Yeremia 29:8-9

29:8 “For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  says, ‘Do not let the prophets or those among you who claim to be able to predict the future by divination ²  deceive you. And do not pay any attention to the dreams that you are encouraging them to dream. 29:9 They are prophesying lies to you and claiming my authority to do so. ³  But I did not send them. I, the Lord, affirm it!’ ⁴ 

Yeremia 29:31

29:31 “Send a message to all the exiles in Babylon. Tell them, ‘The Lord has spoken about Shemaiah the Nehelamite. “Shemaiah has spoken to you as a prophet even though I did not send him. He is making you trust in a lie. ⁵ 

Yehezkiel 13:10-16

13:10 “‘This is because they have led my people astray saying, “All is well,” ⁶  when things are not well. When anyone builds a wall without mortar, ⁷  they coat it with whitewash. 13:11 Tell the ones who coat it with whitewash that it will fall. When there is a deluge of rain, hailstones ⁸  will fall and a violent wind will break out. ⁹  13:12 When the wall has collapsed, people will ask you, “Where is the whitewash you coated it with?”

13:13 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: In my rage I will make a violent wind break out. In my anger there will be a deluge of rain and hailstones in destructive fury. 13:14 I will break down the wall you coated with whitewash and knock it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed. When it falls you will be destroyed beneath it, ¹⁰  and you will know that I am the Lord. 13:15 I will vent my rage against the wall, and against those who coated it with whitewash. Then I will say to you, “The wall is no more and those who whitewashed it are no more – 13:16 those prophets of Israel who would prophesy about Jerusalem ¹¹  and would see visions of peace for it, when there was no peace,” declares the sovereign Lord.’

Mikha 3:5

3:5 This is what the Lord says: “The prophets who mislead my people

are as good as dead. ¹² 

If someone gives them enough to eat,

they offer an oracle of peace. ¹³ 

But if someone does not give them food,

they are ready to declare war on him. ¹⁴ 

Matius 24:4

24:4 Jesus answered them, ¹⁵  “Watch out ¹⁶  that no one misleads you.

Matius 24:24

24:24 For false messiahs ¹⁷  and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Markus 13:5

13:5 Jesus began to say to them, “Watch out ¹⁸  that no one misleads you.

Markus 13:22

13:22 For false messiahs ¹⁹  and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, the elect.

Galatia 6:7-8

6:7 Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. ²⁰  For a person ²¹  will reap what he sows, 6:8 because the person who sows to his own flesh ²²  will reap corruption ²³  from the flesh, ²⁴  but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

Kolose 2:4

2:4 I say this so that no one will deceive you through arguments ²⁵  that sound reasonable. ²⁶ 

Kolose 2:8

2:8 Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you ²⁷  through an empty, deceitful philosophy ²⁸  that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits ²⁹  of the world, and not according to Christ.

Kolose 2:18

2:18 Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths ³⁰  about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind. ³¹ 

Kolose 2:2-3

2:2 My goal is that ³²  their hearts, having been knit together ³³  in love, may be encouraged, and that ³⁴  they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ³⁵  2:3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Kolose 2:10-12

2:10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. 2:11 In him you also were circumcised – not, however, ³⁶  with a circumcision performed by human hands, but by the removal ³⁷  of the fleshly body, ³⁸  that is, ³⁹  through the circumcision done by Christ. 2:12 Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your ⁴⁰  faith in the power ⁴¹  of God who raised him from the dead.

Kolose 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ⁴²  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ⁴³ 

Yohanes 4:1

Departure From Judea

4:1 Now when Jesus ⁴⁴  knew that the Pharisees ⁴⁵  had heard that he ⁴⁶  was winning ⁴⁷  and baptizing more disciples than John

[29:8]  ¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”

[29:8]  sn See study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for the explanation of this title.

[29:8]  ² sn See the study notes on 27:9 for this term.

[29:9]  ³ tn Heb “prophesying lies to you in my name.”

[29:9]  sn For the significance of “in my name” see the study notes on 14:14 and 23:27.

[29:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[29:31]  ⁵ tn Or “is giving you false assurances.”

[13:10]  ⁶ tn Or “peace.”

[13:10]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew word only occurs here in the Bible. According to L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 1:202-3) it is also used in the Mishnah of a wall of rough stones without mortar. This fits the context here comparing the false prophetic messages to a nice coat of whitewash on a structurally unstable wall.

[13:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “and you, O hailstones.”

[13:11]  ⁹ sn A violent wind will break out. God’s judgments are frequently described in storm imagery (Pss 18:7-15; 77:17-18; 83:15; Isa 28:17; 30:30; Jer 23:19; 30:23).

[13:14]  ¹⁰ tn Or “within it,” referring to the city of Jerusalem.

[13:16]  ¹¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:5]  ¹² tn Heb “concerning the prophets, those who mislead my people.” The first person pronominal suffix is awkward in a quotation formula that introduces the words of the Lord. For this reason some prefer to begin the quotation after “the Lord says” (cf. NIV), but this leaves “concerning the prophets” hanging very awkwardly at the beginning of the quotation. It is preferable to add הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) at the beginning of the quotation, right after the graphically similar יְהוָה (yÿhvah; see D. R. Hillers, Micah [Hermeneia], 44). The phrase הוֹי עַל (hoy ’al, “woe upon”) occurs in Jer 50:27 and Ezek 13:3 (with “the prophets” following the preposition in the latter instance).

[3:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “those who bite with their teeth and cry out, ‘peace.’” The phrase “bite with the teeth” is taken here as idiomatic for eating. Apparently these prophets were driven by mercenary motives. If they were paid well, they gave positive oracles to their clients, but if someone could not afford to pay them, they were hostile and delivered oracles of doom.

[3:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “but [as for the one] who does not place [food] in their mouths, they prepare for war against him.”

[24:4]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “answering, Jesus said to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[24:4]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Be on guard.”

[24:24]  ¹⁷ tn Or “false christs”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[13:5]  ¹⁸ tn Or “Be on guard.”

[13:22]  ¹⁹ tn Or “false christs”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[6:7]  ²⁰ tn Or “is not mocked,” “will not be ridiculed” (L&N 33.409). BDAG 660 s.v. μυκτηρίζω has “of God οὐ μ. he is not to be mocked, treated w. contempt, perh. outwitted Gal 6:7.”

[6:7]  ²¹ tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.

[6:8]  ²² tn BDAG 915 s.v. σάρξ 2.c.α states: “In Paul’s thought esp., all parts of the body constitute a totality known as σ. or flesh, which is dominated by sin to such a degree that wherever flesh is, all forms of sin are likew. present, and no good thing can live in the σάρξ…Gal 5:13, 24;…Opp. τὸ πνεῦμα…Gal 3:3; 5:16, 17ab; 6:8ab.”

[6:8]  ²³ tn Or “destruction.”

[6:8]  ²⁴ tn See the note on the previous occurrence of the word “flesh” in this verse.

[2:4]  ²⁵ tn BDAG 812 s.v. πιθανολογία states, “persuasive speech, art of persuasion (so Pla., Theaet. 162e) in an unfavorable sense in its only occurrence in our lit. ἐν πιθανολογίᾳ by specious arguments Col 2:4 (cp. PLips 40 III, 7 διὰ πιθανολογίας).”

[2:4]  ²⁶ sn Paul’s point is that even though the arguments seem to make sense (sound reasonable), they are in the end false. Paul is not here arguing against the study of philosophy or serious thinking per se, but is arguing against the uncritical adoption of a philosophy that is at odds with a proper view of Christ and the ethics of the Christian life.

[2:8]  ²⁷ tn The Greek construction here is somewhat difficult and can be literally rendered “Be careful, lest someone shall be the one who takes you captive.”

[2:8]  ²⁸ tn The Greek reads τῆς φιλοσοφίας καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης (th" filosofia" kai kenh" apath"). The two nouns φιλοσοφίας and κενῆς are joined by one article and probably form a hendiadys. Thus the second noun was taken as modifying the first, as the translation shows.

[2:8]  ²⁹ tn The phrase κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου (kata ta stoiceia tou kosmou) is difficult to translate because of problems surrounding the precise meaning of στοιχεῖα in this context. Originally it referred to the letters of the alphabet, with the idea at its root of “things in a row”; see C. Vaughn, “Colossians,” EBC 11:198. M. J. Harris (Colossians and Philemon [EGGNT], 93) outlines three probable options: (1) the material elements which comprise the physical world; (2) the elementary teachings of the world (so NEB, NASB, NIV); (3) the elemental spirits of the world (so NEB, RSV). The first option is highly unlikely because Paul is not concerned here with the physical elements, e.g., carbon or nitrogen. The last two options are both possible. Though the Gnostic-like heresy at Colossae would undoubtedly have been regarded by Paul as an “elementary teaching” at best, because the idea of “spirits” played such a role in Gnostic thought, he may very well have had in mind elemental spirits that operated in the world or controlled the world (i.e., under God’s authority and permission).

[2:18]  ³⁰ tn For the various views on the translation of ἐμβατεύων (embateuwn), see BDAG 321 s.v. ἐμβατεύω 4. The idea in this context seems to be that the individual in question loves to talk on and on about his spiritual experiences, but in reality they are only coming out of his own sinful flesh.

[2:18]  ³¹ tn Grk “by the mind of his flesh.” In the translation above, σαρκός (sarkos) is taken as an attributive genitive. The phrase could also be translated “by his sinful thoughts,” since it appears that Paul is using σάρξ (sarx, “flesh”) here in a morally negative way.

[2:2]  ³² tn Verse two begins a subordinate ἵνα (Jina) clause which was divided up into two sentences for the sake of clarity in English. Thus the phrase “My goal is that” is an attempt to reflect in the translation the purpose expressed through the ἵνα clauses.

[2:2]  ³³ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβιβάζω 1.b reads “unite, knit together.” Some commentators take the verb as a reference to instruction, “instructed in love.” See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 93.

[2:2]  ³⁴ tn The phrase “and that” translates the first εἰς (eis) clause of v. 2 and reflects the second goal of Paul’s striving and struggle for the Colossians – the first is “encouragement” and the second is “full assurance.”

[2:2]  ³⁵ tc There are at least a dozen variants here, almost surely generated by the unusual wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ (tou qeou, Cristou, “of God, Christ”; so Ì⁴⁶ B Hil). Scribes would be prone to conform this to more common Pauline expressions such as “of God, who is in Christ” (33), “of God, the Father of Christ” (א* A C 048^vid 1175 bo), and “of the God and Father of Christ” (א² Ψ 075 0278 365 1505 pc). Even though the external support for the wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ is hardly overwhelming, it clearly best explains the rise of the other readings and should thus be regarded as authentic.

[2:11]  ³⁶ tn The terms “however” and “but” in this sentence were supplied in order to emphasize the contrast.

[2:11]  ³⁷ tn The articular noun τῇ ἀπεκδύσει (th apekdusei) is a noun which ends in -σις (-sis) and therefore denotes action, i.e., “removal.” Since the head noun is a verbal noun, the following genitive τοῦ σώματος (tou swmatos) is understood as an objective genitive, receiving the action of the head noun.

[2:11]  ³⁸ tn Grk “in the removal of the body of flesh.” The genitive τῆς σαρκός (th" sarko") has been translated as an attributive genitive, “fleshly body.”

[2:11]  ³⁹ tn The second prepositional phrase beginning with ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ (en th peritomh) is parallel to the prepositional phrase ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει (en th apekdusei) and gives a further explanation of it. The words “that is” were supplied to bring out this force in the translation.

[2:12]  ⁴⁰ tn The article with the genitive modifier τῆς πίστεως (th" pistew") is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[2:12]  ⁴¹ tn The genitive τῆς ἐνεργείας (th" energeia") has been translated as an objective genitive, “faith in the power.”

[2:1]  ⁴² tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ⁴³ tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”

[4:1]  ⁴⁴ tc Several early and important witnesses, along with the majority of later ones (Ì^66c,75 A B C L W^s Ψ 083 ˹³ 33 Ï sa), have κύριος (kurio", “Lord”) here instead of ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsou", “Jesus”). As significant as this external support is, the internal evidence seems to be on the side of ᾿Ιησοῦς. “Jesus” is mentioned two more times in the first two verses of chapter four in a way that is stylistically awkward (so much so that the translation has substituted the pronoun for the first one; see tn note below). This seems to be sufficient reason to motivate scribes to change the wording to κύριος. Further, the reading ᾿Ιησοῦς is not without decent support, though admittedly not as strong as that for κύριος (Ì^66* א D Θ 086 ˹ 565 1241 al lat bo). On the other hand, this Gospel speaks of Jesus as Lord in the evangelist’s narrative descriptions elsewhere only in 11:2; 20:18, 20; 21:12; and probably 6:23, preferring ᾿Ιησοῦς most of the time. This fact could be used to argue that scribes, acquainted with John’s style, changed κύριος to ᾿Ιησοῦς. But the immediate context generally is weighed more heavily than an author’s style. It is possible that neither word was in the original text and scribes supplied what they thought most appropriate (see TCGNT 176). But without ms evidence to this effect coupled with the harder reading ᾿Ιησοῦς, this conjecture must remain doubtful. All in all, it is best to regard ᾿Ιησοῦς as the original reading here.

[4:1]  ⁴⁵ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[4:1]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “Jesus”; the repetition of the proper name is somewhat redundant in English (see the beginning of the verse) and so the pronoun (“he”) has been substituted here.

[4:1]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “was making.”