Yeremia 15:16

15:16 As your words came to me I drank them in, ¹ 

and they filled my heart with joy and happiness

because I belong to you. ² 

Efesus 4:15-16

4:15 But practicing the truth in love, ³  we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. 4:16 From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together ⁴  through every supporting ligament. ⁵  As each one does its part, the body grows in love.

Kolose 2:19

2:19 He has not held fast ⁶  to the head from whom the whole body, supported ⁷  and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God. ⁸ 

Kolose 3:16

3:16 Let the word of Christ ⁹  dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace ¹⁰  in your hearts to God.

Kolose 3:2

3:2 Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth,

Titus 3:14

3:14 Here is another way that our people ¹¹  can learn ¹²  to engage in good works to meet pressing needs and so not be unfruitful.

Titus 3:1

Conduct Toward Those Outside the Church

3:1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and ¹³  authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work.

Pengkhotbah 2:2

2:2 I said of partying, ¹⁴  “It is folly,”

and of self-indulgent pleasure, ¹⁵  “It accomplishes nothing!” ¹⁶ 

[15:16]  ¹ sn Heb “Your words were found and I ate them.” This along with Ezek 2:8–3:3 is a poetic picture of inspiration. The prophet accepted them, assimilated them, and made them such a part of himself that he spoke with complete assurance what he knew were God’s words.

[15:16]  ² tn Heb “Your name is called upon me.”

[15:16]  sn See Jer 14:9 where this idiom is applied to Israel as a whole and Jer 7:10 where it is applied to the temple. For discussion cf. notes on 7:10.

[4:15]  ³ tn The meaning of the participle ἀληθεύοντες (alhqeuonte"; from the verb ἀληθεύω [alhqeuw]) is debated. In classical times the verb could mean “to speak the truth,” or “to be true, to prove true.” In the LXX it appears five times (Gen 20:16; 42:16; Prov 21:3; Isa 44:26; Sir 34:4) and translates four different Hebrew words; there it is an ethical term used of proving or being true, not with the idea of speaking the truth. In the NT the only other place the verb appears is in Gal 4:16 where it means “to speak the truth.” However, in Ephesians the concept of “being truthful” is the best sense of the word. In contrast to the preceding verse, where there are three prepositional phrases to denote falsehood and deceit, the present word speaks of being real or truthful in both conduct and speech. Their deceit was not only in their words but also in their conduct. In other words, the believers’ conduct should be transparent, revealing the real state of affairs, as opposed to hiding or suppressing the truth through cunning and deceit. See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 564-65, and R. Bultmann, TDNT 1:251.

[4:16]  ⁴ tn The Greek participle συμβιβαζόμενον (sumbibazomenon) translated “held together” also has in different contexts, the idea of teaching implied in it.

[4:16]  ⁵ tn Grk “joint of supply.”

[2:19]  ⁶ tn The Greek participle κρατῶν (kratwn) was translated as a finite verb to avoid an unusually long and pedantic sentence structure in English.

[2:19]  ⁷ tn See BDAG 387 s.v. ἐπιχορηγέω 3.

[2:19]  ⁸ tn The genitive τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) has been translated as a genitive of source, “from God.”

[3:16]  ⁹ tc Since “the word of Christ” occurs nowhere else in the NT, two predictable variants arose: “word of God” and “word of the Lord.” Even though some of the witnesses for these variants are impressive (κυρίου [kuriou, “of the Lord”] in א* I 1175 pc bo; θεοῦ [qeou, “of God”] in A C* 33 104 323 945 al), the reading Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “of Christ”) is read by an excellent cross-section of witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א² B C² D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï lat sa). On both internal and external grounds, Χριστοῦ is strongly preferred.

[3:16]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “with grace”; “all” is supplied as it is implicitly related to all the previous instructions in the verse.

[3:14]  ¹¹ tn Grk “that those who are ours” (referring to the Christians).

[3:14]  ¹² tn Grk “and also let our people learn.”

[3:1]  ¹³ tc Most later witnesses (D² 0278 Ï lat sy) have καί (kai, “and”) after ἀρχαῖς (arcai", “rulers”), though the earliest and best witnesses (א A C D* F G Ψ 33 104 1739 1881) lack the conjunction. Although the καί is most likely not authentic, it has been added in translation due to the requirements of English style. For more discussion, see TCGNT 586.

[2:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “laughter.” The term שְׂחוֹק (sÿkhoq, “laughter”) has a fourfold range of meanings: (1) “joyful laughter” (Ps 126:2; Prov 14:13; Job 8:21); (2) “frivolous laughter, merrymaking” (Eccl 2:2; 7:3, 6); (3) “pleasure, sport” (Prov 10:23; Eccl 10:19); and (4) “derision, mockery, laughingstock” (Jer 20:7; 48:26, 27, 39; Job 12:4; Lam 3:14). See HALOT 1315 s.v שְׂחוֹק; BDB 966 s.v. שְׂחֹק. In Ecclesiastes, שְׂחוֹק is always used in contexts of self-indulgent banqueting, drinking, frivolous partying and merrymaking (Eccl 2:2; 7:3, 6; 10:19). It is distinct from “healthy” joy and laughter (Ps 126:2; Job 8:21). The connotation of “frivolous merrymaking” fits this context best.

[2:2]  ¹⁵ tn The term שִׂמְחָה (simkhah, “pleasure”) has a two-fold range of meanings in Ecclesiastes: (1) it can refer to the enjoyment of life that Qoheleth affirms is good (5:17; 8:15; 9:7; 11:8, 9) and that God gives to those who are pleasing to him (2:26; 5:19); and (2) it can refer to foolish pleasure, that is, frivolous merrymaking (2:1, 2; 7:4). The parallelism between שִׂמְחָה and שְׂחוֹק (sÿkhoq, “laughter, frivolous merrymaking”) in 2:2 suggests that the pejorative sense is in view here.

[2:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “What does it accomplish?” The rhetorical question “What does it accomplish?” expects a negative answer: “It accomplishes nothing!” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949–51). See, e.g., Gen 1:19; 18:14, 17; Deut 7:17; 1 Sam 2:25; Job 40:2; Pss 56:7[8]; 90:11; 94:16; 106:2; Eccl 3:21.