Efesus 2:5-6

2:5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! ¹  – 2:6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Roma 6:5-11

6:5 For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection. ²  6:6 We know that ³  our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, ⁴  so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 6:7 (For someone who has died has been freed from sin.) ⁵ 

6:8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 6:9 We know ⁶  that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he is never going to die ⁷  again; death no longer has mastery over him. 6:10 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. 6:11 So you too consider yourselves ⁸  dead to sin, but ⁹  alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Filipi 3:10

3:10 My aim is to know him, ¹⁰  to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, ¹¹  and to be like him in his death,

Filipi 3:1

True and False Righteousness

3:1 Finally, my brothers and sisters, ¹²  rejoice in the Lord! To write this again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

Pengkhotbah 1:3

Futility Illustrated from Nature

1:3 What benefit ¹³  do people ¹⁴  get from all the effort

which ¹⁵  they expend ¹⁶  on earth? ¹⁷ 

[2:5]  ¹ tn Or “by grace you have been saved.” The perfect tense in Greek connotes both completed action (“you have been saved”) and continuing results (“you are saved”).

[6:5]  ² tn Grk “we will certainly also of his resurrection.”

[6:6]  ³ tn Grk “knowing this, that.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[6:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “may be rendered ineffective, inoperative,” or possibly “may be destroyed.” The term καταργέω (katargew) has various nuances. In Rom 7:2 the wife whose husband has died is freed from the law (i.e., the law of marriage no longer has any power over her, in spite of what she may feel). A similar point seems to be made here (note v. 7).

[6:7]  ⁵ sn Verse 7 forms something of a parenthetical comment in Paul’s argument.

[6:9]  ⁶ tn Grk “knowing.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[6:9]  ⁷ tn The present tense here has been translated as a futuristic present (see ExSyn 536, where this verse is listed as an example).

[6:11]  ⁸ tc ‡ Some Alexandrian and Byzantine mss (Ì^94vid א* B C 81 365 1506 1739 1881 pc) have the infinitive “to be” (εἶναι, einai) following “yourselves”. The infinitive is lacking from some mss of the Alexandrian and Western texttypes (Ì^46vid A D*^,c F G 33^vid pc). The infinitive is found elsewhere in the majority of Byzantine mss, suggesting a scribal tendency toward clarification. The lack of infinitive best explains the rise of the other readings. The meaning of the passage is not significantly altered by inclusion or omission, but on internal grounds omission is more likely. NA²⁷ includes the infinitive in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[6:11]  ⁹ tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[3:10]  ¹⁰ tn The articular infinitive τοῦ γνῶναι (tou gnwnai, “to know”) here expresses purpose. The words “My aim is” have been supplied in the translation to emphasize this nuance and to begin a new sentence (shorter sentences are more appropriate for English style).

[3:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “to know him, the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings.”

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

[1:3]  ¹³ tn The term “profit” (יֹתְרוֹן, yotÿron) is used in Ecclesiastes to evaluate the ultimate benefit/effects of human activities, as is טוֹב (tov, “good, worthwhile”) as well (e.g., 2:1, 3). While some relative advantage/profit is recognized (e.g., light over darkness, and wisdom over folly), Qoheleth denies the ultimate advantage of all human endeavors (e.g., 2:11, 15).

[1:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the man.” The Hebrew term could be used here in a generic sense, referring to the typical man (hence, “a man”). However, it is more likely that the form is collective and that humankind in general is in view (note NIV “man”). Note the reference to “a generation” coming and going in the next verse, as well as v. 13, where the phrase “the sons of man” (= humankind) appears. In this case the singular pronominal suffix and singular verb later in v. 3 reflect grammatical agreement, not individuality.

[1:3]  ¹⁵ tn The use of the relative pronoun שֶׁ (she, “which”) – rather than the more common אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) – is a linguistic feature that is often used to try to date the Book of Ecclesiastes. Noting that שֶׁ is the dominant relative pronoun in Mishnaic Hebrew and that אֲשֶׁר does not appear as frequently (Jastrow 130 s.v. אֲשֶׁר), many scholars conclude that אֲשֶׁר is early and שֶׁ is late. They conclude that the use of שֶׁ in Ecclesiastes points to a late date for the book. However, as Samuel-Kings suggest, the שֶׁ versus אֲשֶׁר phenomena may simply be a dialectical issue: אֲשֶׁר is commonly used in the south, and שֶׁ in the north. The use of שֶׁ in Ecclesiastes may indicate that the book was written in a northern rather than a southern province, not that it is a late book. This is supported from related Akkadian terms which occur in texts from the same periods: אֲשֶׁר is related to asru (“place”) and שֶׁ is related to sa (“what”).

[1:3]  ¹⁶ sn The Hebrew root עָמָל, (’amal, “toil”) is repeated here for emphasis: “What gain does anyone have in his toil with which he toils.” For all his efforts, man’s endeavors and secular achievements will not produce anything of ultimate value that will radically revolutionize anything in the world. The term “toil” is used in a pejorative sense to emphasize that the only thing that man obtains ultimately from all his efforts is weariness and exhaustion. Due to sin, mankind has been cursed with the futility of his labor that renders work a “toilsome” task (Gen 3:17-19). Although it was not yet revealed to Qoheleth, God will one day deliver the redeemed from this plight in the future kingdom when man’s labor will no longer be toilsome, but profitable, fulfilling, and enjoyable (Isa 65:17-23).

[1:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[1:3]  sn This rhetorical question expects a negative answer: “Man has no gain in all his toil.” Ecclesiastes often uses rhetorical questions in this manner (e.g., 2:2; 3:9; 6:8, 11, 12; see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949).