1 Petrus 2:20-23

2:20 For what credit is it if you sin and are mistreated and endure it? But if you do good and suffer and so endure, this finds favor with God. ¹  2:21 For to this you were called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps. 2:22 He ²  committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth. ³  2:23 When he was maligned, he ⁴  did not answer back; when he suffered, he threatened ⁵  no retaliation, ⁶  but committed himself to God ⁷  who judges justly.

Amsal 17:13

17:13 As for the one who repays ⁸  evil for good,

evil will not leave ⁹  his house. ¹⁰ 

Amsal 20:22

20:22 Do not say, ¹¹  “I will pay back ¹²  evil!”

Wait ¹³  for the Lord, so that he may vindicate you. ¹⁴ 

Matius 5:39

5:39 But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer. ¹⁵  But whoever strikes you on the ¹⁶  right cheek, turn the other to him as well.

Matius 5:44

5:44 But I say to you, love your enemy and ¹⁷  pray for those who persecute you,

Lukas 6:27-29

6:27 “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies, ¹⁸  do good to those who hate you, 6:28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat ¹⁹  you. 6:29 To the person who strikes you on the cheek, ²⁰  offer the other as well, ²¹  and from the person who takes away your coat, ²²  do not withhold your tunic ²³  either. ²⁴ 

Roma 12:14

12:14 Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse.

Roma 12:17

12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. ²⁵ 

Roma 12:19-21

12:19 Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, ²⁶  for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” ²⁷  says the Lord. 12:20 Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head. ²⁸  12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Roma 12:1

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ²⁹  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ³⁰  – which is your reasonable service.

Kolose 4:12-13

4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ³¹  of Christ, ³²  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ³³  in all the will of God. 4:13 For I can testify that he has worked hard ³⁴  for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Efesus 4:32

4:32 Instead, ³⁵  be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you. ³⁶ 

Efesus 4:1

Live in Unity

4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, ³⁷  urge you to live ³⁸  worthily of the calling with which you have been called, ³⁹ 

Efesus 5:15

Live Wisely

5:15 Therefore be very careful how you live – not as unwise but as wise,

[2:20]  ¹ tn Grk “For this [is] favor/grace with God,” used as a metonymy as in vs. 19 of that which pleases him, which he looks on with favor (cf. BDAG 1079 s.v. χάρις 2).

[2:22]  ² tn Grk “who,” referring to Christ and applying the quotations from Isa 53 to him. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:22]  ³ sn A quotation from Isa 53:9.

[2:23]  ⁴ tn Grk “who being maligned,” continuing the reference to Christ. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:23]  ⁵ tn Grk “he did not threaten, but.”

[2:23]  ⁶ sn An allusion to Isa 53:7.

[2:23]  ⁷ tn Grk “to the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:13]  ⁸ tn The sentence begins with the participle מֵשִׁיב (meshiv, “the one who repays”). The whole first colon may be taken as an independent nominative absolute, with the formal sentence to follow. Some English versions have made the first colon a condition by supplying “if” (NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT).

[17:13]  ⁹ tn The verb מוּשׁ (mush) means “to depart; to remove.” The Kethib is a Hiphil, which would yield a meaning of “to take away”; so the Qere, which is the Qal, makes more sense in the line.

[17:13]  ¹⁰ sn The proverb does not explain whether God will turn evil back on him directly or whether people will begin to treat him as he treated others.

[20:22]  ¹¹ tn The verse is directly instructive; it begins with the negated jussive in the first colon, and follows with the imperative in the second. It warns that the righteous should not take vengeance on the wicked, for only God can do that.

[20:22]  ¹² tn The form is the Piel cohortative of resolve – “I am determined to pay back.” The verb שָׁלֵם (shalem) means “to be complete; to be sound.” In this stem, however, it can mean “to make complete; to make good; to requite; to recompense” (KJV, ASV). The idea is “getting even” by paying back someone for the evil done.

[20:22]  ¹³ sn To “wait” (קַוֵּה, qavveh) on the Lord requires faith in him, reliance on divine justice, and patience. It means that the wrongs done to a person will have to be endured for a time.

[20:22]  ¹⁴ tn After the imperative, the jussive is subordinated in a purpose or result clause: “wait for the Lord so that he may deliver you.” The verb יֹשַׁע (yosha’) means “to save (KJV, ASV, NASB); to deliver (NIV); to give victory”; in this context it means “deliver from the evil done to you,” and so “vindicate” is an appropriate connotation. Cf. NCV “he will make things right.”

[5:39]  ¹⁵ tn The articular πονηρός (ponhro", “the evildoer”) cannot be translated simply as “evil” for then the command would be “do not resist evil.” Every instance of this construction in Matthew is most likely personified, referring either to an evildoer (13:49) or, more often, “the evil one” (as in 5:37; 6:13; 13:19, 38).

[5:39]  ¹⁶ tc ‡ Many mss (B D K L Δ Θ Ë¹³ 565 579 700 1424 pm) have σου (sou) here (“your right cheek”), but many others lack the pronoun (א W ˹ 33 892 1241 pm). The pronoun was probably added by way of clarification. NA²⁷ has σου in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[5:44]  ¹⁷ tc Most mss ([D] L [W] Θ Ë¹³ 33 Ï lat) read “bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you,” before “those who persecute you.” But this is surely a motivated reading, importing the longer form of this aphorism from Luke 6:27-28. The shorter text is found in א B ˹ pc sa, as well as several fathers and versional witnesses.

[6:27]  ¹⁸ sn Love your enemies is the first of four short exhortations that call for an unusual response to those who are persecuting disciples. Disciples are to relate to hostility in a completely unprecedented manner.

[6:28]  ¹⁹ tn The substantival participle ἐπηρεαζόντων (ephreazontwn), sometimes translated “those who abuse” (NRSV), is better rendered “those who mistreat,” a more general term (see L&N 88.129).

[6:29]  ²⁰ sn The phrase strikes you on the cheek probably pictures public rejection, like the act that indicated expulsion from the synagogue.

[6:29]  ²¹ sn This command to offer the other cheek as well is often misunderstood. It means that there is risk involved in reaching out to people with God’s hope. But if one is struck down in rejection, the disciple is to continue reaching out.

[6:29]  ²² tn Or “cloak.”

[6:29]  ²³ tn See the note on the word “tunics” in 3:11.

[6:29]  ²⁴ sn The command do not withhold your tunic either is again an image of continually being totally at risk as one tries to keep contact with those who are hostile to what Jesus and his disciples offer.

[12:17]  ²⁵ tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic and refers to both men and women.

[12:19]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the wrath,” referring to God’s wrath as the remainder of the verse shows.

[12:19]  ²⁷ sn A quotation from Deut 32:35.

[12:20]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Prov 25:21-22.

[12:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[12:1]  ³⁰ tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.

[12:1]  sn Taken as predicate adjectives, the terms alive, holy, and pleasing are showing how unusual is the sacrifice that believers can now offer, for OT sacrifices were dead. As has often been quipped about this text, “The problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar.”

[4:12]  ³¹ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ³² tc ‡ Strong Alexandrian testimony, along with some other witnesses, suggests that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) follows Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “Christ”; so א A B C I L 0278 33 81 365 629 1175 2464 al lat), but the evidence for the shorter reading is diverse (Ì⁴⁶ D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï it sy Hier), cutting across all major texttypes. There can be little motivation for omitting the name of Jesus; hence, the shorter reading is judged to be original. NA²⁷ has ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[4:12]  ³³ tn Or “filled.”

[4:13]  ³⁴ tn Grk “pain.” This word appears only three times in the NT outside of this verse (Rev 16:10, 11; 21:4) where the translation “pain” makes sense. For the present verse it has been translated “worked hard.” See BDAG 852 s.v. πόνος 1.

[4:32]  ³⁵ tc ‡ Although most witnesses have either δέ (de; Ì⁴⁹ א A D² Ψ 33 1739^mg Ï lat) or οὖν (oun; D* F G 1175) here, a few important mss lack a conjunction (Ì⁴⁶ B 0278 6 1739* 1881). If either conjunction were originally in the text, it is difficult to explain how the asyndetic construction could have arisen (although the dropping of δέ could have occurred via homoioteleuton). Further, although Hellenistic Greek rarely joined sentences without a conjunction, such does occur in the corpus Paulinum on occasion, especially to underscore a somber point. “Instead” has been supplied in the translation because of stylistic requirements, not textual basis. NA²⁷ places δέ in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[4:32]  ³⁶ tn Or “forgiving.”

[4:1]  ³⁷ tn Grk “prisoner in the Lord.”

[4:1]  ³⁸ tn Grk “walk.” The verb “walk” in the NT letters refers to the conduct of one’s life, not to physical walking.

[4:1]  ³⁹ sn With which you have been called. The calling refers to the Holy Spirit’s prompting that caused them to believe. The author is thus urging his readers to live a life that conforms to their saved status before God.