Proverbs 26:12

26:12 Do you see ¹  a man wise in his own eyes? ² 

There is more hope for a fool ³  than for him.

Isaiah 5:21

5:21 Those who think they are wise are as good as dead, ⁴ 

those who think they possess understanding. ⁵ 

Isaiah 56:10

56:10 All their watchmen ⁶  are blind,

they are unaware. ⁷ 

All of them are like mute dogs,

unable to bark.

They pant, ⁸  lie down,

and love to snooze.

Matthew 6:23

6:23 But if your eye is diseased, ⁹  your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Matthew 15:14

15:14 Leave them! They are blind guides. ¹⁰  If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, ¹¹  both will fall into a pit.”

Matthew 23:16-26

23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. ¹²  But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.’ 23:17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 23:18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. ¹³  But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.’ 23:19 You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 23:20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 23:21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it. 23:22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.

23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹⁴  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ¹⁵  of mint, dill, and cumin, ¹⁶  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ¹⁷  should have done these things without neglecting the others. 23:24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel! ¹⁸ 

23:25 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹⁹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 23:26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, ²⁰  so that the outside may become clean too!

Mark 10:15

10:15 I tell you the truth, ²¹  whoever does not receive ²²  the kingdom of God like a child ²³  will never ²⁴  enter it.”

John 7:46-49

7:46 The officers replied, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 7:47 Then the Pharisees answered, ²⁵  “You haven’t been deceived too, have you? ²⁶  7:48 None of the rulers ²⁷  or the Pharisees have believed in him, have they? ²⁸  7:49 But this rabble ²⁹  who do not know the law are accursed!”

John 9:34

9:34 They replied, ³⁰  “You were born completely in sinfulness, ³¹  and yet you presume to teach us?” ³²  So they threw him out.

John 9:40-41

9:40 Some of the Pharisees ³³  who were with him heard this ³⁴  and asked him, ³⁵  “We are not blind too, are we?” ³⁶  9:41 Jesus replied, ³⁷  “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, ³⁸  but now because you claim that you can see, ³⁹  your guilt ⁴⁰  remains.” ⁴¹ 

John 9:1

Healing a Man Born Blind

9:1 Now as Jesus was passing by, ⁴²  he saw a man who had been blind from birth.

Colossians 3:18

Exhortation to Households

3:18 Wives, submit to your ⁴³  husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

Colossians 4:10

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).

Colossians 1:1-2

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁴⁴  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 1:2 to the saints, the faithful ⁴⁵  brothers and sisters ⁴⁶  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ⁴⁷  from God our Father! ⁴⁸ 

Revelation 3:17-18

3:17 Because you say, “I am rich and have acquired great wealth, ⁴⁹  and need nothing,” but ⁵⁰  do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, ⁵¹  poor, blind, and naked, 3:18 take my advice ⁵²  and buy gold from me refined by fire so you can become rich! Buy from me ⁵³  white clothing so you can be clothed and your shameful nakedness ⁵⁴  will not be exposed, and buy eye salve ⁵⁵  to put on your eyes so you can see!

[26:12]  ¹ tn The verse simply uses a perfect tense. The meaning of the verse would be the same if this were interpreted as an affirmation rather than as an interrogative. The first line calls such a person to one’s attention.

[26:12]  ² tn Heb “in his own eyes” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[26:12]  ³ sn Previous passages in the book of Proverbs all but deny the possibility of hope for the fool. So this proverb is saying there is absolutely no hope for the self-conceited person, and there might be a slight hope for the fool – he may yet figure out that he really is a fool.

[5:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “Woe [to] the wise in their own eyes.” See the note at v. 8.

[5:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “[who] before their faces are understanding.”

[56:10]  ⁶ sn The “watchmen” are probably spiritual leaders, most likely prophets and priests, responsible for giving the people moral direction.

[56:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “they do not know”; KJV “they are all ignorant”; NIV “they all lack knowledge.”

[56:10]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text has הֹזִים (hozim), which appears to be derived from an otherwise unattested verbal root הָזָה (hazah). On the basis of alleged cognates, BDB 223 s.v. הָזָה offers the definition “dream, rave” while HALOT 243 s.v. הזה lists “pant.” In this case the dog metaphor of the preceding lines continues. The reference to dogs at the beginning of v. 11 favors the extension of the metaphor. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has חזים (“seers”) here. In this case the “watchmen” are directly identified as prophets and depicted as lazy.

[6:23]  ⁹ tn Or “if your eye is sick” (L&N 23.149).

[15:14]  ¹⁰ tc ‡ Most mss, some of which are significant, read “They are blind guides of the blind” (א¹ C L W Z Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat). The shorter reading is read by א*^,2 B D 0237 Epiph. There is a distinct possibility of omission due to homoioarcton in א*; this manuscript has a word order variation which puts the word τυφλοί (tufloi, “blind”) right before the word τυφλῶν (tuflwn, “of the blind”). This does not explain the shorter reading, however, in the other witnesses, of which B and D are quite weighty. Internal considerations suggest that the shorter reading is original: “of the blind” was likely added by scribes to balance this phrase with Jesus’ following statement about the blind leading the blind, which clearly has two groups in view. A decision is difficult, but internal considerations here along with the strength of the witnesses argue that the shorter reading is more likely original. NA²⁷ places τυφλῶν in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[15:14]  ¹¹ tn Grk “If blind leads blind.”

[23:16]  ¹² tn Grk “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing.”

[23:18]  ¹³ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing.”

[23:23]  ¹⁴ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:23]  ¹⁵ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[23:23]  ¹⁶ sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.

[23:23]  ¹⁷ tc ‡ Many witnesses (B C K L W Δ 0102 33 565 892 pm) have δέ (de, “but”) after ταῦτα (tauta, “these things”), while many others lack it (א D Γ Θ Ë^1,13 579 700 1241 1424 pm). Since asyndeton was relatively rare in Koine Greek, the conjunction may be an intentional alteration, and is thus omitted from the present translation. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[23:24]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Blind guides who strain out a gnat yet who swallow a camel!”

[23:25]  ¹⁹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:26]  ²⁰ tc A very difficult textual problem is found here. The most important Alexandrian and Byzantine, as well as significant Western, witnesses (א B C L W 0102 0281 ˹³ 33 Ï lat co) have “and the dish” (καὶ τῆς παροψίδος, kai th" paroyido") after “cup,” while few important witnesses (D Θ Ë¹ 700 and some versional and patristic authorities) omit the phrase. On the one hand, scribes sometimes tended to eliminate redundancy; since “and the dish” is already present in v. 25, it may have been deleted in v. 26 by well-meaning scribes. On the other hand, as B. M. Metzger notes, the singular pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou, “its”) with τὸ ἐκτός (to ekto", “the outside”) in some of the same witnesses that have the longer reading (viz., B* ˹³ al) hints that their archetype lacked the words (TCGNT 50). Further, scribes would be motivated both to add the phrase from v. 25 and to change αὐτοῦ to the plural pronoun αὐτῶν (aujtwn, “their”). Although the external evidence for the shorter reading is not compelling in itself, combined with these two prongs of internal evidence, it is to be slightly preferred.

[10:15]  ²¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[10:15]  ²² sn On receive see John 1:12.

[10:15]  ²³ sn The point of the comparison receive the kingdom of God like a child has more to do with a child’s trusting spirit and willingness to be dependent and receive from others than any inherent humility the child might possess.

[10:15]  ²⁴ tn The negation in Greek (οὐ μή, ou mh) is very strong here.

[7:47]  ²⁵ tn Grk “answered them.”

[7:47]  ²⁶ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “have you?”).

[7:48]  ²⁷ sn The chief priests and Pharisees (John 7:45) is a comprehensive term for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26. Likewise the term ruler here denotes a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in John 3:1, and Nicodemus also speaks up in this episode (John 7:50).

[7:48]  ²⁸ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “have they?”).

[7:49]  ²⁹ tn Grk “crowd.” “Rabble” is a good translation here because the remark by the Pharisees is so derogatory.

[9:34]  ³⁰ tn Grk “They answered and said to him.” This has been simplified in the translation to “They replied.”

[9:34]  ³¹ tn Or “From birth you have been evil.” The implication of this insult, in the context of John 9, is that the man whom Jesus caused to see had not previously adhered rigorously to all the conventional requirements of the OT law as interpreted by the Pharisees. Thus he had no right to instruct them about who Jesus was.

[9:34]  ³² tn Grk “and are you teaching us?”

[9:40]  ³³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[9:40]  ³⁴ tn Grk “heard these things.”

[9:40]  ³⁵ tn Grk “and said to him.”

[9:40]  ³⁶ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “are we?”).

[9:41]  ³⁷ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[9:41]  ³⁸ tn Grk “you would not have sin.”

[9:41]  ³⁹ tn Grk “now because you say, ‘We see…’”

[9:41]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “your sin.”

[9:41]  ⁴¹ sn Because you claim that you can see, your guilt remains. The blind man received sight physically, and this led him to see spiritually as well. But the Pharisees, who claimed to possess spiritual sight, were spiritually blinded. The reader might recall Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in 3:10, “Are you the teacher of Israel and don’t understand these things?” In other words, to receive Jesus was to receive the light of the world, to reject him was to reject the light, close one’s eyes, and become blind. This is the serious sin of which Jesus had warned before (8:21-24). The blindness of such people was incurable since they had rejected the only cure that exists (cf. 12:39-41).

[9:1]  ⁴² tn Or “going along.” The opening words of chap. 9, καὶ παράγων (kai paragwn), convey only the vaguest indication of the circumstances.

[3:18]  ⁴³ tn The article τοῖς (tois) with ἀνδράσιν (andrasin, “husbands”) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (“your”); see ExSyn 215.

[1:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:2]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ 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]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ⁴⁸ 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.

[3:17]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “and have become rich.” The semantic domains of the two terms for wealth here, πλούσιος (plousios, adjective) and πλουτέω (ploutew, verb) overlap considerably, but are given slightly different English translations for stylistic reasons.

[3:17]  ⁵⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[3:17]  ⁵¹ tn All the terms in this series are preceded by καί (kai) in the Greek text, but contemporary English generally uses connectives only between the last two items in such a series.

[3:18]  ⁵² tn Grk “I counsel you to buy.”

[3:18]  ⁵³ tn Grk “rich, and.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation, repeating the words “Buy from me” to make the connection clear for the English reader.

[3:18]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “the shame of the nakedness of you,” which has been translated as an attributed genitive like καινότητι ζωῆς (kainothti zwh") in Rom 6:4 (ExSyn 89-90).

[3:18]  ⁵⁵ sn The city of Laodicea had a famous medical school and exported a powder (called a “Phrygian powder”) that was widely used as an eye salve. It was applied to the eyes in the form of a paste the consistency of dough (the Greek term for the salve here, κολλούριον, kollourion [Latin collyrium], is a diminutive form of the word for a long roll of bread).