Yohanes 16:7-15

16:7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate ¹  will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. 16:8 And when he ²  comes, he will prove the world wrong ³  concerning sin and ⁴  righteousness and ⁵  judgment – 16:9 concerning sin, because ⁶  they do not believe in me; ⁷  16:10 concerning righteousness, ⁸  because ⁹  I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; 16:11 and concerning judgment, ¹⁰  because ¹¹  the ruler of this world ¹²  has been condemned. ¹³ 

16:12 “I have many more things to say to you, ¹⁴  but you cannot bear ¹⁵  them now. 16:13 But when he, ¹⁶  the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide ¹⁷  you into all truth. ¹⁸  For he will not speak on his own authority, ¹⁹  but will speak whatever he hears, and will tell you ²⁰  what is to come. ²¹  16:14 He ²²  will glorify me, ²³  because he will receive ²⁴  from me what is mine ²⁵  and will tell it to you. ²⁶  16:15 Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said the Spirit ²⁷  will receive from me what is mine ²⁸  and will tell it to you. ²⁹ 

Kisah Para Rasul 2:33

2:33 So then, exalted ³⁰  to the right hand ³¹  of God, and having received ³²  the promise of the Holy Spirit ³³  from the Father, he has poured out ³⁴  what you both see and hear.

Kisah Para Rasul 10:44-46

The Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit

10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on ³⁵  all those who heard the message. ³⁶  10:45 The ³⁷  circumcised believers ³⁸  who had accompanied Peter were greatly astonished ³⁹  that ⁴⁰  the gift of the Holy Spirit ⁴¹  had been poured out ⁴²  even on the Gentiles, 10:46 for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising ⁴³  God. Then Peter said,

Kisah Para Rasul 11:15-18

11:15 Then as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on ⁴⁴  them just as he did ⁴⁵  on us at the beginning. ⁴⁶  11:16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, ⁴⁷  as he used to say, ⁴⁸  ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ⁴⁹  11:17 Therefore if God ⁵⁰  gave them the same gift ⁵¹  as he also gave us after believing ⁵²  in the Lord Jesus Christ, ⁵³  who was I to hinder ⁵⁴  God?” 11:18 When they heard this, ⁵⁵  they ceased their objections ⁵⁶  and praised ⁵⁷  God, saying, “So then, God has granted the repentance ⁵⁸  that leads to life even to the Gentiles.” ⁵⁹ 

Kisah Para Rasul 11:1

Peter Defends His Actions to the Jerusalem Church

11:1 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted ⁶⁰  the word of God. ⁶¹ 

Kolose 3:16

3:16 Let the word of Christ ⁶²  dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace ⁶³  in your hearts to God.

Kolose 1:7-11

1:7 You learned the gospel ⁶⁴  from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave ⁶⁵  – a ⁶⁶  faithful minister of Christ on our ⁶⁷  behalf – 1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ⁶⁸  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ⁶⁹  to fill ⁷⁰  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ⁷¹  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ⁷²  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, 1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ⁷³  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

Kolose 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ⁷⁴  brothers and sisters ⁷⁵  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ⁷⁶  from God our Father! ⁷⁷ 

Kolose 1:6

1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel ⁷⁸  is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing ⁷⁹  among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

Galatia 3:2-5

3:2 The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law ⁸⁰  or by believing what you heard? ⁸¹  3:3 Are you so foolish? Although you began ⁸²  with ⁸³  the Spirit, are you now trying to finish ⁸⁴  by human effort? ⁸⁵  3:4 Have you suffered so many things for nothing? – if indeed it was for nothing. 3:5 Does God then give ⁸⁶  you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law ⁸⁷  or by your believing what you heard? ⁸⁸ 

Galatia 5:5

5:5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait expectantly for the hope of righteousness.

Galatia 5:22-23

5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit ⁸⁹  is love, ⁹⁰  joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ⁹¹  5:23 gentleness, and ⁹²  self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Titus 3:5-6

3:5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, 3:6 whom he poured out on us in full measure ⁹³  through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Ibrani 2:4

2:4 while God confirmed their witness ⁹⁴  with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed ⁹⁵  according to his will.

Ibrani 2:1

Warning Against Drifting Away

2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

Pengkhotbah 1:12

Futility of Secular Accomplishment

1:12 I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. ⁹⁶ 

[16:7]  ¹ tn Or “Helper” or “Counselor”; Grk “Paraclete,” from the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklhto"). See the note on the word “Advocate” in John 14:16 for a discussion of how this word is translated.

[16:8]  ² tn Grk “when that one.”

[16:8]  ³ tn Or “will convict the world,” or “will expose the world.” The conjunction περί (peri) is used in 16:8-11 in the sense of “concerning” or “with respect to.” But what about the verb ἐλέγχω (elencw)? The basic meanings possible for this word are (1) “to convict or convince someone of something”; (2) “to bring to light or expose something; and (3) “to correct or punish someone.” The third possibility may be ruled out in these verses on contextual grounds since punishment is not implied. The meaning is often understood to be that the Paraclete will “convince” the world of its error, so that some at least will repent. But S. Mowinckel (“Die Vorstellungen des Spätjudentums vom heiligen Geist als Fürsprecher und der johanneische Paraklet,” ZNW 32 [1933]: 97-130) demonstrated that the verb ἐλέγχω did not necessarily imply the conversion or reform of the guilty party. This means it is far more likely that conviction in something of a legal sense is intended here (as in a trial). The only certainty is that the accused party is indeed proven guilty (not that they will acknowledge their guilt). Further confirmation of this interpretation is seen in John 14:17 where the world cannot receive the Paraclete and in John 3:20, where the evildoer deliberately refuses to come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed for what they really are (significantly, the verb in John 3:20 is also ἐλέγχω). However, if one wishes to adopt the meaning “prove guilty” for the use of ἐλέγχω in John 16:8 a difficulty still remains: While this meaning fits the first statement in 16:9 – the world is ‘proven guilty’ concerning its sin of refusing to believe in Jesus – it does not fit so well the second and third assertions in vv. 10-11. Thus R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:705) suggests the more general meaning “prove wrong” which would fit in all three cases. This may be so, but there may also be a developmental aspect to the meaning, which would then shift from v. 9 to v. 10 to v. 11.

[16:8]  ⁴ tn Grk “and concerning.”

[16:8]  ⁵ tn Grk “and concerning.”

[16:9]  ⁶ tn Or “that.” It is very difficult to determine whether ὅτι (Joti; 3 times in 16:9, 10, 11) should be understood as causal or appositional/explanatory: Brown and Bultmann favor appositional or explanatory, while Barrett and Morris prefer a causal sense. A causal idea is preferable here, since it also fits the parallel statements in vv. 10-11 better than an appositional or explanatory use would. In this case Jesus is stating in each instance the reason why the world is proven guilty or wrong by the Spirit-Paraclete.

[16:9]  ⁷ sn Here (v. 9) the world is proven guilty concerning sin, and the reason given is their refusal to believe in Jesus. In 3:19 the effect of Jesus coming into the world as the Light of the world was to provoke judgment, by forcing people to choose up sides for or against him, and they chose darkness rather than light. In 12:37, at the very end of Jesus’ public ministry in John’s Gospel, people were still refusing to believe in him.

[16:10]  ⁸ tn There are two questions that need to be answered: (1) what is the meaning of δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosunh) in this context, and (2) to whom does it pertain – to the world, or to someone else? (1) The word δικαιοσύνη occurs in the Gospel of John only here and in v. 8. It is often assumed that it refers to forensic justification, as it does so often in Paul’s writings. Thus the answer to question (2) would be that it refers to the world. L. Morris states, “The Spirit shows men (and no-one else can do this) that their righteousness before God depends not on their own efforts but on Christ’s atoning work for them” (John [NICNT], 699). Since the word occurs so infrequently in the Fourth Gospel, however, the context must be examined very carefully. The ὅτι (Joti) clause which follows provides an important clue: The righteousness in view here has to do with Jesus’ return to the Father and his absence from the disciples. It is true that in the Fourth Gospel part of what is involved in Jesus’ return to the Father is the cross, and it is through his substitutionary death that people are justified, so that Morris’ understanding of righteousness here is possible. But more basic than this is the idea that Jesus’ return to the Father constitutes his own δικαιοσύνη in the sense of vindication rather than forensic justification. Jesus had repeatedly claimed oneness with the Father, and his opponents had repeatedly rejected this and labeled him a deceiver, a sinner, and a blasphemer (John 5:18, 7:12, 9:24, 10:33, etc.). But Jesus, by his glorification through his return to the Father, is vindicated in his claims in spite of his opponents. In his vindication his followers are also vindicated as well, but their vindication derives from his. Thus one would answer question (1) by saying that in context δικαιοσύνης (dikaiosunh") refers not to forensic justification but vindication, and question (2) by referring this justification/vindication not to the world or even to Christians directly, but to Jesus himself. Finally, how does Jesus’ last statement in v. 10, that the disciples will see him no more, contribute to this? It is probably best taken as a reference to the presence of the Spirit-Paraclete, who cannot come until Jesus has departed (16:7). The meaning of v. 10 is thus: When the Spirit-Paraclete comes he will prove the world wrong concerning the subject of righteousness, namely, Jesus’ righteousness which is demonstrated when he is glorified in his return to the Father and the disciples see him no more (but they will have instead the presence of the Spirit-Paraclete, whom the world is not able to receive).

[16:10]  ⁹ tn Or “that.”

[16:11]  ¹⁰ sn The world is proven wrong concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. Jesus’ righteousness before the Father, as proven by his return to the Father, his glorification, constitutes a judgment against Satan. This is parallel to the judgment of the world which Jesus provokes in 3:19-21: Jesus’ presence in the world as the Light of the world provokes the judgment of those in the world, because as they respond to the light (either coming to Jesus or rejecting him) so are they judged. That judgment is in a sense already realized. So it is here, where the judgment of Satan is already realized in Jesus’ glorification. This does not mean that Satan does not continue to be active in the world, and to exercise some power over it, just as in 3:19-21 the people in the world who have rejected Jesus and thus incurred judgment continue on in their opposition to Jesus for a time. In both cases the judgment is not immediately executed. But it is certain.

[16:11]  ¹¹ tn Or “that.”

[16:11]  ¹² sn The ruler of this world is a reference to Satan.

[16:11]  ¹³ tn Or “judged.”

[16:12]  ¹⁴ sn In what sense does Jesus have many more things to say to the disciples? Does this imply the continuation of revelation after his departure? This is probably the case, especially in light of v. 13 and following, which describe the work of the Holy Spirit in guiding the disciples into all truth. Thus Jesus was saying that he would continue to speak (to the twelve, at least) after his return to the Father. He would do this through the Holy Spirit whom he was going to send. It is possible that an audience broader than the twelve is addressed, and in the Johannine tradition there is evidence that later other Christians (or perhaps, professed Christians) claimed to be recipients of revelation through the Spirit-Paraclete (1 John 4:1-6).

[16:12]  ¹⁵ tn Or (perhaps) “you cannot accept.”

[16:13]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “that one.”

[16:13]  ¹⁷ tn Or “will lead.”

[16:13]  ¹⁸ sn Three important points must be noted here. (1) When the Holy Spirit comes, he will guide the disciples into all truth. What Jesus had said in 8:31-32, “If you continue to follow my teaching you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” will ultimately be realized in the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit to the disciples after Jesus’ departure. (2) The things the Holy Spirit speaks to them will not be things which originate from himself (he will not speak on his own authority), but things he has heard. This could be taken to mean that no new revelation is involved, as R. E. Brown does (John [AB], 2:714-15). This is a possible but not a necessary inference. The point here concerns the source of the things the Spirit will say to the disciples and does not specifically exclude originality of content. (3) Part at least of what the Holy Spirit will reveal to the disciples will concern what is to come, not just fuller implications of previous sayings of Jesus and the like. This does seem to indicate that at least some new revelation is involved. But the Spirit is not the source or originator of these things – Jesus is the source, and he will continue to speak to his disciples through the Spirit who has come to indwell them. This does not answer the question, however, whether these words are addressed to all followers of Jesus, or only to his apostles. Different modern commentators will answer this question differently. Since in the context of the Farewell Discourse Jesus is preparing the twelve to carry on his ministry after his departure, it is probably best to take these statements as specifically related only to the twelve. Some of this the Holy Spirit does directly for all believers today; other parts of this statement are fulfilled through the apostles (e.g., in giving the Book of Revelation the Spirit speaks through the apostles to the church today of things to come). One of the implications of this is that a doctrine does not have to be traced back to an explicit teaching of Jesus to be authentic; all that is required is apostolic authority.

[16:13]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “speak from himself.”

[16:13]  ²⁰ tn Or will announce to you.”

[16:13]  ²¹ tn Grk “will tell you the things to come.”

[16:14]  ²² tn Grk “That one.”

[16:14]  ²³ tn Or “will honor me.”

[16:14]  ²⁴ tn Or “he will take.”

[16:14]  ²⁵ tn The words “what is mine” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[16:14]  ²⁶ tn Or “will announce it to you.”

[16:15]  ²⁷ tn Grk “I said he”; the referent (the Spirit) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:15]  ²⁸ tn The words “what is mine” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[16:15]  ²⁹ tn Or “will announce it to you.”

[2:33]  ³⁰ tn The aorist participle ὑψωθείς (Juywqei") could be taken temporally: “So then, after he was exalted…” In the translation the more neutral “exalted” (a shorter form of “having been exalted”) was used to preserve the ambiguity of the original Greek.

[2:33]  ³¹ sn The expression the right hand of God represents supreme power and authority. Its use here sets up the quotation of Ps 110:1 in v. 34.

[2:33]  ³² tn The aorist participle λαβών (labwn) could be taken temporally: “So then, after he was exalted…and received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit.” In the translation the more neutral “having received” was used to preserve the ambiguity of the original Greek.

[2:33]  ³³ tn Here the genitive τοῦ πνεύματος (tou pneumato") is a genitive of apposition; the promise consists of the Holy Spirit.

[2:33]  ³⁴ sn The use of the verb poured out looks back to 2:17-18, where the same verb occurs twice.

[10:44]  ³⁵ tn Or “came down on.” God now acted to confirm the point of Peter’s speech.

[10:44]  ³⁶ tn Or “word.”

[10:45]  ³⁷ tn Grk “And the.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[10:45]  ³⁸ tn Or “The Jewish Christians”; Grk “The believers from the circumcision.”

[10:45]  ³⁹ sn The Jewish Christians who were with Peter were greatly astonished because they thought the promise of the Spirit would be limited only to those of Israel. God’s plan was taking on fresh dimensions even as it was a reflection of what the prophets had promised.

[10:45]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “because.”

[10:45]  ⁴¹ tn That is, the gift consisting of the Holy Spirit. Here τοῦ πνεύματος (tou pneumato") is a genitive of apposition; the gift consists of the Spirit.

[10:45]  ⁴² sn The gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out. Compare the account in Acts 2, especially 2:33. Note also Joel 2:17-21 and Acts 11:15-18.

[10:46]  ⁴³ tn Or “extolling,” “magnifying.”

[11:15]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “came down on.”

[11:15]  ⁴⁵ tn The words “he did” are not in the Greek text but are implied. They form an ellipsis which must be supplied for the modern English reader. Some modern translations supply “it” rather than “he” because the gender of πνεῦμα (pneuma) in Greek is neuter, but there are sufficient NT contexts that use masculine pronouns to refer to the Spirit to justify the use of a masculine pronoun here in the translation.

[11:15]  ⁴⁶ sn At the beginning is an allusion to Acts 2 and Pentecost. The beginning is a way to refer to the start of the period of the realization of Jesus’ promise in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8. Peter was arguing that God gave Gentiles the same benefits he gave the Jews at the start of their mission.

[11:16]  ⁴⁷ sn The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; here and in Luke 22:61, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.

[11:16]  ⁴⁸ tn The imperfect verb ἔλεγεν (elegen) is taken as a customary imperfect.

[11:16]  ⁴⁹ sn John…Spirit. This remark repeats Acts 1:5.

[11:17]  ⁵⁰ tc Codex Bezae (D) and {a few other Western witnesses} here lack ὁ θεός (Jo qeo", “God”), perhaps because these scribes considered the Holy Spirit to be the gift of Christ rather than the gift of God; thus leaving the subject implicit would naturally draw the reader back to v. 16 to see the Lord Jesus as the bestower of the Spirit.

[11:17]  ⁵¹ sn That is, the same gift of the Holy Spirit.

[11:17]  ⁵² tn Or “gave us when we believed”; or “gave us after we believed”; or “gave us who believed”; or “gave them when they believed the same gift as he also gave us.” The aorist dative plural participle πιστεύσασιν (pisteusasin) can be understood in several different ways: (1) It could modify ἡμῖν (Jhmin, “us”) or αὐτοῖς (autois, “them”). Proximity (it immediately follows ἡμῖν) would suggest that it belongs with ἡμῖν, so the last option (“gave them when they believed the same gift he also gave us”) is less likely. (2) The participle could be either adverbial or adjectival, modifying ἡμῖν. This decision is primarily a contextual one. The point Peter made is not whether or not the Gentiles believed, since both groups (“us” and “they”) had believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. The point was whether or not the Gentiles received the Spirit when they believed, just as Jewish Christians had received the Spirit on the day of Pentecost when they believed. Translated as an adjectival participle, πιστεύσασιν only affirms the fact of belief, however, and raises somewhat of a theological problem if one realizes, “Would God have given the Gentiles the Spirit if they had not believed?” (In other words, belief in itself is a theological prerequisite for receiving the Spirit. As such, in the case of the Gentiles, it is assumed.) Thus in context it makes more sense to understand the participle πιστεύσασιν as adverbial, related to the time of belief in connection with the giving of the Spirit. (3) The participle πιστεύσασιν as a temporal participle can refer to action antecedent to the action of the main verb ἔδωκεν (edwken) or contemporaneous with it. Logically, at least, the gift of the Spirit followed belief in the case of the original Christians, who had believed before the day of Pentecost. In the case of Cornelius and his household, belief and the reception of the Spirit were virtually simultaneous. One can argue that Peter is “summarizing” the experience of Jewish Christians, and therefore the actions of belief and reception of the Spirit, while historically separate, have been “telescoped” into one (“gave them the same gift as he gave us when we believed”), but to be technically accurate the participle πιστεύσασιν should be translated “gave them the same gift as he also gave us after we believed.” A number of these problems can be avoided, however, by using a translation in English that maintains some of the ambiguity of the Greek original. Thus “if God gave them the same gift as he also gave us after believing” is used, where the phrase “after believing” can refer either to “them” or to “us,” or both.

[11:17]  ⁵³ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[11:17]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “prevent,” “forbid” (BDAG 580 s.v. κωλύω 1.a). Peter’s point is that he will not stand in the way of God.

[11:18]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “these things.”

[11:18]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “became silent,” but this would create an apparent contradiction with the subsequent action of praising God. The point, in context, is that they ceased objecting to what Peter had done.

[11:18]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “glorified.”

[11:18]  ⁵⁸ sn Here the summary phrase for responding to the gospel is the repentance that leads to life. Note how the presence of life is tied to the presence of the Spirit (cf. John 4:7-42; 7:37-39).

[11:18]  ⁵⁹ sn In the Greek text the phrase even to the Gentiles is in an emphatic position.

[11:1]  ⁶⁰ tn See BDAG 221 s.v. δέχομαι 5 for this translation of ἐδέξαντο (edexanto) here.

[11:1]  ⁶¹ tn Here the phrase “word of God” is another way to describe the gospel (note the preceding verb ἐδέξαντο, edexanto, “accepted”). The phrase could also be translated “the word [message] from God.”

[3:16]  ⁶² 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]  ⁶³ tn Grk “with grace”; “all” is supplied as it is implicitly related to all the previous instructions in the verse.

[1:7]  ⁶⁴ 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]  ⁶⁵ 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]  ⁶⁶ 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]  ⁶⁷ 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.

[1:9]  ⁶⁸ 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]  ⁶⁹ 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]  ⁷⁰ 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]  ⁷¹ 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]  ⁷² 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.”

[1:11]  ⁷³ tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.

[1:2]  ⁷⁴ 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]  ⁷⁵ 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]  ⁷⁶ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ⁷⁷ 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]  ⁷⁸ 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]  ⁷⁹ 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.

[3:2]  ⁸⁰ tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law,” a reference to observing the Mosaic law.

[3:2]  ⁸¹ tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith.”

[3:3]  ⁸² tn Grk “Having begun”; the participle ἐναρξάμενοι (enarxamenoi) has been translated concessively.

[3:3]  ⁸³ tn Or “by the Spirit.”

[3:3]  ⁸⁴ tn The verb ἐπιτελεῖσθε (epiteleisqe) has been translated as a conative present (see ExSyn 534). This is something the Galatians were attempting to do, but could not accomplish successfully.

[3:3]  ⁸⁵ tn Grk “in/by [the] flesh.”

[3:5]  ⁸⁶ tn Or “provide.”

[3:5]  ⁸⁷ tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law” (the same phrase as in v. 2).

[3:5]  ⁸⁸ tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith” (the same phrase as in v. 2).

[5:22]  ⁸⁹ tn That is, the fruit the Spirit produces.

[5:22]  ⁹⁰ sn Another way to punctuate this is “love” followed by a colon (love: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). It is thus possible to read the eight characteristics following “love” as defining love.

[5:22]  ⁹¹ tn Or “reliability”; see BDAG 818 s.v. πίστις 1.a.

[5:23]  ⁹² tn “And” is supplied here as a matter of English style, which normally inserts “and” between the last two elements of a list or series.

[3:6]  ⁹³ tn Or “on us richly.”

[2:4]  ⁹⁴ tn Grk “God bearing witness together” (the phrase “with them” is implied).

[2:4]  ⁹⁵ tn Grk “and distributions of the Holy Spirit.”

[1:12]  ⁹⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.