Yesaya 19:24-25

19:24 At that time Israel will be the third member of the group, along with Egypt and Assyria, and will be a recipient of blessing ¹  in the earth. ²  19:25 The Lord who commands armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying, ³  “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession, ⁴  Israel!”

Yesaya 49:16-23

49:16 Look, I have inscribed your name ⁵  on my palms;

your walls are constantly before me.

49:17 Your children hurry back,

while those who destroyed and devastated you depart.

49:18 Look all around you! ⁶ 

All of them gather to you.

As surely as I live,” says the Lord,

“you will certainly wear all of them like jewelry;

you will put them on as if you were a bride.

49:19 Yes, your land lies in ruins;

it is desolate and devastated. ⁷ 

But now you will be too small to hold your residents,

and those who devoured you will be far away.

49:20 Yet the children born during your time of bereavement

will say within your hearing,

‘This place is too cramped for us, ⁸ 

make room for us so we can live here.’ ⁹ 

49:21 Then you will think to yourself, ¹⁰ 

‘Who bore these children for me?

I was bereaved and barren,

dismissed and divorced. ¹¹ 

Who raised these children?

Look, I was left all alone;

where did these children come from?’”

49:22 This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“Look I will raise my hand to the nations;

I will raise my signal flag to the peoples.

They will bring your sons in their arms

and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

49:23 Kings will be your children’s ¹²  guardians;

their princesses will nurse your children. ¹³ 

With their faces to the ground they will bow down to you

and they will lick the dirt on ¹⁴  your feet.

Then you will recognize that I am the Lord;

those who wait patiently for me are not put to shame.

Yesaya 56:6-8

56:6 As for foreigners who become followers of ¹⁵  the Lord and serve him,

who love the name of the Lord and want to be his servants –

all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

and who are faithful to ¹⁶  my covenant –

56:7 I will bring them to my holy mountain;

I will make them happy in the temple where people pray to me. ¹⁷ 

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar,

for my temple will be known as a temple where all nations may pray.” ¹⁸ 

56:8 The sovereign Lord says this,

the one who gathers the dispersed of Israel:

“I will still gather them up.” ¹⁹ 

Yesaya 60:3-5

60:3 Nations come to your light,

kings to your bright light.

60:4 Look all around you! ²⁰ 

They all gather and come to you –

your sons come from far away

and your daughters are escorted by guardians.

60:5 Then you will look and smile, ²¹ 

you will be excited and your heart will swell with pride. ²² 

For the riches of distant lands ²³  will belong to you

and the wealth of nations will come to you.

Yesaya 66:20

66:20 They will bring back all your countrymen ²⁴  from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them ²⁵  on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels ²⁶  to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers.

Rut 1:14-18

1:14 Again they wept loudly. ²⁷  Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, ²⁸  but Ruth ²⁹  clung tightly to her. ³⁰  1:15 So Naomi ³¹  said, “Look, your sister-in-law is returning to her people and to her god. ³²  Follow your sister-in-law back home!” 1:16 But Ruth replied,

“Stop urging me to abandon you! ³³ 

For wherever you go, I will go.

Wherever you live, I will live.

Your people will become my people,

and your God will become my God.

1:17 Wherever you die, I will die – and there I will be buried.

May the Lord punish me severely if I do not keep my promise! ³⁴ 

Only death will be able to separate me from you!” ³⁵ 

1:18 When Naomi ³⁶  realized that Ruth ³⁷  was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to dissuade her. ³⁸ 

Ester 8:17

8:17 Throughout every province and throughout every city where the king’s edict and his law arrived, the Jews experienced happiness and joy, banquets and holidays. Many of the resident peoples ³⁹  pretended ⁴⁰  to be Jews, because the fear of the Jews had overcome them. ⁴¹ 

Yeremia 12:15-16

12:15 But after I have uprooted the people of those nations, I will relent ⁴²  and have pity on them. I will restore the people of each of those nations to their own lands ⁴³  and to their own country. 12:16 But they must make sure you learn to follow the religious practices of my people. ⁴⁴  Once they taught my people to swear their oaths using the name of the god Baal. ⁴⁵  But then, they must swear oaths using my name, saying, “As surely as the Lord lives, I swear.” ⁴⁶  If they do these things, ⁴⁷  then they will be included among the people I call my own. ⁴⁸ 

Zakharia 2:11

2:11 “Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on the day of salvation, ⁴⁹  and they will also be my ⁵⁰  people. Indeed, I will settle in the midst of you all.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you.

Zakharia 8:22-23

8:22 Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord who rules over all and to ask his favor. 8:23 The Lord who rules over all says, ‘In those days ten people from all languages and nations will grasp hold of – indeed, grab – the robe of one Jew and say, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’” ⁵¹ 

Maleakhi 1:11

1:11 For from the east to the west my name will be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations,” ⁵²  says the Lord who rules over all.

Lukas 2:32

2:32 a light, ⁵³ 

for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory ⁵⁴  to your people Israel.”

Kisah Para Rasul 15:14-17

15:14 Simeon ⁵⁵  has explained ⁵⁶  how God first concerned himself ⁵⁷  to select ⁵⁸  from among the Gentiles ⁵⁹  a people for his name. 15:15 The ⁶⁰  words of the prophets agree ⁶¹  with this, as it is written,

15:16 ‘After this ⁶²  I ⁶³  will return,

and I will rebuild the fallen tent ⁶⁴  of David;

I will rebuild its ruins and restore ⁶⁵  it,

15:17 so that the rest of humanity ⁶⁶  may seek the Lord,

namely, ⁶⁷  all the Gentiles ⁶⁸  I have called to be my own,’ ⁶⁹  says the Lord, ⁷⁰  who makes these things

Efesus 2:12-19

2:12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, ⁷¹  alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, ⁷²  having no hope and without God in the world. 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ⁷³  2:14 For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one ⁷⁴  and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, 2:15 when he nullified ⁷⁵  in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man ⁷⁶  out of two, ⁷⁷  thus making peace, 2:16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. ⁷⁸  2:17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 2:18 so that ⁷⁹  through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 2:19 So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,

[19:24]  ¹ tn Heb “will be a blessing” (so NCV).

[19:24]  ² tn Or “land” (KJV, NAB).

[19:25]  ³ tn Heb “which the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] will bless [it], saying.” The third masculine singular suffix on the form בֵּרֲכוֹ (berakho) should probably be emended to a third feminine singular suffix בֵּרֲכָהּ (berakhah), for its antecedent would appear to be the feminine noun אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) at the end of v. 24.

[19:25]  ⁴ tn Or “my inheritance” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[49:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “you.” Here the pronoun is put by metonymy for the person’s name.

[49:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see.”

[49:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “Indeed your ruins and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction.” This statement is abruptly terminated in the Hebrew text and left incomplete.

[49:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “me.” The singular is collective.

[49:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “draw near to me so I can dwell.”

[49:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and you will say in your heart.”

[49:21]  ¹¹ tn Or “exiled and thrust away”; NIV “exiled and rejected.”

[49:23]  ¹² tn Heb “your,” but Zion here stands by metonymy for her children (see v. 22b).

[49:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “you.” See the preceding note.

[49:23]  ¹⁴ tn Or “at your feet” (NAB, NIV); NLT “from your feet.”

[56:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “who attach themselves to.”

[56:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and take hold of”; NAB “hold to”; NIV, NRSV “hold fast.”

[56:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in the house of my prayer.”

[56:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”

[56:8]  ¹⁹ tn The meaning of the statement is unclear. The text reads literally, “Still I will gather upon him to his gathered ones.” Perhaps the preposition -לְ (lamed) before “gathered ones” introduces the object of the verb, as in Jer 49:5. The third masculine singular suffix on both עָלָיו (’alayv) and נִקְבָּצָיו (niqbatsayv) probably refers to “Israel.” In this case one can translate literally, “Still I will gather to him his gathered ones.”

[60:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see!”

[60:5]  ²¹ tn Or “shine,” or “be radiant” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[60:5]  ²² tn Heb “and it will tremble and be wide, your heart.”

[60:5]  ²³ tn Heb “the wealth of the sea,” i.e., wealth that is transported from distant lands via the sea.

[66:20]  ²⁴ tn Heb “brothers” (so NIV); NCV “fellow Israelites.”

[66:20]  ²⁵ tn The words “they will bring them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[66:20]  ²⁶ tn The precise meaning of this word is uncertain. Some suggest it refers to “chariots.” See HALOT 498 s.v. *כִּרְכָּרָה.

[1:14]  ²⁷ tn Heb “they lifted their voice[s] and wept” (so NASB; see v. 9). The expression refers to loud weeping employed in mourning tragedy (Judg 21:2; 2 Sam 13:36; Job 2:12).

[1:14]  ²⁸ tc The LXX adds, “and she returned to her people” (cf. TEV “and went back home”). Translating the Greek of the LXX back to Hebrew would read a consonantal text of ותשׁב אל־עמה. Most dismiss this as a clarifying addition added under the influence of v. 15, but this alternative reading should not be rejected too quickly. It is possible that a scribe’s eye jumped from the initial vav on ותשׁב (“and she returned”) to the initial vav on the final clause (וְרוּת [vÿrut], “and Ruth”), inadvertently leaving out the intervening words, “and she returned to her people.” Or a scribe’s eye could have jumped from the final he on לַחֲמוֹתָהּ (lakhamotah, “to her mother-in-law”) to the final he on עַמָּהּ (’ammah, “her people”), leaving out the intervening words, “and she returned to her people.”

[1:14]  ²⁹ tn The clause is disjunctive. The word order is conjunction + subject + verb, highlighting the contrast between the actions of Orpah and Ruth.

[1:14]  sn Orpah is a literary foil for Ruth. Orpah is a commendable and devoted person (see v. 8); after all she is willing to follow Naomi back to Judah. However, when Naomi bombards her with good reasons why she should return, she relents. But Ruth is special. Despite Naomi’s bitter tirade, she insists on staying. Orpah is a good person, but Ruth is beyond good – she possesses an extra measure of devotion and sacrificial love that is uncommon.

[1:14]  ³⁰ sn Clung tightly. The expression suggests strong commitment (see R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth [NICOT], 115).

[1:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Naomi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:15]  ³² tn Or “gods” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, CEV, NLT), if the plural form is taken as a numerical plural. However, it is likely that Naomi, speaking from Orpah’s Moabite perspective, uses the plural of majesty of the Moabite god Chemosh. For examples of the plural of majesty being used of a pagan god, see BDB 43 s.v. אֱלֹהִים 1.d. Note especially 1 Kgs 11:33, where the plural form is used of Chemosh.

[1:16]  ³³ tn Heb “do not urge me to abandon you to turn back from after you.” Most English versions, following the lead of the KJV, use “leave” here. The use of עזב (“abandon”) reflects Ruth’s perspective. To return to Moab would be to abandon Naomi and to leave her even more vulnerable than she already is.

[1:17]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Thus may the Lord do to me and thus may he add…” The construction וְכֹה יֹסִיף…כֹּה יַעֲשֶׂה (koh ya’aseh...vÿkhoh yosif, “May he do thus…and may he do even more so…!”) is an oath formula of self-imprecation (e.g., 1 Sam 3:17; 14:44; 20:13; 25:22; 2 Sam 3:9,35; 19:14; 1 Kgs 2:23; 2 Kgs 6:31). In this formula the exact curse is understood but not expressed (GKC 472 §149.d; BDB 462 s.v. כֹּה 1.b). In ancient Near Eastern imprecations, when the curse was so extreme, it was not uttered because it was unspeakably awful: “In the twelve uses of this formula, the calamity which the speaker invokes is never named, since OT culture (in keeping with the rest of the ancient Near East) accorded such power to the spoken word” (F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 82). Ruth here pronounces a curse upon herself, elevating the preceding promise to a formal, unconditional level. If she is not faithful to her promise, she agrees to become an object of divine judgment. As in other occurrences of this oath/curse formula, the specific punishment is not mentioned. As Bush explains, the particle כִּי (ki) here is probably asseverative (“indeed, certainly”) and the statement that follows expresses what underscores the seriousness of her promise by invoking divine judgment, as it were, if she does otherwise. Of course, the Lord would not have been obligated to judge her if she had abandoned Naomi – this is simply an ancient idiomatic way of expressing her commitment to her promise.

[1:17]  ³⁵ tn Heb “certainly death will separate me and you.” Ruth’s vow has been interpreted two ways: (1) Not even death will separate her from Naomi – because they will be buried next to one another (e.g., NRSV, NCV; see E. F. Campbell, Ruth [AB], 74-75). However, for the statement to mean, “Not even death will separate me and you,” it would probably need to be introduced by אִם (’im, “if”) or negated by לֹא (lo’, “not”; see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 83). (2) Nothing except death will separate her from Naomi (e.g., KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB, NIV, TEV, NJPS, REB, NLT, GW; see Bush, 83). The particle כִּי introduces the content of the vow, which – if violated – would bring about the curse uttered in the preceding oath (BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.c; e.g., Gen 42:16; Num 14:22; 1 Sam 20:3; 26:16; 29:6; 2 Sam 3:35; 1 Kgs 2:23; Isa 49:18). Some suggest that כּי is functioning as an asseverative (“indeed, certainly”) to express what the speaker is determined will happen (Bush, 83; see 1 Sam 14:44; 2 Sam 3:9; 1 Kgs 2:23; 19:2). Here כִּי probably functions in a conditional sense: “if” or “if…except, unless” (BDB 473 s.v. כִּי2.b). So her vow may essentially mean “if anything except death should separate me from you!” The most likely view is (2): Ruth is swearing that death alone will separate her from Naomi.

[1:17]  sn Ruth’s devotion to Naomi is especially apparent here. Instead of receiving a sure blessing and going home (see v. 8), Ruth instead takes on a serious responsibility and subjects herself to potential divine punishment. Death, a power beyond Ruth’s control, will separate the two women, but until that time Ruth will stay by Naomi’s side and she will even be buried in the same place as Naomi.

[1:18]  ³⁶ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Naomi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:18]  ³⁷ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Ruth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:18]  ³⁸ tn Heb “she ceased speaking to her.” This does not imply that Naomi was completely silent toward Ruth. It simply means that Naomi stopped trying to convince her to go back to Moab (see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 84-85).

[8:17]  ³⁹ tn Heb “peoples of the land” (so NASB); NIV “people of other nationalities”; NRSV “peoples of the country.”

[8:17]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “were becoming Jews”; NAB “embraced Judaism.” However, the Hitpael stem of the verb is sometimes used of a feigning action rather than a genuine one (see, e.g., 2 Sam 13:5, 6), which is the way the present translation understands the use of the word here (cf. NEB “professed themselves Jews”; NRSV “professed to be Jews”). This is the only occurrence of this verb in the Hebrew Bible, so there are no exact parallels. However, in the context of v. 17 the motivation of their conversion (Heb “the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them”) should not be overlooked. The LXX apparently understood the conversion described here to be genuine, since it adds the words “they were being circumcised and” before “they became Jews.”

[8:17]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “had fallen upon them” (so NRSV); NIV “had seized them.”

[12:15]  ⁴² tn For the use of the verb “turn” (שׁוּב, shuv) in this sense, see BDB s.v. שׁוּב Qal.6.g and compare the usage in Pss 90:13; 6:4; Joel 2:14. It does not simply mean “again” as several of the English versions render it.

[12:15]  ⁴³ sn The Lord is sovereign over the nations and has allotted each of them their lands. See Deut 2:5 (Edom), Deut 2:9 (Moab), Deut 2:19 (Ammon). He promised to restore not only his own people Israel to their land (Jer 32:37) but also Moab (Jer 48:47) and Ammon (Jer 49:6).

[12:16]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “the ways of my people.” For this nuance of the word “ways” compare 10:2 and the notes there.

[12:16]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “taught my people to swear by Baal.”

[12:16]  ⁴⁶ tn The words “I swear” are not in the text but are implicit to the oath formula. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[12:16]  ⁴⁷ tn The words “If they do this” are not in the text. They are part of an attempt to break up a Hebrew sentence which is long and complex into equivalent shorter sentences consistent with contemporary English style. Verse 16 in Hebrew is all one sentence with a long complex conditional clause followed by a short consequence: “If they carefully learn the ways of my people to swear by name, ‘By the life of the Lord,’ as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.” The translation strives to create the same contingencies and modifications by breaking up the sentence into shorter sentences in accord with contemporary English style.

[12:16]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “they will be built up among my people.” The expression “be built up among” is without parallel. However, what is involved here is conceptually parallel to the ideas expressed in Isa 19:23-25 and Zech 14:16-19. That is, these people will be allowed to live on their own land, to worship the Lord there, and to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts. To translate literally would be meaningless or misleading for many readers.

[2:11]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “on that day.” The descriptive phrase “of salvation” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:11]  ⁵⁰ tc The LXX and Syriac have the 3rd person masculine singular suffix in both places (“his people” and “he will settle”; cf. NAB, TEV) in order to avoid the Lord’s speaking of himself in the third person. Such resort is unnecessary, however, in light of the common shifting of person in Hebrew narrative (cf. 3:2).

[8:23]  ⁵¹ sn This scene of universal and overwhelming attraction of the nations to Israel’s God finds initial fulfillment in the establishment of the church (Acts 2:5-11) but ultimate completion in the messianic age (Isa 45:14, 24; 60:14; Zech 14:16-21).

[1:11]  ⁵² sn My name will be great among the nations. In what is clearly a strongly ironic shift of thought, the Lord contrasts the unbelief and virtual paganism of the postexilic community with the conversion and obedience of the nations that will one day worship the God of Israel.

[2:32]  ⁵³ tn The syntax of this verse is disputed. Most read “light” and “glory” in parallelism, so Jesus is a light for revelation to the Gentiles and is glory to the people for Israel. Others see “light” (1:78-79) as a summary, while “revelation” and “glory” are parallel, so Jesus is light for all, but is revelation for the Gentiles and glory for Israel. Both readings make good sense and either could be correct, but Luke 1:78-79 and Acts 26:22-23 slightly favor this second option.

[2:32]  ⁵⁴ sn In other words, Jesus is a special cause for praise and honor (“glory”) for the nation.

[15:14]  ⁵⁵ sn Simeon is a form of the apostle Peter’s Aramaic name. James uses Peter’s “Jewish” name here.

[15:14]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “reported,” “described.”

[15:14]  ⁵⁷ tn BDAG 378 s.v. ἐπισκέπτομαι 3 translates this phrase in Acts 15:14, “God concerned himself about winning a people fr. among the nations.”

[15:14]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “to take,” but in the sense of selecting or choosing (accompanied by the preposition ἐκ [ek] plus a genitive specifying the group selected from) see Heb 5:1; also BDAG 584 s.v. λαμβάνω 6.

[15:14]  ⁵⁹ sn In the Greek text the expression “from among the Gentiles” is in emphatic position.

[15:15]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “And the.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[15:15]  ⁶¹ sn The term agree means “match” or “harmonize with.” James’ point in the introduction argues that many of the OT prophets taught this. He gives one example (which follows).

[15:16]  ⁶² tn Grk “After these things.”

[15:16]  ⁶³ sn The first person pronoun I refers to God and his activity. It is God who is doing this.

[15:16]  ⁶⁴ tn Or more generally, “dwelling”; perhaps, “royal tent.” According to BDAG 928 s.v. σκηνή the word can mean “tent” or “hut,” or more generally “lodging” or “dwelling.” In this verse (a quotation from Amos 9:11) BDAG refers this to David’s ruined kingdom; it is possibly an allusion to a king’s tent (a royal tent). God is at work to reestablish David’s line (Acts 2:30-36; 13:32-39).

[15:16]  ⁶⁵ tn BDAG 86 s.v. ἀνορθόω places this verb under the meaning “to build someth. up again after it has fallen, rebuild, restore,” but since ἀνοικοδομέω (anoikodomew, “rebuild”) has occurred twice in this verse already, “restore” is used here.

[15:17]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “so that all other people.” The use of this term follows Amos 9:11 LXX.

[15:17]  ⁶⁷ tn Here καί (kai) introduces an explanatory clause that explains the preceding phrase “the rest of humanity.” The clause introduced by καί (kai) could also be punctuated in English as a parenthesis.

[15:17]  ⁶⁸ tn Or “all the nations” (in Greek the word for “nation” and “Gentile” is the same).

[15:17]  sn Note the linkage back to v. 14 through the mention of Gentiles. What Simeon explained is what the OT text says would happen.

[15:17]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk “all the Gentiles on whom my name has been called.” Based on well-attested OT usage, the passive of ἐπικαλέω (epikalew) here indicates God’s ownership (“all the Gentiles who belong to me”) or calling (“all the Gentiles whom I have called to be my own”). See L&N 11.28.

[15:17]  ⁷⁰ sn A quotation from Amos 9:11-12 LXX. James demonstrated a high degree of cultural sensitivity when he cited a version of the text (the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament) that Gentiles would use.

[2:12]  ⁷¹ tn Or “without Christ.” Both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Because the context refers to ancient Israel’s messianic expectation, “Messiah” was employed in the translation at this point rather than “Christ.”

[2:12]  ⁷² tn Or “covenants of the promise.”

[2:13]  ⁷³ tn Or “have come near in the blood of Christ.”

[2:13]  sn See the note on “his blood” in 1:7.

[2:14]  ⁷⁴ tn Grk “who made the both one.”

[2:15]  ⁷⁵ tn Or “rendered inoperative.” This is a difficult text to translate because it is not easy to find an English term which communicates well the essence of the author’s meaning, especially since legal terminology is involved. Many other translations use the term “abolish” (so NRSV, NASB, NIV), but this term implies complete destruction which is not the author’s meaning here. The verb καταργέω (katargew) can readily have the meaning “to cause someth. to lose its power or effectiveness” (BDAG 525 s.v. 2, where this passage is listed), and this meaning fits quite naturally here within the author’s legal mindset. A proper English term which communicates this well is “nullify” since this word carries the denotation of “making something legally null and void.” This is not, however, a common English word. An alternate term like “rendered inoperative [or ineffective]” is also accurate but fairly inelegant. For this reason, the translation retains the term “nullify”; it is the best choice of the available options, despite its problems.

[2:15]  ⁷⁶ tn In this context the author is not referring to a new individual, but instead to a new corporate entity united in Christ (cf. BDAG 497 s.v. καινός 3.b: “All the Christians together appear as κ. ἄνθρωπος Eph 2:15”). This is clear from the comparison made between the Gentiles and Israel in the immediately preceding verses and the assertion in v. 14 that Christ “made both groups into one.” This is a different metaphor than the “new man” of Eph 4:24; in that passage the “new man” refers to the new life a believer has through a relationship to Christ.

[2:15]  ⁷⁷ tn Grk “in order to create the two into one new man.” Eph 2:14-16 is one sentence in Greek. A new sentence was started here in the translation for clarity since contemporary English is less tolerant of extended sentences.

[2:16]  ⁷⁸ tn Grk “by killing the hostility in himself.”

[2:18]  ⁷⁹ tn Or “for.” BDAG gives the consecutive ὅτι (Joti) as a possible category of NT usage (BDAG 732 s.v. 5.c).