Psalms 71:17-18

71:17 O God, you have taught me since I was young,

and I am still declaring ¹  your amazing deeds.

71:18 Even when I am old and gray, ² 

O God, do not abandon me,

until I tell the next generation about your strength,

and those coming after me about your power. ³ 

Psalms 92:14

92:14 They bear fruit even when they are old;

they are filled with vitality and have many leaves. ⁴ 

Proverbs 16:31

16:31 Gray hair is like ⁵  a crown of glory; ⁶ 

it is attained ⁷  in the path of righteousness. ⁸ 

Romans 16:7

16:7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, ⁹  my compatriots ¹⁰  and my fellow prisoners. They are well known ¹¹  to the apostles, ¹²  and they were in Christ before me.

Philemon 1:9

1:9 I would rather appeal ¹³  to you on the basis of love – I, Paul, an old man ¹⁴  and even now a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus ¹⁵  –

Philemon 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁶  a prisoner of Christ Jesus, ¹⁷  and Timothy our ¹⁸  brother, to Philemon, our dear friend ¹⁹  and colaborer,

Philemon 1:13-14

1:13 I wanted to keep him so that he could serve me in your place ²⁰  during ²¹  my imprisonment for the sake of the gospel. ²²  1:14 However, ²³  without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your good deed would not be out of compulsion, but from your own willingness.

[71:17]  ¹ tn Heb “and until now I am declaring.”

[71:18]  ² tn Heb “and even unto old age and gray hair.”

[71:18]  ³ tn Heb “until I declare your arm to a generation, to everyone who comes your power.” God’s “arm” here is an anthropomorphism that symbolizes his great strength.

[92:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “they are juicy and fresh.”

[16:31]  ⁵ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[16:31]  ⁶ sn The proverb presents the ideal, for it is not concerned with old people who may be evil. The KJV tried to qualify the interpretation by making the second half of the verse a conditional clause (“if it be found in the way of righteousness”). This is acceptable but unnecessary. The book of Proverbs is simply laying out the equity of longevity for righteousness and premature death for wicked people. In this line “gray hair” is a metonymy of adjunct/effect, representing old age; and the “glorious crown” (taking the genitive as attributive) provides a fitting metaphor to compare the hair on the head with a crown.

[16:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “it is found” (so NASB) or “it will be found.”

[16:31]  ⁸ sn While the proverb presents a general observation, there is a commendable lesson about old people who can look back on a long walk with God through life and can anticipate unbroken fellowship with him in glory.

[16:7]  ⁹ tn Or “Junias.”

[16:7]  ¹⁰ tn Or “kinsmen,” “relatives,” “fellow countrymen.”

[16:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “prominent, outstanding, famous.” The term ἐπίσημος (epishmo") is used either in an implied comparative sense (“prominent, outstanding”) or in an elative sense (“famous, well known”). The key to determining the meaning of the term in any given passage is both the general context and the specific collocation of this word with its adjuncts. When a comparative notion is seen, that to which ἐπίσημος is compared is frequently, if not usually, put in the genitive case (cf., e.g., 3 Macc 6:1 [Ελεαζαρος δέ τις ἀνὴρ ἐπίσημος τῶν ἀπὸ τής χώρας ἱερέων “Eleazar, a man prominent among the priests of the country”]; cf. also Pss. Sol. 17:30). When, however, an elative notion is found, ἐν (en) plus a personal plural dative is not uncommon (cf. Pss. Sol. 2:6). Although ἐν plus a personal dative does not indicate agency, in collocation with words of perception, (ἐν plus) dative personal nouns are often used to show the recipients. In this instance, the idea would then be “well known to the apostles.” See M. H. Burer and D. B. Wallace, “Was Junia Really an Apostle? A Re-examination of Rom 16.7,” NTS 47 (2001): 76-91, who argue for the elative notion here.

[16:7]  ¹² tn Or “among the apostles.” See discussion in the note on “well known” for these options.

[1:9]  ¹³ tn Or “encourage.”

[1:9]  ¹⁴ tn Or perhaps “an ambassador” (so RSV, TEV), reading πρεσβευτής for πρεσβύτης (a conjecture proposed by Bentley, cf. BDAG 863 s.v. πρεσβύτης). NRSV reads “old man” and places “ambassador” in a note.

[1:9]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “a prisoner of Christ Jesus.”

[1:1]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ sn The phrase a prisoner of Christ Jesus implies that Paul was being held prisoner because of his testimony for Christ Jesus. Paul’s imprisonment was due to his service to Christ, in the same manner as John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos because of his testimony (Rev 1:9).

[1:1]  ¹⁸ tn “our” is not present in the Greek text, but was supplied to bring out the sense in English.

[1:1]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “dear.” The adjective is functioning as a substantive; i.e., “dear one” or “dear friend.”

[1:13]  ²⁰ tn This is one of the clearest texts in the NT in which ὑπέρ is used for substitution. Cf. ExSyn 387.

[1:13]  ²¹ tn Grk “in my imprisonment.” Paul seems to expect release from his imprisonment after some time (cf. v. 22), but in the meantime the assistance that Onesimus could provide would be valuable to the apostle.

[1:13]  ²² tn Grk “in the chains of the gospel.” On the translation “imprisonment for the sake of the gospel,” cf. BDAG 219 s.v. δεσμός 1.a where it says: “Oft. simply in ref. to the locale where bonds or fetters are worn imprisonment, prison (Diod. S. 14, 103, 3; Lucian, Tox. 29; Jos., Ant. 13, 294; 302, Vi. 241; Just., A I, 67, 6 al.) Phil 1:7, 13f, 17; Col 4:18; Phlm 10. μέχρι δεσμῶν 2 Ti 2:9. ἐν τοῖς δ. τοῦ εὐαγγελίου in imprisonment for the gospel Phlm 13; cf. ISm 11:1; Pol 1:1.”

[1:14]  ²³ tn Though the Greek text does not read the term “however,” it is clearly implied and thus supplied in the English translation to accent the contrastive nature of Paul’s statement.