Psalms 105:6

105:6 O children ¹  of Abraham, ²  God’s ³  servant,

you descendants ⁴  of Jacob, God’s ⁵  chosen ones!

Psalms 105:43

105:43 When he led his people out, they rejoiced;

his chosen ones shouted with joy. ⁶ 

Deuteronomy 7:6

7:6 For you are a people holy ⁷  to the Lord your God. He ⁸  has chosen you to be his people, prized ⁹  above all others on the face of the earth.

John 15:16

15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you ¹⁰  and appointed you to go and bear ¹¹  fruit, fruit that remains, ¹²  so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.

Acts 9:15

9:15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is my chosen instrument ¹³  to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel. ¹⁴ 

Ephesians 1:4

1:4 For ¹⁵  he chose us in Christ ¹⁶  before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished ¹⁷  in his sight ¹⁸  in love. ¹⁹ 

Ephesians 1:2

1:2 Grace and peace to you ²⁰  from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Ephesians 2:13

2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ²¹ 

James 2:5

2:5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! ²²  Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?

James 2:1

Prejudice and the Law of Love

2:1 My brothers and sisters, ²³  do not show prejudice ²⁴  if you possess faith ²⁵  in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁶ 

James 2:9

2:9 But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators. ²⁷ 

Revelation 17:14

17:14 They will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those accompanying ²⁸  the Lamb are the called, chosen, and faithful.”

[105:6]  ¹ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[105:6]  ² tc Some mss have “Israel,” which appears in the parallel version of this psalm in 1 Chr 16:13.

[105:6]  ³ tn Heb “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[105:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “sons.”

[105:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[105:43]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he led his people out with joy, with a ringing cry, his chosen ones.”

[7:6]  ⁷ tn That is, “set apart.”

[7:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[7:6]  ⁹ tn Or “treasured” (so NIV, NRSV); NLT “his own special treasure.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.

[15:16]  ¹⁰ sn You did not choose me, but I chose you. If the disciples are now elevated in status from slaves to friends, they are friends who have been chosen by Jesus, rather than the opposite way round. Again this is true of all Christians, not just the twelve, and the theme that Christians are “chosen” by God appears frequently in other NT texts (e.g., Rom 8:33; Eph 1:4ff.; Col 3:12; and 1 Pet 2:4). Putting this together with the comments on 15:14 one may ask whether the author sees any special significance at all for the twelve. Jesus said in John 6:70 and 13:18 that he chose them, and 15:27 makes clear that Jesus in the immediate context is addressing those who have been with him from the beginning. In the Fourth Gospel the twelve, as the most intimate and most committed followers of Jesus, are presented as the models for all Christians, both in terms of their election and in terms of their mission.

[15:16]  ¹¹ tn Or “and yield.”

[15:16]  ¹² sn The purpose for which the disciples were appointed (“commissioned”) is to go and bear fruit, fruit that remains. The introduction of the idea of “going” at this point suggests that the fruit is something more than just character qualities in the disciples’ own lives, but rather involves fruit in the lives of others, i.e., Christian converts. There is a mission involved (cf. John 4:36). The idea that their fruit is permanent, however, relates back to vv. 7-8, as does the reference to asking the Father in Jesus’ name. It appears that as the imagery of the vine and the branches develops, the “fruit” which the branches produce shifts in emphasis from qualities in the disciples’ own lives in John 15:2, 4, 5 to the idea of a mission which affects the lives of others in John 15:16. The point of transition would be the reference to fruit in 15:8.

[9:15]  ¹³ tn Or “tool.”

[9:15]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the sons of Israel.” In Acts, Paul is a minister to all nations, including Israel (Rom 1:16-17).

[1:4]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “just as.” Eph 1:3-14 are one long sentence in Greek that must be broken up in English translation. Verse 4 expresses the reason why God the Father is blessed (cf. BDAG 494 s.v. καθώς 3).

[1:4]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “in him.”

[1:4]  ¹⁷ sn The Greek word translated unblemished (ἀμώμους, amwmous) is often used of an acceptable paschal lamb. Christ, as our paschal lamb, is also said to be unblemished (Heb 9:14; 1 Pet 1:19). Since believers are in Christ, God views them positionally and will make them ultimately without blemish as well (Jude 24; Eph 5:27; Col 1:22).

[1:4]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “before him.”

[1:4]  ¹⁹ tn The prepositional phrase ἐν ἀγάπῃ (en agaph, “in love”) may modify one of three words or phrases: (1) “chose,” (2) “holy and unblemished,” both in v. 4, or (3) “by predestining” in v. 5. If it modifies “chose,” it refers to God’s motivation in that election, but this option is unlikely because of the placement of the prepositional phrase far away from the verb. The other two options are more likely. If it modifies “holy and unblemished,” it specifies that our holiness cannot be divorced from love. This view is in keeping with the author’s use of ἀγάπη to refer often to human love in Ephesians, but the placement of the prepositional phrase not immediately following the words it modifies would be slightly awkward. If it modifies “by predestining” (v. 5), again the motivation of God’s choice is love. This would fit the focus of the passage on God’s gracious actions toward believers, but it could be considered slightly redundant in that God’s predestination itself proves his love.

[1:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[2:13]  ²¹ tn Or “have come near in the blood of Christ.”

[2:5]  ²² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ²³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ²⁴ tn Or “partiality.”

[2:1]  ²⁵ tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.

[2:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[2:9]  ²⁷ tn Or “transgressors.”

[17:14]  ²⁸ tn See BDAG 636 s.v. μετά A.2.a.α.