1 Samuel 2:30

2:30 Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I really did say ¹  that your house and your ancestor’s house would serve ²  me forever.’ But now the Lord says, ‘May it never be! ³  For I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me will be cursed!

1 Samuel 2:2

2:2 No one is holy ⁴  like the Lord!

There is no one other than you!

There is no rock ⁵  like our God!

1 Samuel 6:8

6:8 Then take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart, and put in a chest beside it the gold objects you are sending to him as a guilt offering. You should then send it on its way.

Matius 25:21-23

25:21 His master answered, ⁶  ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 25:22 The ⁷  one with the two talents also came and said, ‘Sir, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more.’ 25:23 His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’

Lukas 19:17

19:17 And the king ⁸  said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful ⁹  in a very small matter, you will have authority ¹⁰  over ten cities.’

Roma 2:7

2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality,

Roma 2:10

2:10 but ¹¹  glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek.

Roma 2:29

2:29 but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart ¹²  by the Spirit ¹³  and not by the written code. ¹⁴  This person’s ¹⁵  praise is not from people but from God.

Roma 2:1

The Condemnation of the Moralist

2:1 ¹⁶ Therefore ¹⁷  you are without excuse, ¹⁸  whoever you are, ¹⁹  when you judge someone else. ²⁰  For on whatever grounds ²¹  you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things.

Kolose 4:5

4:5 Conduct yourselves ²²  with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities.

Kolose 4:2

Exhortation to Pray for the Success of Paul’s Mission

4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

Kolose 1:18

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ²³  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ²⁴ 

Yakobus 2:1

Prejudice and the Law of Love

2:1 My brothers and sisters, ²⁵  do not show prejudice ²⁶  if you possess faith ²⁷  in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁸ 

Yakobus 2:1

Prejudice and the Law of Love

2:1 My brothers and sisters, ²⁹  do not show prejudice ³⁰  if you possess faith ³¹  in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ³² 

Pengkhotbah 1:7

1:7 All the streams flow ³³  into the sea, but the sea is not full,

and to the place where the streams flow, there they will flow again. ³⁴ 

[2:30]  ¹ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[2:30]  ² tn Heb “walk about before.”

[2:30]  ³ tn Heb “may it be far removed from me.”

[2:2]  ⁴ sn In this context God’s holiness refers primarily to his sovereignty and incomparability. He is unique and distinct from all other so-called gods.

[2:2]  ⁵ tn The LXX has “and there is none righteous like our God.” The Hebrew term translated “rock” refers to a rocky cliff where one can seek refuge from enemies. Here the metaphor depicts God as a protector of his people. Cf. TEV “no protector like our God”; CEV “We’re safer with you than on a high mountain.”

[25:21]  ⁶ tn Grk “His master said to him.”

[25:22]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[19:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the nobleman of v. 12, now a king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:17]  ⁹ tn See Luke 16:10.

[19:17]  ¹⁰ sn The faithful slave received expanded responsibility (authority over ten cities) as a result of his faithfulness; this in turn is an exhortation to faithfulness for the reader.

[2:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “but even,” to emphasize the contrast. The second word has been omitted since it is somewhat redundant in English idiom.

[2:29]  ¹² sn On circumcision is of the heart see Lev 26:41; Deut 10:16; Jer 4:4; Ezek 44:9.

[2:29]  ¹³ tn Some have taken the phrase ἐν πνεύματι (en pneumati, “by/in [the] S/spirit”) not as a reference to the Holy Spirit, but referring to circumcision as “spiritual and not literal” (RSV).

[2:29]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “letter.”

[2:29]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “whose.” The relative pronoun has been replaced by the phrase “this person’s” and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation.

[2:1]  ¹⁶ sn Rom 2:1-29 presents unusual difficulties for the interpreter. There have been several major approaches to the chapter and the group(s) it refers to: (1) Rom 2:14 refers to Gentile Christians, not Gentiles who obey the Jewish law. (2) Paul in Rom 2 is presenting a hypothetical viewpoint: If anyone could obey the law, that person would be justified, but no one can. (3) The reference to “the ones who do the law” in 2:13 are those who “do” the law in the right way, on the basis of faith, not according to Jewish legalism. (4) Rom 2:13 only speaks about Christians being judged in the future, along with such texts as Rom 14:10 and 2 Cor 5:10. (5) Paul’s material in Rom 2 is drawn heavily from Diaspora Judaism, so that the treatment of the law presented here cannot be harmonized with other things Paul says about the law elsewhere (E. P. Sanders, Paul, the Law, and the Jewish People, 123); another who sees Rom 2 as an example of Paul’s inconsistency in his treatment of the law is H. Räisänen, Paul and the Law [WUNT], 101-9. (6) The list of blessings and curses in Deut 27–30 provide the background for Rom 2; the Gentiles of 2:14 are Gentile Christians, but the condemnation of Jews in 2:17-24 addresses the failure of Jews as a nation to keep the law as a whole (A. Ito, “Romans 2: A Deuteronomistic Reading,” JSNT 59 [1995]: 21-37).

[2:1]  ¹⁷ tn Some interpreters (e.g., C. K. Barrett, Romans [HNTC], 43) connect the inferential Διό (dio, “therefore”) with 1:32a, treating 1:32b as a parenthetical comment by Paul.

[2:1]  ¹⁸ tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT).

[2:1]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “O man.”

[2:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.”

[2:1]  ²¹ tn Grk “in/by (that) which.”

[4:5]  ²² tn Grk “walk.” The verb περιπατέω (peripatew) is a common NT idiom for one’s lifestyle, behavior, or manner of conduct (L&N 41.11).

[1:18]  ²³ tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.

[1:18]  ²⁴ tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

[2:1]  ²⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ²⁶ tn Or “partiality.”

[2:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.

[2:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[2:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ³⁰ tn Or “partiality.”

[2:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.

[2:1]  ³² tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[1:7]  ³³ tn Heb “are going” or “are walking.” The term הֹלְכִים (holÿkhim, Qal active participle masculine plural from הָלַךְ, halakh,“to walk”) emphasizes continual, durative, uninterrupted action (present universal use of participle). This may be an example of personification; this verb is normally used in reference to the human activity of walking. Qoheleth compares the flowing of river waters to the action of walking to draw out the comparison between the actions of man (1:4) and the actions of nature (1:5-11).

[1:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “there they are returning to go.” The term שָׁבִים (shavim, Qal active participle masculine plural from שׁוּב, shuv, “to return”) emphasizes the continual, durative action of the waters. The root שׁוּב is repeated in 1:6-7 to emphasize that everything in nature (e.g., wind and water) continually repeats its actions. For all of the repetition of the cycles of nature, nothing changes; all the constant motion produces nothing new.

[1:7]  sn This verse does not refer to the cycle of evaporation or the return of water by underground streams, as sometimes suggested. Rather, it describes the constant flow of river waters to the sea. For all the action of the water – endless repetition and water constantly in motion – there is nothing new accomplished.