Romans 8:28-30

8:28 And we know that all things work together ¹  for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, 8:29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son ²  would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³  8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

Isaiah 14:24

14:24 ⁴ The Lord who commands armies makes this solemn vow:

“Be sure of this:

Just as I have intended, so it will be;

just as I have planned, it will happen.

Isaiah 14:26-27

14:26 This is the plan I have devised for the whole earth;

my hand is ready to strike all the nations.” ⁵ 

14:27 Indeed, ⁶  the Lord who commands armies has a plan,

and who can possibly frustrate it?

His hand is ready to strike,

and who can possibly stop it? ⁷ 

Isaiah 23:9

23:9 The Lord who commands armies planned it –

to dishonor the pride that comes from all her beauty, ⁸ 

to humiliate all the dignitaries of the earth.

Isaiah 46:10-11

46:10 who announces the end from the beginning

and reveals beforehand ⁹  what has not yet occurred,

who says, ‘My plan will be realized,

I will accomplish what I desire,’

46:11 who summons an eagle ¹⁰  from the east,

from a distant land, one who carries out my plan.

Yes, I have decreed, ¹¹ 

yes, I will bring it to pass;

I have formulated a plan,

yes, I will carry it out.

Jeremiah 51:29

51:29 The earth will tremble and writhe in agony. ¹² 

For the Lord will carry out his plan.

He plans to make the land of Babylonia ¹³ 

a wasteland where no one lives. ¹⁴ 

Ephesians 1:9-11

1:9 He did this when he revealed ¹⁵  to us the secret ¹⁶  of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth ¹⁷  in Christ, ¹⁸  1:10 toward the administration of the fullness of the times, to head up ¹⁹  all things in Christ – the things in heaven ²⁰  and the things on earth. ²¹  1:11 In Christ ²²  we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, ²³  since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will

Ephesians 3:11

3:11 This was according to ²⁴  the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,

Ephesians 3:2

3:2 if indeed ²⁵  you have heard of the stewardship ²⁶  of God’s grace that was given to me for you,

Ephesians 1:9

1:9 He did this when he revealed ²⁷  to us the secret ²⁸  of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth ²⁹  in Christ, ³⁰ 

[8:28]  ¹ tc ὁ θεός (Jo qeos, “God”) is found after the verb συνεργεῖ (sunergei, “work”) in v. 28 by Ì⁴⁶ A B 81 sa; the shorter reading is found in א C D F G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï latt sy bo. Although the inclusion is supported by a significant early papyrus, the alliance of significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses favors the shorter reading. As well, the longer reading is evidently motivated by a need for clarification. Since ὁ θεός is textually suspect, it is better to read the text without it. This leaves two good translational options: either “he works all things together for good” or “all things work together for good.” In the first instance the subject is embedded in the verb and “God” is clearly implied (as in v. 29). In the second instance, πάντα (panta) becomes the subject of an intransitive verb. In either case, “What is expressed is a truly biblical confidence in the sovereignty of God” (C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:427).

[8:29]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (God’s Son) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:29]  ³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[14:24]  ⁴ sn Having announced the downfall of the Chaldean empire, the Lord appends to this prophecy a solemn reminder that the Assyrians, the major Mesopotamian power of Isaiah’s day, would be annihilated, foreshadowing what would subsequently happen to Babylon and the other hostile nations.

[14:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “and this is the hand that is outstretched over all the nations.”

[14:27]  ⁶ tn Or “For” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[14:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “His hand is outstretched and who will turn it back?”

[23:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “the pride of all the beauty.”

[46:10]  ⁹ tn Or “from long ago”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “from ancient times.”

[46:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or, more generally, “a bird of prey” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV; see 18:6).

[46:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “spoken”; KJV “I have spoken it.”

[51:29]  ¹² sn The figure here is common in the poetic tradition of the Lord going forth to do battle against his foes and the earth’s reaction to it is compared to a person trembling with fear and writhing in agony, agony like that of a woman in labor (cf. Judg 5:4; Nah 1:2-5; Hab 3:1-15 [especially v. 6]).

[51:29]  ¹³ tn Heb “For the plans of the Lord have been carried out to make the land of Babylon…” The passive has been turned into an active and the sentence broken up to better conform with contemporary English style. For the meaning of the verb קוּם (qum) in the sense used here see BDB 878 s.v. קוּם 7.g and compare the usage in Prov 19:21 and Isa 46:10.

[51:29]  ¹⁴ tn The verbs in this verse and v. 30 are all in the past tense in Hebrew, in the tense that views the action as already as good as done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect). The verb in v. 31a, however, is imperfect, viewing the action as future; the perfects that follow are all dependent on that future. Verse 33 looks forward to a time when Babylon will be harvested and trampled like grain on the threshing floor and the imperatives imply a time in the future. Hence the present translation has rendered all the verbs in vv. 29-30 as future.

[1:9]  ¹⁵ tn Or “He did this by revealing”; Grk “making known, revealing.” Verse 9 begins with a participle dependent on “lavished” in v. 8; the adverbial participle could be understood as temporal (“when he revealed”), which would be contemporaneous to the action of the finite verb “lavished,” or as means (“by revealing”). The participle has been translated here with the temporal nuance to allow for means to also be a possible interpretation. If the translation focused instead upon means, the temporal nuance would be lost as the time frame for the action of the participle would become indistinct.

[1:9]  ¹⁶ tn Or “mystery.” In the NT μυστήριον (musthrion) refers to a divine secret previously undisclosed.

[1:9]  ¹⁷ tn Or “purposed,” “publicly displayed.” Cf. Rom 3:25.

[1:9]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “in him”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:10]  ¹⁹ tn The precise meaning of the infinitive ἀνακεφαλαιώσασθαι (anakefalaiwsasqai) in v. 10 is difficult to determine since it was used relatively infrequently in Greek literature and only twice in the NT (here and Rom 13:9). While there have been several suggestions, three deserve mention: (1) “To sum up.” In Rom 13:9, using the same term, the author there says that the law may be “summarized in one command, to love your neighbor as yourself.” The idea then in Eph 1:10 would be that all things in heaven and on earth can be summed up and made sense out of in relation to Christ. (2) “To renew.” If this is the nuance of the verb then all things in heaven and earth, after their plunge into sin and ruin, are renewed by the coming of Christ and his redemption. (3) “To head up.” In this translation the idea is that Christ, in the fullness of the times, has been exalted so as to be appointed as the ruler (i.e., “head”) over all things in heaven and earth (including the church). That this is perhaps the best understanding of the verb is evidenced by the repeated theme of Christ’s exaltation and reign in Ephesians and by the connection to the κεφαλή- (kefalh-) language of 1:22 (cf. Schlier, TDNT 3:682; L&N 63.8; M. Barth, Ephesians [AB 34], 1:89-92; contra A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians [WBC], 32-33).

[1:10]  ²⁰ tn Grk “the heavens.”

[1:10]  ²¹ sn And the things on earth. Verse 10 ends with “in him.” The redundancy keeps the focus on Christ at the expense of good Greek style. Verse 11 repeats the reference with a relative pronoun (“in whom”) – again, at the expense of good Greek style. Although the syntax is awkward, the theology is rich. This is not the first time that a NT writer was so overcome with awe for his Lord that he seems to have lost control of his pen. Indeed, it happened frequently enough that some have labeled their christologically motivated solecisms an “apostolic disease.”

[1:11]  ²² tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.

[1:11]  ²³ tn Grk “we were appointed by lot.” The notion of the verb κληρόω (klhrow) in the OT was to “appoint a portion by lot” (the more frequent cognate verb κληρονομέω [klhronomew] meant “obtain a portion by lot”). In the passive, as here, the idea is that “we were appointed [as a portion] by lot” (BDAG 548 s.v. κληρόω 1). The words “God’s own” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this sense of the verb. An alternative interpretation is that believers receive a portion as an inheritance: “In Christ we too have been appointed a portion of the inheritance.” See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 226-27, for discussion on this interpretive issue.

[3:11]  ²⁴ tn Grk “according to.” The verse is a prepositional phrase subordinate to v. 10.

[3:2]  ²⁵ sn If indeed. The author is not doubting whether his audience has heard, but is rather using provocative language (if indeed) to engage his audience in thinking about the magnificence of God’s grace. However, in English translation, the apodosis (“then”-clause) does not come until v. 13, leaving the protasis (“if”-clause) dangling. Eph 3:2-7 constitute one sentence in Greek.

[3:2]  ²⁶ tn Or “administration,” “dispensation,” “commission.”

[1:9]  ²⁷ tn Or “He did this by revealing”; Grk “making known, revealing.” Verse 9 begins with a participle dependent on “lavished” in v. 8; the adverbial participle could be understood as temporal (“when he revealed”), which would be contemporaneous to the action of the finite verb “lavished,” or as means (“by revealing”). The participle has been translated here with the temporal nuance to allow for means to also be a possible interpretation. If the translation focused instead upon means, the temporal nuance would be lost as the time frame for the action of the participle would become indistinct.

[1:9]  ²⁸ tn Or “mystery.” In the NT μυστήριον (musthrion) refers to a divine secret previously undisclosed.

[1:9]  ²⁹ tn Or “purposed,” “publicly displayed.” Cf. Rom 3:25.

[1:9]  ³⁰ tn Grk “in him”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.