Proverbs 8:17-21

8:17 I love ¹  those who love me,

and those who seek me find me.

8:18 Riches and honor are with me,

long-lasting wealth and righteousness.

8:19 My fruit is better than the purest gold, ² 

and what I produce ³  is better than choice silver.

8:20 I walk in the path of righteousness,

in the pathway of justice,

8:21 that I may cause ⁴  those who love me to inherit wealth,

and that I may fill ⁵  their treasuries. ⁶ 

Luke 12:21

12:21 So it is with the one who stores up riches for himself, ⁷  but is not rich toward God.”

Luke 12:1

Fear God, Not People

12:1 Meanwhile, ⁸  when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus ⁹  began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against ¹⁰  the yeast of the Pharisees, ¹¹  which is hypocrisy. ¹² 

Colossians 3:21-23

3:21 Fathers, ¹³  do not provoke ¹⁴  your children, so they will not become disheartened. 3:22 Slaves, ¹⁵  obey your earthly ¹⁶  masters in every respect, not only when they are watching – like those who are strictly people-pleasers – but with a sincere heart, fearing the Lord. 3:23 Whatever you are doing, ¹⁷  work at it with enthusiasm, ¹⁸  as to the Lord and not for people, ¹⁹ 

Colossians 3:2

3:2 Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth,

Colossians 4:15

4:15 Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters ²⁰  who are in Laodicea and to Nympha and the church that meets in her ²¹  house. ²² 

Colossians 1:10

1:10 so that you may live ²³  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ²⁴  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Ephesians 1:18

1:18 – since the eyes of your ²⁵  heart have been enlightened ²⁶  – so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, ²⁷  what is the wealth of his glorious ²⁸  inheritance in the saints,

Ephesians 3:8

3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ²⁹  – this grace was given, ³⁰  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 ³¹  for the sake of you Gentiles –

Ephesians 6:18

6:18 With every prayer and petition, pray ³²  at all times in the Spirit, and to this end ³³  be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

Hebrews 11:26

11:26 He regarded abuse suffered for Christ ³⁴  to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on ³⁵  the reward.

Revelation 2:9

2:9 ‘I know the distress you are suffering ³⁶  and your poverty (but you are rich). I also know ³⁷  the slander against you ³⁸  by those who call themselves Jews and really are not, but are a synagogue ³⁹  of Satan.

Revelation 3:18

3:18 take my advice ⁴⁰  and buy gold from me refined by fire so you can become rich! Buy from me ⁴¹  white clothing so you can be clothed and your shameful nakedness ⁴²  will not be exposed, and buy eye salve ⁴³  to put on your eyes so you can see!

Revelation 21:7

21:7 The one who conquers ⁴⁴  will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

[8:17]  ¹ sn In contrast to the word for “hate” (שָׂנֵא, shaneh) the verb “love” (אָהֵב, ’ahev) includes within it the idea of choosing spontaneously. So in this line loving and seeking point up the means of finding wisdom.

[8:19]  ² tn The two synonyms, “than gold, than fine gold” probably form a hendiadys here to express “the very finest gold.”

[8:19]  ³ sn The language of the text with “fruit” and “ingathering” is the language of the harvest – what the crops yield. So the figure is hypocatastasis, comparing what wisdom produces to such crops.

[8:21]  ⁴ tn The infinitive construct expressing the purpose of the preceding “walk” in the way of righteousness. These verses say that wisdom is always on the way of righteousness for the purposes of bestowing the same to those who find her. If sin is involved, then wisdom has not been followed.

[8:21]  ⁵ tn The Piel imperfect continues the verbal idea that the infinitive began in the parallel colon even though it does not have the vav on the form.

[8:21]  ⁶ tc The LXX adds at the end of this verse: “If I declare to you the things of daily occurrence, I will remember to recount the things of old.”

[12:21]  ⁷ sn It is selfishness that is rebuked here, in the accumulation of riches for himself. Recall the emphasis on the first person pronouns throughout the parable.

[12:1]  ⁸ tn The phrase ἐν οἷς (en Jois) can be translated “meanwhile.”

[12:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:1]  ¹⁰ tn According to L&N 27.59, “to pay attention to, to keep on the lookout for, to be alert for, to be on your guard against.” This is another Lukan present imperative calling for constant vigilance.

[12:1]  ¹¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[12:1]  ¹² sn The pursuit of popularity can lead to hypocrisy, if one is not careful.

[3:21]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps “Parents.” The plural οἱ πατέρες (Joi patere", “fathers”) can be used to refer to both the male and female parent (BDAG 786 s.v. πατήρ 1.a).

[3:21]  ¹⁴ tn Or “do not cause your children to become resentful” (L&N 88.168). BDAG 391 s.v. ἐρεθίζω states, “to cause someone to react in a way that suggests acceptance of a challenge, arouse, provoke mostly in bad sense irritate, embitter.”

[3:22]  ¹⁵ tn On this word here and in 4:1, see the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[3:22]  ¹⁶ tn The prepositional phrase κατὰ σάρκα (kata sarka) does not necessarily qualify the masters as earthly or human (as opposed to the Master in heaven, the Lord), but could also refer to the sphere in which “the service-relation holds true.” See BDAG 577 s.v. κύριος 1.b.

[3:23]  ¹⁷ tn The present progressive “are doing” was used in the translation of ποιῆτε (poihte) to bring out the idea that Paul is probably referring to what they already do for work.

[3:23]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “from the soul.”

[3:23]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “men”; here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") is used in a generic sense and refers to people in general.

[4:15]  ²⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[4:15]  ²¹ tc If the name Nympha is accented with a circumflex on the ultima (Νυμφᾶν, Numfan), then it refers to a man; if it receives an acute accent on the penult (Νύμφαν), the reference is to a woman. Scribes that considered Nympha to be a man’s name had the corresponding masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ here (autou, “his”; so D [F G] Ψ Ï), while those who saw Nympha as a woman read the feminine αὐτῆς here (auth", “her”; B 0278 6 1739^[*^] 1881 sa). Several mss (א A C P 075 33 81 104 326 1175 2464 bo) have αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”), perhaps because of indecisiveness on the gender of Nympha, perhaps because they included ἀδελφούς (adelfou", here translated “brothers and sisters”) as part of the referent. (Perhaps because accents were not part of the original text, scribes were particularly confused here.) The harder reading is certainly αὐτῆς, and thus Nympha should be considered a woman.

[4:15]  ²² tn Grk “the church in her house.” The meaning is that Paul sends greetings to the church that meets at Nympha’s house.

[1:10]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ 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.”

[1:18]  ²⁵ tc ‡ Most witnesses, especially of the Byzantine and Western texttypes, though with a few important Alexandrian witnesses (א A D F G Ψ 0278 Ï latt sy), add ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) after καρδίας (kardias, “heart”), though it is clearly implied in the shorter (Alexandrian) reading (found in Ì⁴⁶ B 6 33 1175 1739 1881 pc). The longer reading thus looks to be a clarifying gloss, as is frequently found in the Byzantine and Western traditions. The translation above also uses “your” because of English requirements, not because of textual basis.

[1:18]  ²⁶ tn The perfect participle πεφωτισμένους (pefwtismenou") may either be part of the prayer (“that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened”) or part of the basis of the prayer (“since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened”). Although the participle follows the ἵνα (Jina) of v. 17, it is awkward grammatically in the clause. Further, perfect adverbial participles are usually causal in NT Greek. Finally, the context both here and throughout Ephesians seems to emphasize the motif of light as a property belonging to believers. Thus, it seems that the author is saying, “I know that you are saved, that you have had the blinders of the devil removed; because of this, I can now pray that you will fully understand and see the light of God’s glorious revelation.” Hence, the translation takes the participle to form a part of the basis for the prayer.

[1:18]  ²⁷ tn Or “the hope to which he has called you.”

[1:18]  ²⁸ tn Grk “of the glory of his inheritance.” Here “inheritance” is taken as an attributed genitive and the head noun, “glory,” is thus translated as an adjective, “glorious inheritance.”

[3:8]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ 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.

[6:18]  ³² tn Both “pray” and “be alert” are participles in the Greek text (“praying…being alert”). Both are probably instrumental, loosely connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.

[6:18]  ³³ tn Grk “and toward it.”

[11:26]  ³⁴ tn Grk “the abuse [or ‘reproach’] of Christ.”

[11:26]  ³⁵ tn Grk “he was looking away to.”

[2:9]  ³⁶ tn Or “know your suffering.” This could refer to suffering or distress caused by persecution (see L&N 22.2).

[2:9]  ³⁷ tn Because of the length and complexity of this Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the phrase “I also know” to link this English sentence back to “I know” at the beginning of the verse.

[2:9]  ³⁸ tn The words “against you” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[2:9]  ³⁹ sn A synagogue was a place for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership (e.g., Mt 4:23, Mk 1:21, Lk 4:15, Jn 6:59).

[3:18]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “I counsel you to buy.”

[3:18]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ 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).

[21:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “who is victorious”; traditionally, “who overcomes.”