1 Tesalonika 4:10

4:10 And indeed you are practicing it toward all the brothers and sisters ¹  in all of Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, ² 

Mazmur 115:4

115:4 Their ³  idols are made of silver and gold –

they are man-made. ⁴ 

Lukas 17:5

17:5 The ⁵  apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ 

Lukas 17:2

17:2 It would be better for him to have a millstone ⁷  tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea ⁸  than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. ⁹ 

Kolose 1:10

1:10 so that you may live ¹⁰  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ¹¹  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Yakobus 1:17

1:17 All generous giving and every perfect gift ¹²  is from above, coming down ¹³  from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. ¹⁴ 

Yakobus 1:2

Joy in Trials

1:2 My brothers and sisters, ¹⁵  consider it nothing but joy ¹⁶  when you fall into all sorts of trials,

Pengkhotbah 3:18

3:18 I also thought to myself, “It is ¹⁷  for the sake of people, ¹⁸ 

so God can clearly ¹⁹  show ²⁰  them that they are like animals.

[4:10]  ¹ tn Grk “brothers”; this applies to the second occurrence as well. See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.

[4:10]  ² sn To do so more and more. See 1 Thess 4:1.

[115:4]  ³ tn The referent of the pronominal suffix is “the nations” (v. 2).

[115:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “the work of the hands of man.”

[17:5]  ⁵ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:5]  ⁶ sn The request of the apostles, “Increase our faith,” is not a request for a gift of faith, but a request to increase the depth of their faith.

[17:2]  ⁷ tn This term refers to the heavy upper stone of a grinding mill (L&N 7.70; BDAG 660 s.v. μυλικός).

[17:2]  sn The punishment of drowning with a heavy weight attached is extremely gruesome and reflects Jesus’ views concerning those who cause others who believe in him to sin.

[17:2]  ⁸ tn Grk “if a millstone were tied…and he were thrown.” The conditional construction in Greek has been translated by English infinitives: “to have… and be thrown.”

[17:2]  ⁹ tn Or “to stumble.” This verb, σκανδαλίσῃ (skandalish), has the same root as the noun σκάνδαλον (skandalon) in 17:1, translated “stumbling blocks”; this wordplay is difficult to reproduce in English. It is possible that the primary cause of offense here would be leading disciples (“little ones”) astray in a similar fashion.

[1:10]  ¹⁰ tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

[1:10]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”

[1:17]  ¹² tn The first phrase refers to the action of giving and the second to what is given.

[1:17]  ¹³ tn Or “All generous giving and every perfect gift from above is coming down.”

[1:17]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “variation or shadow of turning” (referring to the motions of heavenly bodies causing variations of light and darkness).

[1:2]  ¹⁵ 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). Where the plural term is used in direct address, as here, “brothers and sisters” is used; where the term is singular and not direct address (as in v. 9), “believer” is preferred.

[1:2]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “all joy,” “full joy,” or “greatest joy.”

[3:18]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase “it is” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the sons of man.” The phrase עַל־דִּבְרַת בְּנֵי הָאָדָם (’al-divrat bÿne ha’adam) is handled variously: (1) introduction to the direct discourse: “I said to myself concerning the sons of men” (NASB), (2) direct discourse: “I thought, ‘As for men, God tests them’” (NIV), (3) indirect discourse: “I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men” (KJV), and (4) causal conjunction: “I said, ‘[It is] for the sake of the sons of men.” Since the phrase “sons of men” is contrasted with “animals” the translation “humans” has been adopted.

[3:18]  ¹⁹ tn The meaning of לְבָרָם (lÿvaram, preposition + Qal infinitive construct from בָּרַר, barar, + 3rd person masculine plural suffix) is debated because the root has a broad range of meanings: (1) “to test; to prove; to sift; to sort out” (e.g., Dan 11:35; 12:10); (2) “to choose; to select” (e.g., 1 Chr 7:40; 9:22; 16:41; Neh 5:18); (3) “to purge out; to purify” (e.g., Ezek 20:38; Zeph 3:9; Job 33:3); and (4) “to cleanse; to polish” (Isa 49:2; 52:11); see HALOT 163 s.v. בָּרַר; BDB 141 s.v. בָּרַר. The meanings “to prove” (Qal), as well as “to cleanse; to polish” (Qal), “to keep clean” (Niphal), and “to cleanse” (Hiphil) might suggest the meaning “to make clear” (M. A. Eaton, Ecclesiastes [TOTC], 85-86). The meaning “to make clear; to prove” is well attested in postbiblical Mishnaic Hebrew (Jastrow 197-98 s.v. בָּרַר). For example, “they make the fact as clear (bright) as a new garment” (b. Ketubbot 46a) and “the claimant must offer clear evidence” (b. Sanhedrin 23b). The point would be that God allows human injustice to exist in the world in order to make it clear to mankind that they are essentially no better than the beasts. On the other hand, the LXX adopts the nuance “to judge,” while Targum and Vulgate take the nuance “to purge; to purify.” BDB 141 s.v. בָּרַר 4 suggests “to test, prove,” while HALOT 163 s.v. בָּרַר 2 prefers “to select, choose.”

[3:18]  ²⁰ tn The two infinitives לְבָרָם (lÿvaram, “to make it clear to them”) and וְלִרְאוֹת (vÿlir’ot, “and to show”) function as a verbal hendiadys (the two verbs are associated with one another to communicate a single idea). The first verb functions adverbially and the second retains its full verbal force: “to clearly show them.”