Yudas 1:7

1:7 So also ¹  Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, ²  since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire ³  in a way similar to ⁴  these angels, ⁵  are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

Mazmur 18:25-26

18:25 You prove to be loyal ⁶  to one who is faithful; ⁷ 

you prove to be trustworthy ⁸  to one who is innocent. ⁹ 

18:26 You prove to be reliable ¹⁰  to one who is blameless,

but you prove to be deceptive ¹¹  to one who is perverse. ¹² 

Mazmur 137:7-8

137:7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did

on the day Jerusalem fell. ¹³ 

They said, “Tear it down, tear it down, ¹⁴ 

right to its very foundation!”

137:8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! ¹⁵ 

How blessed will be the one who repays you

for what you dished out to us! ¹⁶ 

Yeremia 51:24

51:24 “But I will repay Babylon

and all who live in Babylonia

for all the wicked things they did in Zion

right before the eyes of you Judeans,” ¹⁷ 

says the Lord. ¹⁸ 

Obaja 1:15

The Coming Day of the Lord

1:15 “For the day of the Lord ¹⁹  is approaching ²⁰  for all the nations! ²¹ 

Just as you have done, so it will be done to you.

You will get exactly what your deeds deserve. ²² 

Markus 4:24

4:24 And he said to them, “Take care about what you hear. The measure you use will be the measure you receive, ²³  and more will be added to you.

Lukas 6:38

6:38 Give, and it will be given to you: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, ²⁴  will be poured ²⁵  into your lap. For the measure you use will be the measure you receive.” ²⁶ 

Lukas 6:2

6:2 But some of the Pharisees ²⁷  said, “Why are you ²⁸  doing what is against the law ²⁹  on the Sabbath?”

Kolose 1:6

1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel ³⁰  is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing ³¹  among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

Kolose 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ³²  brothers and sisters ³³  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ³⁴  from God our Father! ³⁵ 

Kolose 1:6-7

1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel ³⁶  is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing ³⁷  among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. 1:7 You learned the gospel ³⁸  from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave ³⁹  – a ⁴⁰  faithful minister of Christ on our ⁴¹  behalf –

Yakobus 2:13

2:13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over ⁴²  judgment.

Wahyu 18:6

18:6 Repay her the same way she repaid others; ⁴³  pay her back double ⁴⁴  corresponding to her deeds. In the cup she mixed, mix double the amount for her.

[1:7]  ¹ tn Grk “as.”

[1:7]  ² tn Grk “the towns [or cities] surrounding them.”

[1:7]  ³ tn Grk “strange flesh.” This phrase has been variously interpreted. It could refer to flesh of another species (such as angels lusting after human flesh). This would aptly describe the sin of the angels, but not easily explain the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. It could refer to the homosexual practices of the Sodomites, but a difficulty arises from the use of ἕτερος ({etero"; “strange,” “other”). When this is to be distinguished from ἄλλος (allos, “another”) it suggests “another of a different kind.” If so, would that properly describe homosexual behavior? In response, the language could easily be compact: “pursued flesh other than what was normally pursued.” However, would this find an analogy in the lust of angels (such would imply that angels normally had sexual relations of some sort, but cf. Matt 22:30)? Another alternative is that the focus of the parallel is on the activity of the surrounding cities and the activity of the angels. This is especially plausible since the participles ἐκπορνεύσασαι (ekporneusasai, “having indulged in sexual immorality”) and ἀπελθοῦσαι (apelqousai, “having pursued”) have concord with “cities” (πόλεις, poleis), a feminine plural noun, rather than with Sodom and Gomorrah (both masculine nouns). If so, then their sin would not necessarily have to be homosexuality. However, most likely the feminine participles are used because of constructio ad sensum (construction according to sense). That is, since both Sodom and Gomorrah are cities, the feminine is used to imply that all the cities are involved. The connection with angels thus seems to be somewhat loose: Both angels and Sodom and Gomorrah indulged in heinous sexual immorality. Thus, whether the false teachers indulge in homosexual activity is not the point; mere sexual immorality is enough to condemn them.

[1:7]  ⁴ tn Or “in the same way as.”

[1:7]  ⁵ tn “Angels” is not in the Greek text; but the masculine demonstrative pronoun most likely refers back to the angels of v. 6.

[18:25]  ⁶ tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 25-29 draw attention to God’s characteristic actions. Based on his experience, the psalmist generalizes about God’s just dealings with people (vv. 25-27) and about the way in which God typically empowers him on the battlefield (vv. 28-29). The Hitpael stem is used in vv. 26-27 in a reflexive resultative (or causative) sense. God makes himself loyal, etc. in the sense that he conducts or reveals himself as such. On this use of the Hitpael stem, see GKC 149-50 §54.e.

[18:25]  ⁷ tn Or “to a faithful follower.” A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[18:25]  ⁸ tn Or “innocent.”

[18:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “a man of innocence.”

[18:26]  ¹⁰ tn Or “blameless.”

[18:26]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew verb פָתַל (patal) is used in only three other texts. In Gen 30:8 it means literally “to wrestle,” or “to twist.” In Job 5:13 it refers to devious individuals, and in Prov 8:8 to deceptive words.

[18:26]  ¹² tn The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh) has the basic nuance “twisted, crooked,” and by extension refers to someone or something that is morally perverse. It appears frequently in Proverbs, where it is used of evil people (22:5), speech (8:8; 19:1), thoughts (11:20; 17:20), and life styles (2:15; 28:6). A righteous king opposes such people (Ps 101:4).

[18:26]  sn Verses 25-26 affirm God’s justice. He responds to people in accordance with their moral character. His response mirrors their actions. The faithful and blameless find God to be loyal and reliable in his dealings with them. But deceivers discover he is able and willing to use deceit to destroy them. For a more extensive discussion of the theme of divine deception in the OT, see R. B. Chisholm, “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 11-28.

[137:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem.”

[137:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “lay [it] bare, lay [it] bare.”

[137:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “O devastated daughter of Babylon.” The psalmist dramatically anticipates Babylon’s demise.

[137:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “O the happiness of the one who repays you your wage which you paid to us.”

[51:24]  ¹⁷ tn Or “Media, you are my war club…I will use you to smash…leaders. So before your very eyes I will repay…for all the wicked things they did in Zion.” For explanation see the translator’s note on v. 20. The position of the phrase “before your eyes” at the end of the verse after “which they did in Zion” and the change in person from second masculine singular in vv. 20b-23 (“I used you to smite”) to second masculine plural in “before your eyes” argue that a change in referent/addressee occurs in this verse. To maintain that the referent in vv. 20-23 is Media/Cyrus requires that this position and change in person be ignored; “before your eyes” then is attached to “I will repay.” The present translation follows J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 757) and F. B. Huey (Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 423) in seeing the referent as the Judeans who had witnessed the destruction of Zion/Jerusalem. The word “Judean” has been supplied for the sake of identifying the referent for the modern reader.

[51:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[1:15]  ¹⁹ sn The term יוֹם (yom, “day”) is repeated ten times in vv. 11-14 referring to the time period when Judah/Jerusalem suffered calamity which Edom exploited for its own sinful gain. In each of those cases יוֹם was qualified by a following genitive to describe Judah’s plight, e.g., “in the day of your brother’s calamity” (v. 12). Here it appears again but now followed by the divine name to describe the time of God’s judgment against Edom for its crimes against humanity: “the day of the Lord.” In the present translation, the expression בְּיוֹם (bÿyom; literally, “In the day of”) was rendered “When…” in vv. 11-14. However, here it is translated more literally because the expression “the day of the Lord” is a well-known technical expression for a time of divine intervention in judgment. While this expression sometimes refers to the final eschatological day of God’s judgment, it may also refer occasionally to historical acts of judgment.

[1:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “near” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “is coming soon.”

[1:15]  ²¹ sn God’s judgment would not be confined to Edom. Edom would certainly be punished in just measure for its wrongdoing, but “the day of the Lord” would also encompass judgment of the nations (v. 15).

[1:15]  ²² tn Heb “your deed will return on your own head.” Verses 15 and 16 provide an example of ironic reversal, whereby the tables are turned and poetic justice is served. This is a motif that is common in prophetic oracles against foreign nations.

[4:24]  ²³ tn Grk “by [the measure] with which you measure it will be measured to you.”

[6:38]  ²⁴ sn The background to the image pressed down, shaken together, running over is pouring out grain for measure in the marketplace. One often poured the grain into a container, shook it to level out the grain and then poured in some more. Those who are generous have generosity running over for them.

[6:38]  ²⁵ tn Grk “they will give”; that is, “pour.” The third person plural has been replaced by the passive in the translation.

[6:38]  ²⁶ tn Grk “by [the measure] with which you measure it will be measured back to you.”

[6:2]  ²⁷ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[6:2]  ²⁸ tn Note that the verb is second person plural (with an understood plural pronominal subject in Greek). The charge is again indirectly made against Jesus by charging the disciples.

[6:2]  ²⁹ sn The alleged violation expressed by the phrase what is against the law is performing work on the Sabbath. That the disciples ate from such a field is no problem given Deut 23:25, but Sabbath activity is another matter in the leaders’ view (Exod 20:8-11 and Mishnah, m. Shabbat 7.2). The supposed violation involved reaping, threshing, winnowing, and preparing food. This probably explains why the clause describing the disciples “rubbing” the heads of grain in their hands is mentioned last, in emphatic position. This was preparation of food.

[1:6]  ³⁰ tn Grk “just as in the entire world it is bearing fruit.” The antecedent (“the gospel”) of the implied subject (“it”) of ἐστιν (estin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:6]  ³¹ tn Though the participles are periphrastic with the present tense verb ἐστίν (estin), the presence of the temporal indicator “from the day” in the next clause indicates that this is a present tense that reaches into the past and should be translated as “has been bearing fruit and growing.” For a discussion of this use of the present tense, see ExSyn 519-20.

[1:2]  ³² tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ³³ 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).

[1:2]  ³⁴ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ³⁵ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[1:6]  ³⁶ tn Grk “just as in the entire world it is bearing fruit.” The antecedent (“the gospel”) of the implied subject (“it”) of ἐστιν (estin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:6]  ³⁷ tn Though the participles are periphrastic with the present tense verb ἐστίν (estin), the presence of the temporal indicator “from the day” in the next clause indicates that this is a present tense that reaches into the past and should be translated as “has been bearing fruit and growing.” For a discussion of this use of the present tense, see ExSyn 519-20.

[1:7]  ³⁸ tn Or “learned it.” The Greek text simply has “you learned” without the reference to “the gospel,” but “the gospel” is supplied to clarify the sense of the clause. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[1:7]  ³⁹ tn The Greek word translated “fellow slave” is σύνδουλος (sundoulo"); the σύν- prefix here denotes association. Though δοῦλος is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:7]  ⁴⁰ tn The Greek text has “who (ὅς, Jos) is a faithful minister.” The above translation conveys the antecedent of the relative pronoun quite well and avoids the redundancy with the following substantival participle of v. 8, namely, “who told” (ὁ δηλώσας, Jo dhlwsa").

[1:7]  ⁴¹ tc ‡ Judging by the superior witnesses for the first person pronoun ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “us”; Ì⁴⁶ א* A B D* F G 326* 1505 al) vs. the second person pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “you”; found in א² C D¹ Ψ 075 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co), ἡμῶν should be regarded as original. Although it is possible that ἡμῶν was an early alteration of ὑμῶν (either unintentionally, as dittography, since it comes seventeen letters after the previous ἡμῶν; or intentionally, to conform to the surrounding first person pronouns), this supposition is difficult to maintain in light of the varied and valuable witnesses for this reading. Further, the second person is both embedded in the verb ἐμάθετε (emaqete) and is explicit in v. 8 (ὑμῶν). Hence, the motivation to change to the first person pronoun is counterbalanced by such evidence. The second person pronoun may have been introduced unintentionally via homoioarcton with the ὑπέρ (Juper) that immediately precedes it. As well, the second person reading is somewhat harder for it seems to address Epaphras’ role only in relation to Paul and his colleagues, rather than in relation to the Colossians. Nevertheless, the decision must be based ultimately on external evidence (because the internal evidence can be variously interpreted), and this strongly supports ἡμῶν.

[2:13]  ⁴² tn Grk “boasts against, exults over,” in victory.

[18:6]  ⁴³ tn The word “others” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[18:6]  ⁴⁴ tn On this term BDAG 252 s.v. διπλόω states, “to double τὰ διπλᾶ pay back double Rv 18:6.”