Proverbs 21:4

21:4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart –

the agricultural product ¹  of the wicked is sin.

Haggai 2:13

2:13 Then Haggai asked, “If a person who is ritually unclean because of touching a dead body ²  comes in contact with one of these items, will it become unclean?” The priests answered, “It will be unclean.”

Zechariah 7:5-6

7:5 “Speak to all the people and priests of the land as follows: ‘When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh ³  months through all these seventy years, did you truly fast for me – for me, indeed? 7:6 And now when you eat and drink, are you not doing so for yourselves?’”

Matthew 15:18

15:18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person.

Romans 14:20

14:20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. For although all things are clean, ⁴  it is wrong to cause anyone to stumble by what you eat.

Romans 14:23

14:23 But the man who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not do so from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin. ⁵ 

Romans 14:1

Exhortation to Mutual Forbearance

14:1 Now receive the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions. ⁶ 

Colossians 1:27-29

1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious ⁷  riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 1:28 We proclaim him by instructing ⁸  and teaching ⁹  all people ¹⁰  with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature ¹¹  in Christ. 1:29 Toward this goal ¹²  I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully ¹³  works in me.

[21:4]  ¹ tn Heb “the tillage [נִר, nir] of the wicked is sin” (so NAB). The subject picks up the subjects of the first half of the verse, indicating they are equal – the tillage consists of the arrogance and pride. The word “tillage” is figurative, of course, signifying that the agricultural product (the point of the comparison) of the wicked is sin. The relationship between the ideas is then problematic. Are pride and arrogance what the wicked produce? Some (ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV) have followed the LXX and Tg. Prov 21:4 to read “lamp” instead (נֵר, ner), but that does not solve the difficulty of the relationship between the expressions. It does, however, say that the life ( = lamp), which is arrogance and pride, is sin.

[2:13]  ² tn Heb “unclean of a person,” a euphemism for “unclean because of a dead person”; see Lev 21:11; Num 6:6. Cf. NAB “unclean from contact with a corpse.”

[7:5]  ³ tn The seventh month apparently refers to the anniversary of the assassination of Gedaliah, governor of Judah (Jer 40:13-14; 41:1), in approximately 581 b.c.

[14:20]  ⁴ sn Here clean refers to food being ceremonially clean.

[14:23]  ⁵ tc Some mss insert 16:25-27 at this point. See the tc note at 16:25 for more information.

[14:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “over opinions.” The qualifier “differing” has been supplied to clarify the meaning.

[1:27]  ⁷ tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”

[1:28]  ⁸ tn Or “admonishing,” or “warning.” BDAG 679 s.v. νουθετέω states, “to counsel about avoidance or cessation of an improper course of conduct,, admonish, warn, instruct.” After the participle νουθετοῦντες (nouqetounte", “instructing”) the words πάντα ἄνθρωπον (panta anqrwpon, “all men”) occur in the Greek text, but since the same phrase appears again after διδάσκοντες (didaskontes) it was omitted in translation to avoid redundancy in English.

[1:28]  ⁹ tn The two participles “instructing” (νουθετοῦντες, nouqetounte") and “teaching” (διδάσκοντες, didaskonte") are translated as participles of means (“by”) related to the finite verb “we proclaim” (καταγγέλλομεν, katangellomen).

[1:28]  ¹⁰ tn Here ἄνθρωπον (anqrwpon) is twice translated as a generic (“people” and “person”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

[1:28]  ¹¹ tn Since Paul’s focus is on the present experience of the Colossians, “mature” is a better translation of τέλειον (teleion) than “perfect,” since the latter implies a future, eschatological focus.

[1:29]  ¹² tn The Greek phrase εἴς ὅ (eis Jo, “toward which”) implies “movement toward a goal” and has been rendered by the English phrase “Toward this goal.”

[1:29]  ¹³ tn The prepositional phrase ἐν δυνάμει (en dunamei) seems to be functioning adverbially, related to the participle, and has therefore been translated “powerfully.”