Revelation 12:9

12:9 So ¹  that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him.

Revelation 13:14

13:14 and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth. He told ²  those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword, but still lived.

Revelation 13:2

13:2 Now ³  the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The ⁴  dragon gave the beast ⁵  his power, his throne, and great authority to rule. ⁶ 

Colossians 2:11

2:11 In him you also were circumcised – not, however, ⁷  with a circumcision performed by human hands, but by the removal ⁸  of the fleshly body, ⁹  that is, ¹⁰  through the circumcision done by Christ.

Colossians 1:3

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ¹¹  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

Colossians 1:13-15

1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹²  1:14 in whom we have redemption, ¹³  the forgiveness of sins.

The Supremacy of Christ

1:15 ¹⁴ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn ¹⁵  over all creation, ¹⁶ 

Ephesians 6:11-12

6:11 Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes ¹⁷  of the devil. 6:12 For our struggle ¹⁸  is not against flesh and blood, ¹⁹  but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, ²⁰  against the spiritual forces ²¹  of evil in the heavens. ²² 

Ephesians 6:2

6:2 “Honor your father and mother,” ²³  which is the first commandment accompanied by a promise, namely,

Ephesians 2:9-12

2:9 it is not from ²⁴  works, so that no one can boast. ²⁵  2:10 For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them. ²⁶ 

New Life Corporately

2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh – who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body ²⁷  by human hands – 2:12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, ²⁸  alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, ²⁹  having no hope and without God in the world.

[12:9]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the war in heaven.

[13:14]  ² tn Grk “earth, telling.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in Greek.

[13:2]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the parenthetical nature of the following description of the beast.

[13:2]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:2]  ⁵ tn Grk “gave it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:2]  ⁶ tn For the translation “authority to rule” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[2:11]  ⁷ tn The terms “however” and “but” in this sentence were supplied in order to emphasize the contrast.

[2:11]  ⁸ tn The articular noun τῇ ἀπεκδύσει (th apekdusei) is a noun which ends in -σις (-sis) and therefore denotes action, i.e., “removal.” Since the head noun is a verbal noun, the following genitive τοῦ σώματος (tou swmatos) is understood as an objective genitive, receiving the action of the head noun.

[2:11]  ⁹ tn Grk “in the removal of the body of flesh.” The genitive τῆς σαρκός (th" sarko") has been translated as an attributive genitive, “fleshly body.”

[2:11]  ¹⁰ tn The second prepositional phrase beginning with ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ (en th peritomh) is parallel to the prepositional phrase ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει (en th apekdusei) and gives a further explanation of it. The words “that is” were supplied to bring out this force in the translation.

[1:3]  ¹¹ tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).

[1:13]  ¹² tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).

[1:14]  ¹³ tc διὰ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ (dia tou {aimato" autou, “through his blood”) is read at this juncture by several minuscule mss (614 630 1505 2464 al) as well as a few, mostly secondary, versional and patristic witnesses. But the reading was prompted by the parallel in Eph 1:7 where the wording is solid. If these words had been in the original of Colossians, why would scribes omit them here but not in Eph 1:7? Further, the testimony on behalf of the shorter reading is quite overwhelming: {א A B C D F G Ψ 075 0150 6 33 1739 1881 Ï latt co as well as several other versions and fathers}. The conviction that “through his blood” is not authentic in Col 1:14 is as strong as the conviction that these words are authentic in Eph 1:7.

[1:15]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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.

[6:11]  ¹⁷ tn Or “craftiness.” See BDAG 625 s.v. μεθοδεία.

[6:12]  ¹⁸ tn BDAG 752 s.v. πάλη says, “struggle against…the opponent is introduced by πρός w. the acc.”

[6:12]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “blood and flesh.”

[6:12]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 561 s.v. κοσμοκράτωρ suggests “the rulers of this sinful world” as a gloss.

[6:12]  ²¹ tn BDAG 837 s.v. πνευματικός 3 suggests “the spirit-forces of evil” in Ephesians 6:12.

[6:12]  ²² sn The phrase spiritual forces of evil in the heavens serves to emphasize the nature of the forces which oppose believers as well as to indicate the locality from which they originate.

[6:2]  ²³ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12 and Deut 5:16.

[2:9]  ²⁴ tn Or “not as a result of.”

[2:9]  ²⁵ tn Grk “lest anyone should boast.”

[2:10]  ²⁶ tn Grk “so that we might walk in them” (or “by them”).

[2:11]  ²⁷ tn Grk “in the flesh.”

[2:12]  ²⁸ tn Or “without Christ.” Both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Because the context refers to ancient Israel’s messianic expectation, “Messiah” was employed in the translation at this point rather than “Christ.”

[2:12]  ²⁹ tn Or “covenants of the promise.”