Romans 1:17

1:17 For the righteousness ¹  of God is revealed in the gospel ²  from faith to faith, ³  just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.” ⁴ 

Romans 3:22

3:22 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ ⁵  for all who believe. For there is no distinction,

Romans 3:26

3:26 This was ⁶  also to demonstrate ⁷  his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just ⁸  and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness. ⁹ 

Romans 5:19

5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man ¹⁰  many ¹¹  were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one man ¹²  many ¹³  will be made righteous.

Romans 9:30

Israel’s Rejection Culpable

9:30 What shall we say then? – that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith,

Psalms 71:15-16

71:15 I will tell about your justice,

and all day long proclaim your salvation, ¹⁴ 

though I cannot fathom its full extent. ¹⁵ 

71:16 I will come and tell about ¹⁶  the mighty acts of the sovereign Lord.

I will proclaim your justice – yours alone.

Psalms 71:19

71:19 Your justice, O God, extends to the skies above; ¹⁷ 

you have done great things. ¹⁸ 

O God, who can compare to you? ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 51:6

51:6 Look up at the sky!

Look at the earth below!

For the sky will dissipate ²⁰  like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like clothes;

its residents will die like gnats.

But the deliverance I give ²¹  is permanent;

the vindication I provide ²²  will not disappear. ²³ 

Isaiah 51:8

51:8 For a moth will eat away at them like clothes;

a clothes moth will devour them like wool.

But the vindication I provide ²⁴  will be permanent;

the deliverance I give will last.”

Isaiah 56:1

The Lord Invites Outsiders to Enter

56:1 This is what the Lord says,

“Promote ²⁵  justice! Do what is right!

For I am ready to deliver you;

I am ready to vindicate you openly. ²⁶ 

Jeremiah 23:5-6

23:5 “I, the Lord, promise ²⁷  that a new time will certainly come ²⁸ 

when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, ²⁹  a descendant of David.

He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding ³⁰ 

and will do what is just and right in the land. ³¹ 

23:6 Under his rule ³²  Judah will enjoy safety ³³ 

and Israel will live in security. ³⁴ 

This is the name he will go by:

‘The Lord has provided us with justice.’ ³⁵ 

Daniel 9:24

9:24 “Seventy weeks ³⁶  have been determined

concerning your people and your holy city

to put an end to ³⁷  rebellion,

to bring sin ³⁸  to completion, ³⁹ 

to atone for iniquity,

to bring in perpetual ⁴⁰  righteousness,

to seal up ⁴¹  the prophetic vision, ⁴² 

and to anoint a most holy place. ⁴³ 

John 16:9-10

16:9 concerning sin, because ⁴⁴  they do not believe in me; ⁴⁵  16:10 concerning righteousness, ⁴⁶  because ⁴⁷  I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer;

John 16:2

16:2 They will put you out of ⁴⁸  the synagogue, ⁴⁹  yet a time ⁵⁰  is coming when the one who kills you will think he is offering service to God. ⁵¹ 

Colossians 1:21

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ⁵²  minds ⁵³  as expressed through ⁵⁴  your evil deeds,

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ⁵⁵  brothers and sisters ⁵⁶  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ⁵⁷  from God our Father! ⁵⁸ 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁵⁹  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

[1:17]  ¹ tn The nature of the “righteousness” described here and the force of the genitive θεοῦ (“of God”) which follows have been much debated. (1) Some (e.g. C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:98) understand “righteousness” to refer to the righteous status given to believers as a result of God’s justifying activity, and see the genitive “of God” as a genitive of source (= “from God”). (2) Others see the “righteousness” as God’s act or declaration that makes righteous (i.e., justifies) those who turn to him in faith, taking the genitive “of God” as a subjective genitive (see E. Käsemann, Romans, 25-30). (3) Still others see the “righteousness of God” mentioned here as the attribute of God himself, understanding the genitive “of God” as a possessive genitive (“God’s righteousness”).

[1:17]  ² tn Grk “in it”; the referent (the gospel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:17]  ³ tn Or “by faith for faith,” or “by faith to faith.” There are many interpretations of the phrase ἐκ πίστεως εἰς πίστιν (ek pistew" ei" pistin). It may have the idea that this righteousness is obtained by faith (ἐκ πίστεως) because it was designed for faith (εἰς πίστιν). For a summary see J. Murray, Romans (NICNT), 1:363-74.

[1:17]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Hab 2:4.

[3:22]  ⁵ tn Or “faith in Christ.” A decision is difficult here. Though traditionally translated “faith in Jesus Christ,” an increasing number of NT scholars are arguing that πίστις Χριστοῦ (pisti" Cristou) and similar phrases in Paul (here and in v. 26; Gal 2:16, 20; 3:22; Eph 3:12; Phil 3:9) involve a subjective genitive and mean “Christ’s faith” or “Christ’s faithfulness” (cf., e.g., G. Howard, “The ‘Faith of Christ’,” ExpTim 85 [1974]: 212-15; R. B. Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ [SBLDS]; Morna D. Hooker, “Πίστις Χριστοῦ,” NTS 35 [1989]: 321-42). Noteworthy among the arguments for the subjective genitive view is that when πίστις takes a personal genitive it is almost never an objective genitive (cf. Matt 9:2, 22, 29; Mark 2:5; 5:34; 10:52; Luke 5:20; 7:50; 8:25, 48; 17:19; 18:42; 22:32; Rom 1:8; 12; 3:3; 4:5, 12, 16; 1 Cor 2:5; 15:14, 17; 2 Cor 10:15; Phil 2:17; Col 1:4; 2:5; 1 Thess 1:8; 3:2, 5, 10; 2 Thess 1:3; Titus 1:1; Phlm 6; 1 Pet 1:9, 21; 2 Pet 1:5). On the other hand, the objective genitive view has its adherents: A. Hultgren, “The Pistis Christou Formulations in Paul,” NovT 22 (1980): 248-63; J. D. G. Dunn, “Once More, ΠΙΣΤΙΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ,” SBL Seminar Papers, 1991, 730-44. Most commentaries on Romans and Galatians usually side with the objective view.

[3:26]  ⁶ tn The words “This was” have been repeated from the previous verse to clarify that this is a continuation of that thought. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:26]  ⁷ tn Grk “toward a demonstration,” repeating and expanding the purpose of God’s action in v. 25a.

[3:26]  ⁸ tn Or “righteous.”

[3:26]  ⁹ tn Or “of the one who has faith in Jesus.” See note on “faithfulness of Jesus Christ” in v. 22 for the rationale behind the translation “Jesus’ faithfulness.”

[5:19]  ¹⁰ sn Here the one man refers to Adam (cf. 5:14).

[5:19]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the many.”

[5:19]  ¹² sn One man refers here to Jesus Christ.

[5:19]  ¹³ tn Grk “the many.”

[71:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my mouth declares your vindication, all the day your deliverance.”

[71:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “though I do not know [the] numbers,” that is, the tally of God’s just and saving acts. HALOT 768 s.v. סְפֹרוֹת understands the plural noun to mean “the art of writing.”

[71:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I will come with.”

[71:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your justice, O God, [is] unto the height.” The Hebrew term מָרוֹם (marom, “height”) is here a title for the sky/heavens.

[71:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “you who have done great things.”

[71:19]  ¹⁹ tn Or “Who is like you?”

[51:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.

[51:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”

[51:6]  ²² tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”

[51:6]  ²³ tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”

[51:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “my vindication”; many English versions “my righteousness”; NRSV, TEV “my deliverance”; CEV “my victory.”

[56:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “guard”; KJV “Keep”; NAB “Observe”; NASB “Preserve”; NIV, NRSV “Maintain.”

[56:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “for near is my deliverance to enter, and my vindication [or “righteousness”] to be revealed.”

[23:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[23:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “a righteous sprig to David” or “a righteous shoot” (NAB).

[23:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “he will reign as king and act wisely.” This is another example of the use of two verbs joined by “and” where one becomes the adverbial modifier of the other (hendiadys). For the nuance of the verb “act wisely” rather than “prosper” see Amos 5:13; Ps 2:10 (cf. BDB 968 s.v. שָׂכַל Hiph.5).

[23:5]  ³¹ sn This has been the constant emphasis in this section. See 22:3 for the demand, 22:15 for its fulfillment, and 22:13 for its abuse. The ideal king would follow in the footsteps of his illustrious ancestor David (2 Sam 8:15) who set this forth as an ideal for his dynasty (2 Sam 23:3) and prayed for it to be true of his son Solomon (Ps 72:1-2).

[23:6]  ³² tn Heb “In his days [= during the time he rules].”

[23:6]  ³³ tn Parallelism and context (cf. v. 4) suggest this nuance for the word often translated “be saved.” For this nuance elsewhere see Ps 119:117; Prov 28:18 for the verb (יָשַׁע [yasha’] in the Niphal); and Ps 12:6; Job 5:4, 11 for the related noun (יֶשַׁע, yesha’).

[23:6]  ³⁴ sn It should be noted that this brief oracle of deliverance implies the reunification of Israel and Judah under the future Davidic ruler. Jeremiah has already spoken about this reunification earlier in 3:18 and will have more to say about it in 30:3; 31:27, 31. This same ideal was espoused in the prophecies of Hosea (1:10-11 [2:1-2 HT]), Isaiah (11:1-4, 10-12), and Ezekiel (37:15-28) all of which have messianic and eschatological significance.

[23:6]  ³⁵ tn Heb “his name will be called ‘The Lord our righteousness’.”

[9:24]  ³⁶ tn Heb “sevens.” Elsewhere the term is used of a literal week (a period of seven days), cf. Gen 29:27-28; Exod 34:22; Lev 12:5; Num 28:26; Deut 16:9-10; 2 Chr 8:13; Jer 5:24; Dan 10:2-3. Gabriel unfolds the future as if it were a calendar of successive weeks. Most understand the reference here as periods of seventy “sevens” of years, or a total of 490 years.

[9:24]  ³⁷ tc Or “to finish.” The present translation reads the Qere (from the root תָּמַם, tamam) with many witnesses. The Kethib has “to seal up” (from the root הָתַם, hatam), a confusion with a reference later in the verse to sealing up the vision.

[9:24]  ³⁸ tc The present translation reads the Qere (singular), rather than the Kethib (plural).

[9:24]  ³⁹ tn The Hebrew phrase לְכַלֵּא (lÿkhalle’) is apparently an alternative (metaplastic) spelling of the root כָּלָה (kalah, “to complete, finish”), rather than a form of כָּלָא (kala’, “to shut up, restrain”), as has sometimes been supposed.

[9:24]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “everlasting.”

[9:24]  ⁴¹ sn The act of sealing in the OT is a sign of authentication. Cf. 1 Kgs 21:8; Jer 32:10, 11, 44.

[9:24]  ⁴² tn Heb “vision and prophecy.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[9:24]  ⁴³ tn Or “the most holy place” (NASB, NLT); or “a most holy one”; or “the most holy one,” though the expression is used of places or objects elsewhere, not people.

[16:9]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “that.” It is very difficult to determine whether ὅτι (Joti; 3 times in 16:9, 10, 11) should be understood as causal or appositional/explanatory: Brown and Bultmann favor appositional or explanatory, while Barrett and Morris prefer a causal sense. A causal idea is preferable here, since it also fits the parallel statements in vv. 10-11 better than an appositional or explanatory use would. In this case Jesus is stating in each instance the reason why the world is proven guilty or wrong by the Spirit-Paraclete.

[16:9]  ⁴⁵ sn Here (v. 9) the world is proven guilty concerning sin, and the reason given is their refusal to believe in Jesus. In 3:19 the effect of Jesus coming into the world as the Light of the world was to provoke judgment, by forcing people to choose up sides for or against him, and they chose darkness rather than light. In 12:37, at the very end of Jesus’ public ministry in John’s Gospel, people were still refusing to believe in him.

[16:10]  ⁴⁶ tn There are two questions that need to be answered: (1) what is the meaning of δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosunh) in this context, and (2) to whom does it pertain – to the world, or to someone else? (1) The word δικαιοσύνη occurs in the Gospel of John only here and in v. 8. It is often assumed that it refers to forensic justification, as it does so often in Paul’s writings. Thus the answer to question (2) would be that it refers to the world. L. Morris states, “The Spirit shows men (and no-one else can do this) that their righteousness before God depends not on their own efforts but on Christ’s atoning work for them” (John [NICNT], 699). Since the word occurs so infrequently in the Fourth Gospel, however, the context must be examined very carefully. The ὅτι (Joti) clause which follows provides an important clue: The righteousness in view here has to do with Jesus’ return to the Father and his absence from the disciples. It is true that in the Fourth Gospel part of what is involved in Jesus’ return to the Father is the cross, and it is through his substitutionary death that people are justified, so that Morris’ understanding of righteousness here is possible. But more basic than this is the idea that Jesus’ return to the Father constitutes his own δικαιοσύνη in the sense of vindication rather than forensic justification. Jesus had repeatedly claimed oneness with the Father, and his opponents had repeatedly rejected this and labeled him a deceiver, a sinner, and a blasphemer (John 5:18, 7:12, 9:24, 10:33, etc.). But Jesus, by his glorification through his return to the Father, is vindicated in his claims in spite of his opponents. In his vindication his followers are also vindicated as well, but their vindication derives from his. Thus one would answer question (1) by saying that in context δικαιοσύνης (dikaiosunh") refers not to forensic justification but vindication, and question (2) by referring this justification/vindication not to the world or even to Christians directly, but to Jesus himself. Finally, how does Jesus’ last statement in v. 10, that the disciples will see him no more, contribute to this? It is probably best taken as a reference to the presence of the Spirit-Paraclete, who cannot come until Jesus has departed (16:7). The meaning of v. 10 is thus: When the Spirit-Paraclete comes he will prove the world wrong concerning the subject of righteousness, namely, Jesus’ righteousness which is demonstrated when he is glorified in his return to the Father and the disciples see him no more (but they will have instead the presence of the Spirit-Paraclete, whom the world is not able to receive).

[16:10]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “that.”

[16:2]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “expel you from.”

[16:2]  ⁴⁹ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:59.

[16:2]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “an hour.”

[16:2]  ⁵¹ sn Jesus now refers not to the time of his return to the Father, as he has frequently done up to this point, but to the disciples’ time of persecution. They will be excommunicated from Jewish synagogues. There will even be a time when those who kill Jesus’ disciples will think that they are offering service to God by putting the disciples to death. Because of the reference to service offered to God, it is almost certain that Jewish opposition is intended here in both cases rather than Jewish opposition in the first instance (putting the disciples out of synagogues) and Roman opposition in the second (putting the disciples to death). Such opposition materializes later and is recorded in Acts: The stoning of Stephen in 7:58-60 and the slaying of James the brother of John by Herod Agrippa I in Acts 12:2-3 are notable examples.

[1:21]  ⁵² tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[1:21]  ⁵³ 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]  ⁵⁴ 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.

[1:2]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ⁵⁸ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[1:1]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.