Psalms 68:28

68:28 God has decreed that you will be powerful. ¹ 

O God, you who have acted on our behalf, demonstrate your power,

Psalms 118:25

118:25 Please Lord, deliver!

Please Lord, grant us success! ² 

Job 22:28

22:28 Whatever you decide ³  on a matter,

it will be established for you,

and light will shine on your ways.

Proverbs 16:3

16:3 Commit ⁴  your works ⁵  to the Lord,

and your plans will be established. ⁶ 

Isaiah 26:12

26:12 O Lord, you make us secure, ⁷ 

for even all we have accomplished, you have done for us. ⁸ 

Isaiah 26:1

Judah Will Celebrate

26:1 At that time ⁹  this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city!

The Lord’s ¹⁰  deliverance, like walls and a rampart, makes it secure. ¹¹ 

Colossians 3:7

3:7 You also lived your lives ¹²  in this way at one time, when you used to live among them.

Colossians 3:2

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

Colossians 2:16-17

2:16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days – 2:17 these are only ¹³  the shadow of the things to come, but the reality ¹⁴  is Christ! ¹⁵ 

Colossians 2:2

2:2 My goal is that ¹⁶  their hearts, having been knit together ¹⁷  in love, may be encouraged, and that ¹⁸  they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ¹⁹ 

Colossians 3:1

Exhortations to Seek the Things Above

3:1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

[68:28]  ¹ tn Heb “God has commanded your strength.” The statement is apparently addressed to Israel (see v. 26).

[118:25]  ² sn A petition for deliverance and success seems odd in a psalm thanking God for deliverance, but it is not unique (see Ps 9:19-20). The people ask God to continue to intervene for them as he has for the psalmist.

[22:28]  ³ tn The word is גָּזַר (gazar, “to cut”), in the sense of deciding a matter.

[16:3]  ⁴ tc The MT reads גֹּל (gol, “commit”) from the root גָּלַל (galal, “to roll”). The LXX and Tg. Prov 16:3 have “reveal” as if the root were גָּלָה (galah, “to reveal”).

[16:3]  ⁵ tn The suffix on the plural noun would be a subjective genitive: “the works you are doing,” or here, “the works that you want to do.”

[16:3]  ⁶ tn The syntax of the second clause shows that there is subordination: The vav on וְיִכֹּנוּ (vÿyikonu) coming after the imperative of the first clause expresses that this clause is the purpose or result. People should commit their works in order that the Lord may establish them. J. H. Greenstone says, “True faith relieves much anxiety and smoothens many perplexities” (Proverbs, 172).

[26:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “O Lord, you establish peace for us.”

[26:12]  ⁸ tc Some suggest emending גַּם כָּל (gam kol, “even all”) to כִּגְמֻל (kigmul, “according to the deed[s] of”) One might then translate “for according to what our deeds deserve, you have acted on our behalf.” Nevertheless, accepting the MT as it stands, the prophet affirms that Yahweh deserved all the credit for anything Israel had accomplished.

[26:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “In that day” (so KJV).

[26:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “deliverance he makes walls and a rampart.”

[3:7]  ¹² tn Grk “you also walked.” The verb περιπατέω (peripatew) is commonly used in the NT to refer to behavior or conduct of one’s life (L&N 41.11).

[2:17]  ¹³ tn The word “only,” though not in the Greek text, is supplied in the English translation to bring out the force of the Greek phrase.

[2:17]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “but the body of Christ.” The term body here, when used in contrast to shadow (σκιά, skia) indicates the opposite meaning, i.e., the reality or substance itself.

[2:17]  ¹⁵ tn The genitive τοῦ Χριστοῦ (tou Cristou) is appositional and translated as such: “the reality is Christ.”

[2:2]  ¹⁶ tn Verse two begins a subordinate ἵνα (Jina) clause which was divided up into two sentences for the sake of clarity in English. Thus the phrase “My goal is that” is an attempt to reflect in the translation the purpose expressed through the ἵνα clauses.

[2:2]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβιβάζω 1.b reads “unite, knit together.” Some commentators take the verb as a reference to instruction, “instructed in love.” See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 93.

[2:2]  ¹⁸ tn The phrase “and that” translates the first εἰς (eis) clause of v. 2 and reflects the second goal of Paul’s striving and struggle for the Colossians – the first is “encouragement” and the second is “full assurance.”

[2:2]  ¹⁹ tc There are at least a dozen variants here, almost surely generated by the unusual wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ (tou qeou, Cristou, “of God, Christ”; so Ì⁴⁶ B Hil). Scribes would be prone to conform this to more common Pauline expressions such as “of God, who is in Christ” (33), “of God, the Father of Christ” (א* A C 048^vid 1175 bo), and “of the God and Father of Christ” (א² Ψ 075 0278 365 1505 pc). Even though the external support for the wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ is hardly overwhelming, it clearly best explains the rise of the other readings and should thus be regarded as authentic.