Mazmur 45:7

45:7 You love ¹  justice and hate evil. ² 

For this reason God, your God ³  has anointed you ⁴ 

with the oil of joy, ⁵  elevating you above your companions. ⁶ 

Zakharia 4:2-3

4:2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, ⁷  “I see a menorah of pure gold with a receptacle at the top and seven lamps, with fourteen pipes going to the lamps. 4:3 There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the receptacle and the other on the left.” ⁸ 

Yohanes 1:15-16

1:15 John ⁹  testified ¹⁰  about him and shouted out, ¹¹  “This one was the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than I am, ¹²  because he existed before me.’” 1:16 For we have all received from his fullness one gracious gift after another. ¹³ 

Yohanes 3:34

3:34 For the one whom God has sent ¹⁴  speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit sparingly. ¹⁵ 

Roma 8:9

8:9 You, however, are not in ¹⁶  the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him.

Roma 8:2

8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit ¹⁷  in Christ Jesus has set you ¹⁸  free from the law of sin and death.

Kolose 1:22

1:22 but now he has reconciled you ¹⁹  by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him –

Galatia 5:22-23

5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit ²⁰  is love, ²¹  joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²²  5:23 gentleness, and ²³  self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatia 5:1

Freedom of the Believer

5:1 For freedom ²⁴  Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke ²⁵  of slavery.

Yohanes 2:20

2:20 Then the Jewish leaders ²⁶  said to him, “This temple has been under construction ²⁷  for forty-six years, ²⁸  and are you going to raise it up in three days?”

Yohanes 2:1

Turning Water into Wine

2:1 Now on the third day there was a wedding at Cana ²⁹  in Galilee. ³⁰  Jesus’ mother ³¹  was there,

Yudas 1:19

1:19 These people are divisive, ³²  worldly, ³³  devoid of the Spirit. ³⁴ 

[45:7]  ¹ sn To love justice means to actively promote it.

[45:7]  ² sn To hate evil means to actively oppose it.

[45:7]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.

[4:2]  ⁷ tc The present translation (along with most other English versions) follows the reading of the Qere and many ancient versions, “I said,” as opposed to the MT Kethib “he said.”

[4:3]  ⁸ sn The vision apparently describes two olive trees providing olive oil by pipes to a large basin atop the menorah. From this basin two pipes extend to each of the seven lamps of the menorah, for a total of fourteen pipes in all. See vv. 11-12.

[1:15]  ⁹ sn John refers to John the Baptist.

[1:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “bore witness.”

[1:15]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and shouted out saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant is English and has not been translated.

[1:15]  ¹² tn Or “has a higher rank than I.”

[1:16]  ¹³ tn Grk “for from his fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” The meaning of the phrase χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος (carin anti carito") could be: (1) love (grace) under the New Covenant in place of love (grace) under the Sinai Covenant, thus replacement; (2) grace “on top of” grace, thus accumulation; (3) grace corresponding to grace, thus correspondence. The most commonly held view is (2) in one sense or another, and this is probably the best explanation. This sense is supported by a fairly well-known use in Philo, Posterity 43 (145). Morna D. Hooker suggested that Exod 33:13 provides the background for this expression: “Now therefore, I pray you, if I have found χάρις (LXX) in your sight, let me know your ways, that I may know you, so that I may find χάρις (LXX) in your sight.” Hooker proposed that it is this idea of favor given to one who has already received favor which lies behind 1:16, and this seems very probable as a good explanation of the meaning of the phrase (“The Johannine Prologue and the Messianic Secret,” NTS 21 [1974/75]: 53).

[1:16]  sn Earlier commentators (including Origen and Luther) took the words For we have all received from his fullness one gracious gift after another to be John the Baptist’s. Most modern commentators take them as the words of the author.

[3:34]  ¹⁴ tn That is, Christ.

[3:34]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “for not by measure does he give the Spirit” (an idiom). Leviticus Rabbah 15:2 states: “The Holy Spirit rested on the prophets by measure.” Jesus is contrasted to this. The Spirit rests upon him without measure.

[8:9]  ¹⁶ tn Or “are not controlled by the flesh but by the Spirit.”

[8:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “for the law of the Spirit of life.”

[8:2]  ¹⁸ tc Most mss read the first person singular pronoun με (me) here (A D 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa). The second person singular pronoun σε (se) is superior because of external support (א B {F which reads σαι} G 1506* 1739*) and internal support (it is the harder reading since ch. 7 was narrated in the first person). At the same time, it could have arisen via dittography from the final syllable of the verb preceding it (ἠλευθέρωσεν, hleuqerwsen; “has set free”). But for this to happen in such early and diverse witnesses is unlikely, especially as it depends on various scribes repeatedly overlooking either the nu or the nu-bar at the end of the verb.

[1:22]  ¹⁹ tc Some of the better representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texts have a passive verb here instead of the active ἀποκατήλλαξεν (apokathllaxen, “he has reconciled”): ἀποκατηλλάγητε (apokathllaghte) in (Ì⁴⁶) B, ἀποκατήλλακται [sic] (apokathllaktai) in 33, and ἀποκαταλλαγέντες (apokatallagente") in D* F G. Yet the active verb is strongly supported by א A C D² Ψ 048 075 [0278] 1739 1881 Ï lat sy. Internally, the passive creates an anacoluthon in that it looks back to the accusative ὑμᾶς (Juma", “you”) of v. 21 and leaves the following παραστῆσαι (parasthsai) dangling (“you were reconciled…to present you”). The passive reading is certainly the harder reading. As such, it may well explain the rise of the other readings. At the same time, it is possible that the passive was produced by scribes who wanted some symmetry between the ποτε (pote, “at one time”) of v. 21 and the νυνὶ δέ (nuni de, “but now”) of v. 22: Since a passive periphrastic participle is used in v. 21, there may have a temptation to produce a corresponding passive form in v. 22, handling the ὑμᾶς of v. 21 by way of constructio ad sensum. Since παραστῆσαι occurs ten words later, it may not have been considered in this scribal modification. Further, the Western reading (ἀποκαταλλαγέντες) hardly seems to have arisen from ἀποκατηλλάγητε (contra TCGNT 555). As difficult as this decision is, the preferred reading is the active form because it is superior externally and seems to explain the rise of all forms of the passive readings.

[1:22]  tn The direct object is omitted in the Greek text, but it is clear from context that “you” (ὑμᾶς, Jumas) is implied.

[5:22]  ²⁰ tn That is, the fruit the Spirit produces.

[5:22]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Or “reliability”; see BDAG 818 s.v. πίστις 1.a.

[5:23]  ²³ 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.

[5:1]  ²⁴ tn Translating the dative as “For freedom” shows the purpose for Christ setting us free; however, it is also possible to take the phrase in the sense of means or instrument (“with [or by] freedom”), referring to the freedom mentioned in 4:31 and implied throughout the letter.

[5:1]  ²⁵ sn Here the yoke figuratively represents the burdensome nature of slavery.

[2:20]  ²⁶ tn See the note on this phrase in v. 18.

[2:20]  ²⁷ tn A close parallel to the aorist οἰκοδομήθη (oikodomhqh) can be found in Ezra 5:16 (LXX), where it is clear from the following verb that the construction had not yet been completed. Thus the phrase has been translated “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years.” Some, however, see the term ναός (naos) here as referring only to the sanctuary and the aorist verb as consummative, so that the meaning would be “this temple was built forty-six years ago” (so ExSyn 560-61). Ultimately in context the logic of the authorities’ reply appears to fit more naturally if it compares length of time for original construction with length of time to reconstruct it.

[2:20]  ²⁸ sn According to Josephus (Ant. 15.11.1 [15.380]), work on this temple was begun in the 18th year of Herod the Great’s reign, which would have been ca. 19 b.c. (The reference in the Ant. is probably more accurate than the date given in J. W. 1.21.1 [1.401]). Forty-six years later would be around the Passover of a.d. 27/28.

[2:1]  ²⁹ map For location see Map1 C3; Map2 D2; Map3 C5.

[2:1]  ³⁰ sn Cana in Galilee was not a very well-known place. It is mentioned only here, in 4:46, and 21:2, and nowhere else in the NT. Josephus (Life 16 [86]) says he once had his quarters there. The probable location is present day Khirbet Cana, 8 mi (14 km) north of Nazareth, or Khirbet Kenna, 4 mi (7 km) northeast of Nazareth.

[2:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “in Galilee, and Jesus’ mother.”

[1:19]  ³² tn Grk “these are the ones who cause divisions.”

[1:19]  ³³ tn Or “natural,” that is, living on the level of instincts, not on a spiritual level (the same word occurs in 1 Cor 2:14 as a description of nonbelievers).

[1:19]  ³⁴ tn Grk “not having [the] Spirit.”

[1:19]  sn The phrase devoid of the Spirit may well indicate Jude’s and Peter’s assessment of the spiritual status of the false teachers. Those who do not have the Spirit are clearly not saved.