Kolose 1:18-19

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ¹  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ² 

1:19 For God ³  was pleased to have all his ⁴  fullness dwell ⁵  in the Son ⁶ 

1 Korintus 8:6

8:6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we live, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we live. ⁷ 

Yesaya 42:8

The Lord Intervenes

42:8 I am the Lord! That is my name!

I will not share my glory with anyone else,

or the praise due me with idols.

1 Timotius 6:15

6:15 – whose appearing ⁸  the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will reveal at the right time.

Mazmur 45:7

45:7 You love ⁹  justice and hate evil. ¹⁰ 

For this reason God, your God ¹¹  has anointed you ¹² 

with the oil of joy, ¹³  elevating you above your companions. ¹⁴ 

Matius 1:1-25

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

1:1 This is the record of the genealogy ¹⁵  of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

1:2 Abraham was the father ¹⁶  of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 1:3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah (by Tamar), Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 1:4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 1:5 Salmon the father of Boaz (by Rahab), Boaz the father of Obed (by Ruth), Obed the father of Jesse, 1:6 and Jesse the father of David the king.

David was the father of Solomon (by the wife of Uriah ¹⁷ ), 1:7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, ¹⁸  1:8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah, 1:9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 1:10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, ¹⁹  Amon the father of Josiah, 1:11 and Josiah ²⁰  the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

1:12 After ²¹  the deportation to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, ²²  Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 1:13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 1:14 Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, 1:15 Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, 1:16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom ²³  Jesus was born, who is called Christ. ²⁴ 

1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to Christ, ²⁵  fourteen generations.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, ²⁶  she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 1:19 Because Joseph, her husband to be, ²⁷  was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her ²⁸  privately. 1:20 When he had contemplated this, an ²⁹  angel of the Lord ³⁰  appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 1:21 She will give birth to a son and you will name him ³¹  Jesus, ³²  because he will save his people from their sins.” 1:22 This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: 1:23 “Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him ³³  Emmanuel,” ³⁴  which means ³⁵  “God with us.” ³⁶  1:24 When Joseph awoke from sleep he did what the angel of the Lord ³⁷  told him. He took his wife, 1:25 but did not have marital relations ³⁸  with her until she gave birth to a son, whom he named ³⁹  Jesus.

Ibrani 1:8-9

1:8 but of ⁴⁰  the Son he says, ⁴¹ 

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, ⁴² 

and a righteous scepter ⁴³  is the scepter of your kingdom.

1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

So God, your God, has anointed you over your companions ⁴⁴  with the oil of rejoicing.” ⁴⁵ 

[1:18]  ¹ tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.

[1:18]  ² tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

[1:19]  ³ tn The noun “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but since God is the one who reconciles the world to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:19), he is clearly the subject of εὐδόκησεν (eudokhsen).

[1:19]  ⁴ tn The Greek article τό (to), insofar as it relates to God, may be translated as a possessive pronoun, i.e., “his.” BDAG 404 s.v. εὐδοκέω 1 translates the phrase as “all the fullness willed to dwell in him” thus leaving the referent as impersonal. Insofar as Paul is alluding to the so-called emanations from God this is acceptable. But the fact that “the fullness” dwells in a person (i.e., “in him”) seems to argue for the translation “his fullness” where “his” refers to God.

[1:19]  ⁵ tn The aorist verb κατοικῆσαι (katoikhsai) could be taken as an ingressive, in which case it refers to the incarnation and may be translated as “begin to dwell, to take up residence.” It is perhaps better, though, to take it as a constative aorist and simply a reference to the fact that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus Christ. This is a permanent dwelling, though, not a temporary one, as the present tense in 2:9 makes clear.

[1:19]  ⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the Son; see v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:6]  ⁷ tn Grk “through whom [are] all things and we [are] through him.”

[6:15]  ⁸ tn Grk “which.” All of 1 Tim 6:15 is a relative clause which refers back to “appearing” in v.14. The phrase “whose appearing” was supplied to clarify this connection.

[45:7]  ⁹ sn To love justice means to actively promote it.

[45:7]  ¹⁰ sn To hate evil means to actively oppose it.

[45:7]  ¹¹ tn For other examples of the repetition of Elohim, “God,” see Pss 43:4; 48:8, 14; 50:7; 51:14; 67:7. Because the name Yahweh (“Lord”) is relatively rare in Pss 42-83, where the name Elohim (“God”) predominates, this compounding of Elohim may be an alternative form of the compound name “the Lord my/your/our God.”

[45:7]  ¹² sn Anointed you. When read in the light of the preceding context, the anointing is most naturally taken as referring to the king’s coronation. However, the following context (vv. 8-9) focuses on the wedding ceremony, so some prefer to see this anointing as part of the king’s preparations for the wedding celebration. Perhaps the reference to his anointing at his coronation facilitates the transition to the description of the wedding, for the king was also anointed on this occasion.

[45:7]  ¹³ sn The phrase oil of joy alludes to the fact that the coronation of the king, which was ritually accomplished by anointing his head with olive oil, was a time of great celebration and renewed hope. (If one understands the anointing in conjunction with the wedding ceremony, the “joy” would be that associated with the marriage.) The phrase “oil of joy” also appears in Isa 61:3, where mourners are granted “oil of joy” in conjunction with their deliverance from oppression.

[45:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from your companions.” The “companions” are most naturally understood as others in the royal family or, more generally, as the king’s countrymen.

[45:7]  sn Verses 6-7 are quoted in Heb 1:8-9, where they are applied to Jesus.

[1:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the book of the genealogy.” The noun βίβλος (biblo"), though it is without the article, is to be translated as definite due to Apollonius’ corollary and the normal use of anarthrous nouns in titles.

[1:2]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “fathered.”

[1:6]  ¹⁷ sn By the wife of Uriah, i.e., Bathsheba (cf. 2 Sam 11:3).

[1:7]  ¹⁸ tc The reading ᾿Ασάφ (Asaf), a variant spelling on ᾿Ασά (Asa), is found in the earliest and most widespread witnesses (Ì^1vid א B C [D^luc] Ë^1,13 700 pc it co). Although Asaph was a psalmist and Asa was a king, it is doubtful that the author mistook one for the other since other ancient documents have variant spellings on the king’s name (such as “Asab,” “Asanos,” and “Asaph”). Thus the spelling ᾿Ασάφ that is almost surely found in the original of Matt 1:7-8 has been translated as “Asa” in keeping with the more common spelling of the king’s name.

[1:10]  ¹⁹ tc ᾿Αμώς (Amws) is the reading found in the earliest and best witnesses (א B C [D^luc] γ δ θ ˹ 33 pc it sa bo), and as such is most likely original, but this is a variant spelling of the name ᾿Αμών (Amwn). The translation uses the more well-known spelling “Amon” found in the Hebrew MT and the majority of LXX mss. See also the textual discussion of “Asa” versus “Asaph” (vv. 7-8); the situation is similar.

[1:11]  ²⁰ sn Before the mention of Jeconiah, several medieval mss add Jehoiakim, in conformity with the genealogy in 1 Chr 3:15-16. But this alters the count of fourteen generations (v. 17). It is evident that the author is selective in his genealogy for a theological purpose.

[1:12]  ²¹ tn Because of the difference between Greek style, which usually begins a sentence with a conjunction, and English style, which generally does not, the conjunction δέ (de) has not been translated here.

[1:12]  ²² sn The Greek text and the KJV read Salathiel. Most modern English translations use the OT form of the name (cf. Ezra 3:2).

[1:16]  ²³ tc There are three significant variant readings at this point in the text. Some mss and versional witnesses (Θ Ë¹³ it) read, “Joseph, to whom the virgin Mary, being betrothed, bore Jesus, who is called Christ.” This reading makes even more explicit than the feminine pronoun (see sn below) the virginal conception of Jesus and as such seems to be a motivated reading. The Sinaitic Syriac ms alone indicates that Joseph was the father of Jesus (“Joseph, to whom was betrothed Mary the virgin, fathered Jesus who is called the Christ”). Although much discussed, this reading has not been found in any Greek witnesses. B. M. Metzger suggests that it was produced by a careless scribe who simply reproduced the set formula of the preceding lines in the genealogy (TCGNT 6). In all likelihood, the two competing variants were thus produced by intentional and unintentional scribal alterations respectively. The reading adopted in the translation has overwhelming support from a variety of witnesses (̹ א B C L W [˹] 33 Ï co), and therefore should be regarded as authentic. For a detailed discussion of this textual problem, see TCGNT 2-6.

[1:16]  sn The pronoun whom is feminine gender in the Greek text, referring to Mary.

[1:16]  ²⁴ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[1:16]  sn The term χριστός (cristos) was originally an adjective (“anointed”), developing in LXX into a substantive (“an anointed one”), then developing still further into a technical generic term (“the anointed one”). In the intertestamental period it developed further into a technical term referring to the hoped-for anointed one, that is, a specific individual. In the NT the development starts there (technical-specific), is so used in the gospels, and then develops in Paul to mean virtually Jesus’ last name.

[1:17]  ²⁵ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[1:17]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.

[1:18]  ²⁶ tn The connotation of the Greek is “before they came together in marital and domestic union” (so BDAG 970 s.v. συνέρχομαι 3).

[1:19]  ²⁷ tn Grk “husband.” See following note for discussion.

[1:19]  ²⁸ tn Or “send her away.”

[1:19]  sn In the Jewish context, “full betrothal was so binding that its breaking required a certificate of divorce, and the death of one party made the other a widow or widower (m. Ketub. 1:2; m. Sota 1:5; m. Git. passim…)” (R. H. Gundry, Matthew: A Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art, 21).

[1:20]  ²⁹ tn Grk “behold, an angel.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[1:20]  ³⁰ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” Linguistically, “angel of the Lord” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of the Lord” or “the angel of the Lord” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see ExSyn 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” DJG, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation, 324-35.

[1:21]  ³¹ tn Grk “you will call his name.”

[1:21]  ³² sn The Greek form of the name Ihsous, which was translated into Latin as Jesus, is the same as the Hebrew Yeshua (Joshua), which means “Yahweh saves” (Yahweh is typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT). It was a fairly common name among Jews in 1st century Palestine, as references to a number of people by this name in the LXX and Josephus indicate.

[1:23]  ³³ tn Grk “they will call his name.”

[1:23]  ³⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 7:14.

[1:23]  ³⁵ tn Grk “is translated.”

[1:23]  ³⁶ sn An allusion to Isa 8:8, 10 (LXX).

[1:24]  ³⁷ tn See the note on the word “Lord” in 1:20. Here the translation “the angel of the Lord” is used because the Greek article (ὁ, Jo) which precedes ἄγγελος (angelos) is taken as an anaphoric article (ExSyn 217-19) referring back to the angel mentioned in v. 20.

[1:25]  ³⁸ tn Or “did not have sexual relations”; Grk “was not knowing her.” The verb “know” (in both Hebrew and Greek) is a frequent biblical euphemism for sexual relations. However, a translation like “did not have sexual relations with her” is too graphic in light of the popularity and wide use of Matthew’s infancy narrative. Thus the somewhat more subdued but still clear “did not have marital relations” was selected.

[1:25]  ³⁹ tn Grk “and he called his name Jesus.” The coordinate clause has been translated as a relative clause in English for stylistic reasons.

[1:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “to.”

[1:8]  ⁴¹ tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.

[1:8]  ⁴² tn Or possibly, “Your throne is God forever and ever.” This translation is quite doubtful, however, since (1) in the context the Son is being contrasted to the angels and is presented as far better than they. The imagery of God being the Son’s throne would seem to be of God being his authority. If so, in what sense could this not be said of the angels? In what sense is the Son thus contrasted with the angels? (2) The μέν…δέ (men…de) construction that connects v. 7 with v. 8 clearly lays out this contrast: “On the one hand, he says of the angels…on the other hand, he says of the Son.” Thus, although it is grammatically possible that θεός (qeos) in v. 8 should be taken as a predicate nominative, the context and the correlative conjunctions are decidedly against it. Hebrews 1:8 is thus a strong affirmation of the deity of Christ.

[1:8]  ⁴³ tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.

[1:9]  ⁴⁴ sn God…has anointed you over your companions. God’s anointing gives the son a superior position and authority over his fellows.

[1:9]  ⁴⁵ sn A quotation from Ps 45:6-7.