Mazmur 4:3

4:3 Realize that ¹  the Lord shows the godly special favor; ² 

the Lord responds ³  when I cry out to him.

Mazmur 4:2

4:2 You men, ⁴  how long will you try to turn my honor into shame? ⁵ 

How long ⁶  will you love what is worthless ⁷ 

and search for what is deceptive? ⁸  (Selah)

Kolose 1:12

1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share ⁹  in the saints’ ¹⁰  inheritance in the light.

Kolose 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ¹¹  brothers and sisters ¹²  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ¹³  from God our Father! ¹⁴ 

Pengkhotbah 2:9

2:9 So ¹⁵  I was far wealthier ¹⁶  than all my predecessors in Jerusalem,

yet I maintained my objectivity: ¹⁷ 

[4:3]  ¹ tn Heb “and know that.”

[4:3]  ² tn Heb “that the Lord sets apart a faithful one for himself.” The psalmist states a general principle, though the singular form and the parallel line indicate he has himself in mind as the representative godly person. A חָסִיד (khasid; here translated as “the godly”) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[4:3]  ³ tn Heb “hears.”

[4:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “sons of man.”

[4:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “how long my honor to shame?”

[4:2]  ⁶ tn The interrogative construction עַד־מֶה (’ad-meh, “how long?”), is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[4:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “emptiness.”

[4:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “a lie.” Some see the metonymic language of v. 2b (“emptiness, lie”) as referring to idols or false gods. However, there is no solid immediate contextual evidence for such an interpretation. It is more likely that the psalmist addresses those who threaten him (see v. 1) and refers in a general way to their sinful lifestyle. (See R. Mosis, TDOT 7:121.) The two terms allude to the fact that sinful behavior is ultimately fruitless and self-destructive.

[1:12]  ⁹ tn BDAG 473 s.v. ἱκανόω states, “τινὰ εἴς τι someone for someth. Col 1:12.” The point of the text is that God has qualified the saints for a “share” or “portion” in the inheritance of the saints.

[1:12]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the inheritance of the saints.” The genitive noun τῶν ἁγίων (twn Jagiwn) is a possessive genitive: “the saints’ inheritance.”

[1:2]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ¹⁴ 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.

[2:9]  ¹⁵ tn The vav prefixed to וְגָדַלְתִּי (vÿgadalti, vav + Qal perfect first common singular from גָּדַל, gadal, “to be great; to increase”) functions in a final summarizing sense, that is, it introduces the concluding summary of 2:4-9.

[2:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I became great and I surpassed” (וְהוֹסַפְתִּי וְגָדַלְתִּי, vÿgadalti vÿhosafti). This is a verbal hendiadys in which the second verb functions adverbially, modifying the first: “I became far greater.” Most translations miss the hendiadys and render the line in a woodenly literal sense (KJV, ASV, RSV, NEB, NRSV, NAB, NASB, MLB, Moffatt), while only a few recognize the presence of hendiadys here: “I became greater by far” (NIV) and “I gained more” (NJPS).

[2:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “yet my wisdom stood for me,” meaning he retained his wise perspective despite his great wealth.