2) Laodicea in Marcion’s list and Col 4:16; (3) the lack of an addressee in the earliest witnesses; (4) why the earliest witnesses’ reading must be rejected as too hard; and (5) why the author seems not to know the readership. In sum, is “in Ephesus” original? Yes and no. Some address belongs there; ἐν ᾿Εφέσῳ (en Efesw) is the predominant address, but several other churches also received this circular letter as their own. For this reason the phrase has been placed in single brackets in the translation. NA²⁷ also lists the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.

[1:1]  ⁴² tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style [and even if this letter is not by Paul it follows the general style of Paul’s letters, with some modifications]) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated. See M. Barth, Ephesians (AB 34), 1:68 and ExSyn 282.

[3:7]  ⁴³ tn Grk “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”

[3:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “according to.”

[3:7]  ⁴⁵ sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.

[3:8]  ⁴⁶ sn In Pauline writings saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.

[3:8]  ⁴⁷ sn The parallel phrases to proclaim and to enlighten which follow indicate why God’s grace was manifested to Paul. Grace was not something just to be received, but to be shared with others (cf. Acts 13:47).

[3:1]  ⁴⁸ tc Several early and important witnesses, chiefly of the Western text (א* D* F G [365]), lack ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) here, while most Alexandrian and Byzantine mss (Ì⁴⁶ א¹ A B [C] D¹ Ψ 33 1739 [1881] Ï lat sy bo) have the word. However, because of the Western text’s proclivities to add or delete to the text, seemingly at whim, serious doubts should be attached to the shorter reading. It is strengthened, however, by א’s support. Nevertheless, since both א and D were corrected with the addition of ᾿Ιησοῦ, their testimony might be questioned. Further, in uncial script the nomina sacra here could have led to missing a word by way of homoioteleuton (cMuiMu). At the same time, in light of the rarity of scribal omission of nomina sacra (see TCGNT 582, n. 1), a decision for inclusion of the word here must be tentative. NA²⁷ rightly places ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets.

[2:7]  ⁴⁹ tn Or possibly “to the Aeons who are about to come.”

[2:7]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “upon.”

[1:17]  ⁵¹ tn The first phrase refers to the action of giving and the second to what is given.

[1:17]  ⁵² tn Or “All generous giving and every perfect gift from above is coming down.”

[1:17]  ⁵³ tn Grk “variation or shadow of turning” (referring to the motions of heavenly bodies causing variations of light and darkness).

[1:1]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “James.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁵⁵ tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora.” The Greek term διασπορά (diaspora, “dispersion”) refers to Jews not living in Palestine but “dispersed” or scattered among the Gentiles.

[4:11]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[4:11]  ⁵⁸ tn See note on the word “believer” in 1:9.

[4:11]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “a judge.”