Mazmur 71:5-6

71:5 For you give me confidence, ¹  O Lord;

O Lord, I have trusted in you since I was young. ² 

71:6 I have leaned on you since birth; ³ 

you pulled me ⁴  from my mother’s womb.

I praise you continually. ⁵ 

Mazmur 71:17-18

71:17 O God, you have taught me since I was young,

and I am still declaring ⁶  your amazing deeds.

71:18 Even when I am old and gray, ⁷ 

O God, do not abandon me,

until I tell the next generation about your strength,

and those coming after me about your power. ⁸ 

Mazmur 71:1

Psalm 71 ⁹ 

71:1 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter!

Never let me be humiliated!

1 Samuel 7:12

7:12 Samuel took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen. ¹⁰  He named it Ebenezer, ¹¹  saying, “Up to here the Lord has helped us.”

Yesaya 46:3-4

46:3 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob, ¹² 

all you who are left from the family of Israel, ¹³ 

you who have been carried from birth, ¹⁴ 

you who have been supported from the time you left the womb. ¹⁵ 

46:4 Even when you are old, I will take care of you, ¹⁶ 

even when you have gray hair, I will carry you.

I made you and I will support you;

I will carry you and rescue you. ¹⁷ 

Yesaya 46:2

46:2 Together they bend low and kneel down;

they are unable to rescue the images; ¹⁸ 

they themselves ¹⁹  head off into captivity. ²⁰ 

Kolose 1:9-10

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ²¹  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ²²  to fill ²³  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ²⁴  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ²⁵  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Kolose 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ²⁶  brothers and sisters ²⁷  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ²⁸  from God our Father! ²⁹ 

Titus 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³⁰  a slave ³¹  of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith ³²  of God’s chosen ones and the knowledge of the truth that is in keeping with godliness,

Titus 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³³  a slave ³⁴  of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith ³⁵  of God’s chosen ones and the knowledge of the truth that is in keeping with godliness,

[71:5]  ¹ tn Heb “for you [are] my hope.”

[71:5]  ² tn Heb “O Lord, my source of confidence from my youth.”

[71:6]  ³ tn Heb “from the womb.”

[71:6]  ⁴ tc The form in the MT is derived from גָזָה (gazah, “to cut off”), perhaps picturing God as the one who severed the psalmist’s umbilical cord. Many interpreters and translators prefer to emend the text to גֹחִי (gokhiy), from גוּח (gukh) or גִיח, (gikh, “pull out”; see Ps 22:9; cf. the present translation) or to עוּזִּי (’uzziy, “my strength”; cf. NEB “my protector since I left my mother’s womb”).

[71:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “in you [is] my praise continually.”

[71:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “and until now I am declaring.”

[71:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “and even unto old age and gray hair.”

[71:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “until I declare your arm to a generation, to everyone who comes your power.” God’s “arm” here is an anthropomorphism that symbolizes his great strength.

[71:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 71. The psalmist prays for divine intervention and expresses his confidence that God will protect and vindicate him. The first three verses are very similar to Ps 31:1-3a.

[7:12]  ¹⁰ tn Cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT “Jeshanah.”

[7:12]  ¹¹ sn The name Ebenezer (אֶבֶן הָעָזֶר) means “stone of help” in Hebrew (cf. TEV); NLT adds the meaning parenthetically after the name.

[46:3]  ¹² tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV “descendants of Jacob.”

[46:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “and all the remnant of the house of Israel.”

[46:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from the womb” (so NRSV); KJV “from the belly”; NAB “from your infancy.”

[46:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “who have been lifted up from the womb.”

[46:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “until old age, I am he” (NRSV similar); NLT “I will be your God throughout your lifetime.”

[46:4]  ¹⁷ sn Unlike the weary idol gods, whose images must be carried by animals, the Lord carries his weary people.

[46:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[the] burden,” i.e., their images, the heavy burden carried by the animals.

[46:2]  ¹⁹ tn נַפְשָׁם (nafsham, “their souls/lives”) is equivalent here to a third masculine plural suffix, but the third feminine singular verb הָלָכָה (halakhah, “they go”) agrees with the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, life”).

[46:2]  ²⁰ sn The downfall of Babylon is depicted here. The idols are carried off by the victorious enemy; the gods are likened to defeated captives who cower before the enemy and are taken into exile.

[1:9]  ²¹ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ²² tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ²³ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[1:10]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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.”

[1:2]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ²⁹ 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.

[1:1]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ³¹ tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) 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.

[1:1]  sn Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s slave or servant is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For a Jew this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Josh 14:7), David (Ps 89:3; cf. 2 Sam 7:5, 8) and Elijah (2 Kgs 10:10); all these men were “servants (or slaves) of the Lord.”

[1:1]  ³² tn Grk “for the faith,” possibly, “in accordance with the faith.”

[1:1]  ³³ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ³⁴ tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) 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.

[1:1]  sn Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s slave or servant is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For a Jew this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Josh 14:7), David (Ps 89:3; cf. 2 Sam 7:5, 8) and Elijah (2 Kgs 10:10); all these men were “servants (or slaves) of the Lord.”

[1:1]  ³⁵ tn Grk “for the faith,” possibly, “in accordance with the faith.”