Romans 15:14

Paul’s Motivation for Writing the Letter

15:14 But I myself am fully convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, ¹  that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.

Romans 15:1

Exhortation for the Strong to Help the Weak

15:1 But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves. ² 

Colossians 1:5

1:5 Your faith and love have arisen ³  from the hope laid up ⁴  for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel ⁵ 

Colossians 4:7

Personal Greetings and Instructions

4:7 Tychicus, a dear brother, faithful minister, and fellow slave ⁶  in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. ⁷ 

Colossians 1:13

1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, ⁸ 

Colossians 1:12

1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share ⁹  in the saints’ ¹⁰  inheritance in the light.

Revelation 3:17

3:17 Because you say, “I am rich and have acquired great wealth, ¹¹  and need nothing,” but ¹²  do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, ¹³  poor, blind, and naked,

[15:14]  ¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[15:1]  ² tn Grk “and not please ourselves.” NT Greek negatives used in contrast like this are often not absolute, but relative: “not so much one as the other.”

[1:5]  ³ tn Col 1:3-8 form one long sentence in the Greek text and have been divided at the end of v. 4 and v. 6 and within v. 6 for clarity, in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English toward shorter sentences. Thus the phrase “Your faith and love have arisen from the hope” is literally “because of the hope.” The perfect tense “have arisen” was chosen in the English to reflect the fact that the recipients of the letter had acquired this hope at conversion in the past, but that it still remains and motivates them to trust in Christ and to love one another.

[1:5]  ⁴ tn BDAG 113 s.v. ἀπόκειμαι 2 renders ἀποκειμένην (apokeimenhn) with the expression “reserved” in this verse.

[1:5]  ⁵ tn The term “the gospel” (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, tou euangeliou) is in apposition to “the word of truth” (τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας, tw logw th" alhqeia") as indicated in the translation.

[4:7]  ⁶ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:7]  ⁷ tn Grk “all things according to me.”

[1:13]  ⁸ tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).

[1:12]  ⁹ tn BDAG 473 s.v. ἱκανόω states, “τινὰ εἴς τι someone for someth. Col 1:12.” The point of the text is that God has qualified the saints for a “share” or “portion” in the inheritance of the saints.

[1:12]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the inheritance of the saints.” The genitive noun τῶν ἁγίων (twn Jagiwn) is a possessive genitive: “the saints’ inheritance.”

[3:17]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and have become rich.” The semantic domains of the two terms for wealth here, πλούσιος (plousios, adjective) and πλουτέω (ploutew, verb) overlap considerably, but are given slightly different English translations for stylistic reasons.

[3:17]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[3:17]  ¹³ tn All the terms in this series are preceded by καί (kai) in the Greek text, but contemporary English generally uses connectives only between the last two items in such a series.