Psalms 119:34

119:34 Give me understanding so that I might observe your law,

and keep it with all my heart. ¹ 

Psalms 119:66

119:66 Teach me proper discernment ²  and understanding!

For I consider your commands to be reliable. ³ 

Psalms 119:73

י (Yod)

119:73 Your hands made me and formed me. ⁴ 

Give me understanding so that I might learn ⁵  your commands.

Psalms 119:169

ת (Tav)

119:169 Listen to my cry for help, ⁶  O Lord!

Give me insight by your word!

Psalms 119:2

119:2 How blessed are those who observe his rules,

and seek him with all their heart,

Colossians 4:6

4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer everyone.

Colossians 4:1

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

Colossians 1:20-21

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ⁷  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ⁸  minds ⁹  as expressed through ¹⁰  your evil deeds,

[119:34]  ¹ tn The two prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) conjunctive indicate purpose/result after the introductory imperative.

[119:66]  ² tn Heb “goodness of taste.” Here “taste” refers to moral and ethical discernment.

[119:66]  ³ tn Heb “for I believe in your commands.”

[119:73]  ⁴ tn Heb “made me and established me.” The two verbs also appear together in Deut 32:6, where God, compared to a father, is said to have “made and established” Israel.

[119:73]  ⁵ tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[119:169]  ⁶ tn Heb “may my cry approach before you.”

[1:20]  ⁷ tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally important witnesses have it (Ì⁴⁶ א A C D¹ Ψ 048^vid 33 Ï). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as original. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In short, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original.

[1:21]  ⁸ tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[1:21]  ⁹ tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.

[1:21]  ¹⁰ tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.