Roma 16:12

16:12 Greet Tryphena ¹  and Tryphosa, laborers in the Lord. Greet my dear friend ²  Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.

Roma 16:1

Personal Greetings

16:1 Now I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant ³  of the church in Cenchrea,

Kolose 1:16

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ⁴  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

Kolose 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ⁵  brothers and sisters ⁶  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ⁷  from God our Father! ⁸ 

Kolose 1:9

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ⁹  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ¹⁰  to fill ¹¹  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Kolose 1:5

1:5 Your faith and love have arisen ¹²  from the hope laid up ¹³  for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel ¹⁴ 

Kolose 1:15

The Supremacy of Christ

1:15 ¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn ¹⁶  over all creation, ¹⁷ 

Kolose 1:23

1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ¹⁸  without shifting ¹⁹  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

Filipi 2:16

2:16 by holding on to ²⁰  the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.

Filipi 4:3

4:3 Yes, I say also to you, true companion, ²¹  help them. They have struggled together in the gospel ministry ²²  along with me and Clement and my other coworkers, whose names are in the book of life.

Filipi 4:1

Christian Practices

4:1 So then, my brothers and sisters, ²³  dear friends whom I long to see, my joy and crown, stand in the Lord in this way, my dear friends!

Filipi 1:3

Prayer for the Church

1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you. ²⁴ 

Filipi 2:9

2:9 As a result God exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

Filipi 1:12

Ministry as a Prisoner

1:12 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, ²⁵  that my situation has actually turned out to advance the gospel: ²⁶ 

Filipi 1:2

1:2 Grace and peace to you ²⁷  from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Filipi 3:8

3:8 More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things – indeed, I regard them as dung! ²⁸  – that I may gain Christ,

Filipi 3:1

True and False Righteousness

3:1 Finally, my brothers and sisters, ²⁹  rejoice in the Lord! To write this again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

Titus 1:10

1:10 For there are many ³⁰  rebellious people, idle talkers, and deceivers, especially those with Jewish connections, ³¹ 

Titus 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³²  a slave ³³  of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith ³⁴  of God’s chosen ones and the knowledge of the truth that is in keeping with godliness,

Ibrani 6:10

6:10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints.

[16:12]  ¹ sn The spelling Tryphena is also used by NIV, NKJV, NLT; the name is alternately spelled Tryphaena (NASB, NRSV).

[16:12]  ² tn Grk “Greet the beloved.”

[16:1]  ³ tn Or “deaconess.” It is debated whether διάκονος (diakonos) here refers to a specific office within the church. One contextual argument used to support this view is that Phoebe is associated with a particular church, Cenchrea, and as such would therefore be a deacon of that church. In the NT some who are called διάκονος are related to a particular church, yet the scholarly consensus is that such individuals are not deacons, but “servants” or “ministers” (other viable translations for διάκονος). For example, Epaphras is associated with the church in Colossians and is called a διάκονος in Col 1:7, but no contemporary translation regards him as a deacon. In 1 Tim 4:6 Paul calls Timothy a διάκονος; Timothy was associated with the church in Ephesus, but he obviously was not a deacon. In addition, the lexical evidence leans away from this view: Within the NT, the διακον- word group rarely functions with a technical nuance. In any case, the evidence is not compelling either way. The view accepted in the translation above is that Phoebe was a servant of the church, not a deaconess, although this conclusion should be regarded as tentative.

[1:16]  ⁴ tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.

[1:2]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ⁸ 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.

[1:9]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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.

[1:5]  ¹² tn Col 1:3-8 form one long sentence in the Greek text and have been divided at the end of v. 4 and v. 6 and within v. 6 for clarity, in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English toward shorter sentences. Thus the phrase “Your faith and love have arisen from the hope” is literally “because of the hope.” The perfect tense “have arisen” was chosen in the English to reflect the fact that the recipients of the letter had acquired this hope at conversion in the past, but that it still remains and motivates them to trust in Christ and to love one another.

[1:5]  ¹³ tn BDAG 113 s.v. ἀπόκειμαι 2 renders ἀποκειμένην (apokeimenhn) with the expression “reserved” in this verse.

[1:5]  ¹⁴ tn The term “the gospel” (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, tou euangeliou) is in apposition to “the word of truth” (τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας, tw logw th" alhqeia") as indicated in the translation.

[1:15]  ¹⁵ sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[1:15]  ¹⁶ tn The Greek term πρωτότοκος (prwtotokos) could refer either to first in order of time, such as a first born child, or it could refer to one who is preeminent in rank. M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 43, expresses the meaning of the word well: “The ‘firstborn’ was either the eldest child in a family or a person of preeminent rank. The use of this term to describe the Davidic king in Ps 88:28 LXX (=Ps 89:27 EVV), ‘I will also appoint him my firstborn (πρωτότοκον), the most exalted of the kings of the earth,’ indicates that it can denote supremacy in rank as well as priority in time. But whether the πρωτό- element in the word denotes time, rank, or both, the significance of the -τοκος element as indicating birth or origin (from τίκτω, give birth to) has been virtually lost except in ref. to lit. birth.” In Col 1:15 the emphasis is on the priority of Jesus’ rank as over and above creation (cf. 1:16 and the “for” clause referring to Jesus as Creator).

[1:15]  ¹⁷ tn The genitive construction πάσης κτίσεως (pash" ktisew") is a genitive of subordination and is therefore translated as “over all creation.” See ExSyn 103-4.

[1:23]  ¹⁸ tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

[1:23]  ¹⁹ tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.

[2:16]  ²⁰ tn Or “holding out, holding forth.”

[4:3]  ²¹ tn Or “faithful fellow worker.” This is more likely a descriptive noun, although some scholars interpret the word σύζυγος (suzugos) here as a proper name (“Syzygos”), L&N 42.45.

[4:3]  ²² tn Grk “in the gospel,” a metonymy in which the gospel itself is substituted for the ministry of making the gospel known.

[4:1]  ²³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

[1:3]  ²⁴ tn This could also be translated “for your every remembrance of me.” See discussion below.

[1:12]  ²⁵ 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).

[1:12]  ²⁶ tn Grk “for the advance of the gospel.” The genitive εὐαγγελίου (euangeliou) is taken as objective.

[1:2]  ²⁷ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[3:8]  ²⁸ tn The word here translated “dung” was often used in Greek as a vulgar term for fecal matter. As such it would most likely have had a certain shock value for the readers. This may well be Paul’s meaning here, especially since the context is about what the flesh produces.

[3:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

[1:10]  ³⁰ tc ‡ The earliest and best mss lack καί (kai) after πολλοί (polloi; so א A C P 088 81 104 365 614 629 630 al sy co), though the conjunction is found in several significant witnesses, chiefly of the Western and Byzantine texts (D F G I Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï lat). Although it is possible that some scribes omitted the word, thinking it was superfluous, it is also possible that others added the conjunction for clarification. Judging by the pedigree of the witnesses and the inconclusiveness of the internal evidence, the shorter reading is considered to be most likely original. NA²⁷ puts the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[1:10]  ³¹ tn Grk “those of the circumcision.” Some translations take this to refer to Jewish converts to Christianity (cf. NAB “Jewish Christians”; TEV “converts from Judaism”; CEV “Jewish followers”) while others are less clear (cf. NLT “those who insist on circumcision for salvation”).

[1:1]  ³² 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]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ tn Grk “for the faith,” possibly, “in accordance with the faith.”