Psalms 47:6-7

47:6 Sing to God! Sing!

Sing to our king! Sing!

47:7 For God is king of the whole earth!

Sing a well-written song! ¹ 

Acts 16:25

16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying ²  and singing hymns to God, ³  and the rest of ⁴  the prisoners were listening to them.

Acts 16:1

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16:1 He also came to Derbe ⁵  and to Lystra. ⁶  A disciple ⁷  named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, ⁸  but whose father was a Greek. ⁹ 

Colossians 1:15

The Supremacy of Christ

1:15 ¹⁰ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn ¹¹  over all creation, ¹² 

Ephesians 5:18-20

5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, which ¹³  is debauchery, ¹⁴  but be filled by the Spirit, ¹⁵  5:19 speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music ¹⁶  in ¹⁷  your hearts to the Lord, 5:20 always giving thanks to God the Father for each other ¹⁸  in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Colossians 3:16

3:16 Let the word of Christ ¹⁹  dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace ²⁰  in your hearts to God.

James 5:13

Prayer for the Sick

5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises.

Revelation 5:9

5:9 They were singing a new song: ²¹ 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals

because you were killed, ²² 

and at the cost of your own blood ²³  you have purchased ²⁴  for God

persons ²⁵  from every tribe, language, ²⁶  people, and nation.

[47:7]  ¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term also occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142. Here, in a context of celebration, the meaning “skillful, well-written” would fit particularly well.

[16:25]  ² tn Grk “praying, were singing.” The participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:25]  ³ sn Praying and singing hymns to God. Tertullian said, “The legs feel nothing in the stocks when the heart is in heaven” (To the Martyrs 2; cf. Rom 5:3; Jas 1:2; 1 Pet 5:6). The presence of God means the potential to be free (cf. v. 26).

[16:25]  ⁴ tn The words “the rest of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[16:1]  ⁵ sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) southeast of Lystra. It was about 90 mi (145 km) from Tarsus.

[16:1]  ⁶ sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 25 mi (40 km) south of Iconium.

[16:1]  ⁷ tn Grk “And behold, a disciple.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.

[16:1]  ⁸ tn L&N 31.103 translates this phrase “the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer.”

[16:1]  ⁹ sn His father was a Greek. Timothy was the offspring of a mixed marriage between a Jewish woman (see 2 Tim 1:5) and a Gentile man. On mixed marriages in Judaism, see Neh 13:23-27; Ezra 9:1-10:44; Mal 2:10-16; Jub. 30:7-17; m. Qiddushin 3.12; m. Yevamot 7.5.

[1:15]  ¹⁰ sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[1:15]  ¹¹ tn The Greek term πρωτότοκος (prwtotokos) could refer either to first in order of time, such as a first born child, or it could refer to one who is preeminent in rank. M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 43, expresses the meaning of the word well: “The ‘firstborn’ was either the eldest child in a family or a person of preeminent rank. The use of this term to describe the Davidic king in Ps 88:28 LXX (=Ps 89:27 EVV), ‘I will also appoint him my firstborn (πρωτότοκον), the most exalted of the kings of the earth,’ indicates that it can denote supremacy in rank as well as priority in time. But whether the πρωτό- element in the word denotes time, rank, or both, the significance of the -τοκος element as indicating birth or origin (from τίκτω, give birth to) has been virtually lost except in ref. to lit. birth.” In Col 1:15 the emphasis is on the priority of Jesus’ rank as over and above creation (cf. 1:16 and the “for” clause referring to Jesus as Creator).

[1:15]  ¹² tn The genitive construction πάσης κτίσεως (pash" ktisew") is a genitive of subordination and is therefore translated as “over all creation.” See ExSyn 103-4.

[5:18]  ¹³ tn Grk “in which.”

[5:18]  ¹⁴ tn Or “dissipation.” See BDAG 148 s.v. ἀσωτία.

[5:18]  ¹⁵ tn Many have taken ἐν πνεύματι (en pneumati) as indicating content, i.e., one is to be filled with the Spirit. ExSyn 375 states, “There are no other examples in biblical Greek in which ἐν + the dative after πληρόω indicates content. Further, the parallel with οἴνῳ as well as the common grammatical category of means suggest that the idea intended is that believers are to be filled by means of the [Holy] Spirit. If so there seems to be an unnamed agent. The meaning of this text can only be fully appreciated in light of the πληρόω language in Ephesians. Always the term is used in connection with a member of the Trinity. Three considerations seem to be key: (1) In Eph 3:19 the ‘hinge’ prayer introducing the last half of the letter makes a request that the believers ‘be filled with all the fullness of God’ (πληρωθῆτε εἰς πᾶν πλήρωμα τοῦ θεοῦ). The explicit content of πληρόω is thus God’s fullness (probably a reference to his moral attributes). (2) In 4:10 Christ is said to be the agent of filling (with v. 11 adding the specifics of his giving spiritual gifts). (3) The author then brings his argument to a crescendo in 5:18: Believers are to be filled by Christ by means of the Spirit with the content of the fullness of God.”

[5:19]  ¹⁶ tn See BDAG 1096 s.v. ψάλλω.

[5:19]  ¹⁷ tn Or “with.”

[5:20]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “for all.” The form “all” can be either neuter or masculine.

[3:16]  ¹⁹ tc Since “the word of Christ” occurs nowhere else in the NT, two predictable variants arose: “word of God” and “word of the Lord.” Even though some of the witnesses for these variants are impressive (κυρίου [kuriou, “of the Lord”] in א* I 1175 pc bo; θεοῦ [qeou, “of God”] in A C* 33 104 323 945 al), the reading Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “of Christ”) is read by an excellent cross-section of witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א² B C² D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï lat sa). On both internal and external grounds, Χριστοῦ is strongly preferred.

[3:16]  ²⁰ tn Grk “with grace”; “all” is supplied as it is implicitly related to all the previous instructions in the verse.

[5:9]  ²¹ tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.

[5:9]  ²² tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:9]  ²³ tn The preposition ἐν (en) is taken to indicate price here, like the Hebrew preposition ב (bet) does at times. BDAG 329 s.v. ἐν 5.b states, “The ἐν which takes the place of the gen. of price is also instrumental ἠγόρασας ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου Rv 5:9 (cp. 1 Ch 21:24 ἀγοράζω ἐν ἀργυρίῳ).”

[5:9]  ²⁴ tc The Greek text as it stands above (i.e., the reading τῷ θεῷ [tw qew] alone) is found in codex A. א 2050 2344 Ï sy add the term “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas), either before or after τῷ θεῷ, as an attempt to clarify the object of “purchased” (ἠγόρασας, hgorasa"). A few mss (1 vg^ms) delete the reference to God altogether and simply replace it with “us” (ἡμᾶς). This too is an attempt to remove ambiguity in the phrase and provide an object for “purchased.” The shorter reading, supported by the best witness for Revelation, best accounts for the other readings.

[5:9]  ²⁵ tn The word “persons” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[5:9]  ²⁶ tn Grk “and language,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.