Psalm 76
New English Translation
Psalm 76[a]
For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of Asaph, a song.
76 God has revealed himself in Judah;[b]
in Israel his reputation[c] is great.
2 He lives in Salem;[d]
he dwells in Zion.[e]
3 There he shattered the arrows,[f]
the shield, the sword, and the rest of the weapons of war.[g] (Selah)
4 You shine brightly and reveal your majesty,
as you descend from the hills where you killed your prey.[h]
5 The bravehearted[i] were plundered;[j]
they “fell asleep.”[k]
All the warriors were helpless.[l]
6 At the sound of your battle cry,[m] O God of Jacob,
both rider[n] and horse “fell asleep.”[o]
7 You are awesome! Yes, you!
Who can withstand your intense anger?[p]
8 From heaven you announced what their punishment would be.[q]
The earth[r] was afraid and silent
9 when God arose to execute judgment,
and to deliver all the oppressed of the earth. (Selah)
10 Certainly[s] your angry judgment upon men will bring you praise;[t]
you reveal your anger in full measure.[u]
11 Make vows to the Lord your God and repay them.
Let all those who surround him[v] bring tribute to the awesome one.
12 He humbles princes;[w]
the kings of the earth regard him as awesome.[x]
Footnotes
- Psalm 76:1 sn Psalm 76. The psalmist depicts God as a mighty warrior who destroys Israel’s enemies.
- Psalm 76:1 tn Or “God is known in Judah.”
- Psalm 76:1 tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
- Psalm 76:2 sn Salem is a shorter name for Jerusalem (see Gen 14:18).
- Psalm 76:2 tn Heb “and his place of refuge is in Salem, and his lair in Zion.” God may be likened here to a lion (see v. 4).
- Psalm 76:3 tn Heb “flames of the bow,” i.e., arrows.
- Psalm 76:3 tn Heb “shield and sword and battle.” “Battle” probably here stands by metonymy for the weapons of war in general.sn This verse may allude to the miraculous defeat of the Assyrians in 701 b.c. (see Isa 36-37).
- Psalm 76:4 tn Heb “radiant [are] you, majestic from the hills of prey.” God is depicted as a victorious king and as a lion that has killed its victims.
- Psalm 76:5 tn Heb “strong of heart.” In Isa 46:12, the only other text where this phrase appears, it refers to those who are stubborn, but here it seems to describe brave warriors (see the next line).
- Psalm 76:5 tn The verb is a rare Aramaized form of the Hitpolel (see GKC 149 §54.a, n. 2); the root is שָׁלַל (shalal, “to plunder”).
- Psalm 76:5 tn Heb “they slept [in] their sleep.” “Sleep” here refers to the “sleep” of death. A number of modern translations take the phrase to refer to something less than death, however: NASB “cast into a deep sleep”; NEB “fall senseless”; NIV “lie still”; NRSV “lay stunned.”
- Psalm 76:5 tn Heb “and all the men of strength did not find their hands.”
- Psalm 76:6 tn Heb “from your shout.” The noun is derived from the Hebrew verb גָּעַר (gaʿar), which is often understood to mean “rebuke.” In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Pss 68:30; 106:9; Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 9:5; 18:15; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.
- Psalm 76:6 tn Or “chariot,” but even so the term is metonymic for the charioteer.
- Psalm 76:6 tn Heb “he fell asleep, and [the] chariot and [the] horse.” Once again (see v. 5) “sleep” refers here to the “sleep” of death.
- Psalm 76:7 tc Heb “and who can stand before you from the time of your anger?” The Hebrew expression מֵאָז (meʾaz, “from the time of”) is better emended to מֵאֹז (meʾoz, “from [i.e., “because of”] the strength of your anger”; see Ps 90:11).
- Psalm 76:8 tn Heb “a [legal] decision,” or “sentence.”
- Psalm 76:8 tn “The earth” stands here by metonymy for its inhabitants.
- Psalm 76:10 tn Or “for.”
- Psalm 76:10 tn Heb “the anger of men will praise you.” This could mean that men’s anger (subjective genitive), when punished by God, will bring him praise, but this interpretation does not harmonize well with the next line. The translation assumes that God’s anger is in view here (see v. 7) and that “men” is an objective genitive. God’s angry judgment against men brings him praise because it reveals his power and majesty (see vv. 1-4).
- Psalm 76:10 tn Heb “the rest of anger you put on.” The meaning of the statement is not entirely clear. Perhaps the idea is that God, as he prepares for battle, girds himself with every last ounce of his anger, as if it were a weapon.
- Psalm 76:11 tn The phrase “all those who surround him” may refer to the surrounding nations (v. 12 may favor this), but in Ps 89:7 the phrase refers to God’s heavenly assembly.
- Psalm 76:12 tn Heb “he reduces the spirit of princes.” According to HALOT 148 s.v. II בצר, the Hebrew verb בָּצַר (batsar) is here a hapax legomenon meaning “reduce, humble.” The statement is generalizing, with the imperfect tense highlighting God’s typical behavior.
- Psalm 76:12 tn Heb “[he is] awesome to the kings of the earth.”
Isaiah 60:17-22
New English Translation
17 Instead of bronze, I will bring you gold;
instead of iron, I will bring you silver;
instead of wood, I will bring you[a] bronze;
instead of stones, I will bring you[b] iron.
I will make prosperity[c] your overseer,
and vindication your sovereign ruler.[d]
18 Sounds of violence will no longer be heard in your land,
or the sounds of[e] destruction and devastation within your borders.
You will name your walls, ‘Deliverance,’
and your gates, ‘Praise.’
19 The sun will no longer supply light for you by day,
nor will the moon’s brightness shine on you;
the Lord will be your permanent source of light—
the splendor of your God will shine upon you.[f]
20 Your sun will no longer set;
your moon will not disappear;[g]
the Lord will be your permanent source of light;
your time[h] of sorrow will be over.
21 All your people will be godly;[i]
they will possess the land permanently.
I will plant them like a shoot;
they will be the product of my labor,
through whom I reveal my splendor.[j]
22 The least of you will multiply into[k] a thousand;
the smallest of you will become a large nation.
When the right time comes, I the Lord will quickly do this!”[l]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 60:17 tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding lines).
- Isaiah 60:17 tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the first two lines of the verse).
- Isaiah 60:17 tn Or “peace” (KJV and many other English versions).
- Isaiah 60:17 tn The plural indicates degree. The language is ironic; in the past Zion was ruled by oppressive tyrants, but now personified prosperity and vindication will be the only things that will “dominate” the city.
- Isaiah 60:18 tn The words “sounds of” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Isaiah 60:19 tn Heb “and your God for your splendor.”
- Isaiah 60:20 sn In this verse “sun” and “moon” refer to the Lord’s light, which will replace the sun and moon (see v. 19). Light here symbolizes the restoration of divine blessing and prosperity in conjunction with the Lord’s presence. See 30:26.
- Isaiah 60:20 tn Heb “days” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
- Isaiah 60:21 tn Or “righteous” (NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “just.”
- Isaiah 60:21 tn Heb “a shoot of his planting, the work of my hands, to reveal splendor.”
- Isaiah 60:22 tn Heb “will become” (so NASB, NIV).
- Isaiah 60:22 tn Heb “I, the Lord, in its time, I will quickly do it.”
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
New English Translation
25 Therefore, having laid aside falsehood, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor,[a] because we are members of one another. 26 Be angry and do not sin;[b] do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger.[c] 27 Do not give the devil an opportunity. 28 The one who steals must steal no longer; instead he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. 29 You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need,[d] that it would give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 You must put away all bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and slanderous talk—indeed all malice.[e] 32 Instead,[f] be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.
Live in Love
5 Therefore, be[g] imitators of God as dearly loved children 2 and live[h] in love, just as Christ also loved us[i] and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering[j] to God.
Footnotes
- Ephesians 4:25 sn A quotation from Zech 8:16.
- Ephesians 4:26 sn A quotation from Ps 4:4. Although several translations render the phrase Be angry and do not sin as “If you are angry, do not sin” such is unlikely on a grammatical, lexical, and historical level (see D. B. Wallace, “᾿Οργίζεσθε in Ephesians 4:26: Command or Condition?” CTR 3 [1989]: 352-72). The idea of vv. 26-27 is as follows: Christians are to exercise a righteous indignation over sin in the midst of the believing community (v. 26a; note that v. 25 is restricting the discussion to those in the body of Christ). When other believers sin, such people should be gently and quickly confronted (v. 26b), for if the body of Christ does not address sin in its midst, the devil gains a foothold (v. 27). “Entirely opposite of the ‘introspective conscience’ view, this text seems to be a shorthand expression for church discipline, suggesting that there is a biblical warrant for δικαία ὀργή [dikaia orgē] (as the Greeks put it)—righteous indignation” (ExSyn 492).
- Ephesians 4:26 tn The word παροργισμός (parorgismos), typically translated “anger” in most versions is used almost exclusively of the source of anger rather than the results in Greek literature (thus, it refers to an external cause or provocation rather than an internal reaction). The notion of “cause of your anger” is both lexically and historically justified. The apparently proverbial nature of the statement (“Do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger”) finds several remarkable parallels in Pss. Sol. 8:8-9: “(8) God laid bare their sins in the full light of day; All the earth came to know the righteous judgments of God. (9) In secret places underground their iniquities (were committed) to provoke (Him) to anger” (R. H. Charles’ translation). Not only is παροργισμός used, but righteous indignation against God’s own people and the laying bare of their sins in broad daylight are also seen.
- Ephesians 4:29 tn Grk “but if something good for the building up of the need.” The final genitive τῆς χρείας (tēs chreias) may refer to “the need of the moment” or it may refer to the need of a particular person or group of people as the next phrase “give grace to those who hear” indicates.
- Ephesians 4:31 tn Grk “with all malice.” This final phrase provides a cumulative point of focus for this list and presents a summary vice encompassing all the others. The translation attempts to make this nuance clear.
- Ephesians 4:32 tc ‡ Although most witnesses have either δέ (de; P49 א A D2 Ψ 33 1505 1739mg 2464 M lat) or οὖν (oun; D* F G 1175) here, a few significant mss lack a conjunction (P46 B 0278 6 1739* 1881). If either conjunction were originally in the text, it is difficult to explain how the asyndetic construction could have arisen (although the dropping of δέ could have occurred via homoioteleuton). Further, although Hellenistic Greek rarely joined sentences without a conjunction, such does occur in the corpus Paulinum on occasion, especially to underscore a somber point. “Instead” has been supplied in the translation because of stylistic requirements, not textual basis. NA28 places δέ in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.
- Ephesians 5:1 tn Or “become.”
- Ephesians 5:2 tn Grk “walk.” The NT writers often used the verb “walk” (περιπατέω, peripateō) to refer to ethical conduct (cf. Rom 8:4; Gal 5:16; Col 4:5).
- Ephesians 5:2 tc A number of significant witnesses have ὑμᾶς (humas, “you”; e.g., א*,2b A B P 0159 81 1175 al it co as well as several fathers). Other, equally valuable witnesses read ἡμᾶς (hēmas, “us”; P46 א2a D F G Ψ 0278 33 1505 1739 1881 2464 al lat sy). It is possible that ἡμᾶς was accidentally introduced via homoioarcton with the previous word (ἠγάπησεν, ēgapēsen). On the other hand, ὑμᾶς may have been motivated by the preceding ὑμῖν (humin) in 4:32 and second person verbs in 5:1, 2. Further, the flow of argument seems to require the first person pronoun. A decision is difficult to make, but the first person pronoun has a slightly greater probability of being authentic.
- Ephesians 5:2 tn Grk “an offering and sacrifice to God as a smell of fragrance.” The first expression, προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν (prosphoran kai thusian), is probably a hendiadys and has been translated such that “sacrificial” modifies “offering.” The second expression, εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας (eis osmēn euōdias, “as a smell of fragrance”) has been translated as “a fragrant offering”; see BDAG 728-29 s.v. ὀσμή 2. Putting these two together in a clear fashion in English yields the translation: “a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.”
Psalm 141
New English Translation
Psalm 141[a]
A psalm of David.
141 O Lord, I cry out to you. Come quickly to me.
Pay attention to me when I cry out to you.
2 May you accept my prayer like incense,
my uplifted hands like the evening offering.[b]
3 O Lord, place a guard on my mouth.
Protect the opening[c] of my lips.[d]
4 Do not let me have evil desires,[e]
or participate in sinful activities
with men who behave wickedly.[f]
I will not eat their delicacies.[g]
5 May the godly strike me in love and correct me.
May my head not refuse[h] choice oil.[i]
Indeed, my prayer is a witness against their evil deeds.[j]
6 They will be thrown over the side of a cliff by their judges.[k]
They[l] will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.
7 As when one plows and breaks up the soil,[m]
so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
8 Surely I am looking to you,[n] O Sovereign Lord.
In you I take shelter.
Do not expose me to danger.[o]
9 Protect me from the snare they have laid for me,
and the traps the evildoers have set.[p]
10 Let the wicked fall[q] into their[r] own nets,
while I escape.[s]
Footnotes
- Psalm 141:1 sn Psalm 141. The psalmist asks God to protect him from sin and from sinful men.
- Psalm 141:2 tn Heb “may my prayer be established [like] incense before you, the uplifting of my hands [like] an evening offering.”
- Psalm 141:3 tn Heb “door.” The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
- Psalm 141:3 sn My mouth…my lips. The psalmist asks God to protect him from speaking inappropriately or sinfully.
- Psalm 141:4 tn Heb “do not turn my heart toward an evil thing.”
- Psalm 141:4 tn Heb “to act sinfully in practices in wickedness with men, doers of evil.”
- Psalm 141:4 sn Their delicacies. This probably refers to the enjoyment that a sinful lifestyle appears to offer.
- Psalm 141:5 tn The form יָנִי (yani) appears to be derived from the verbal root נוּא (nuʾ). Another option is to emend the form to יְנָא (yenaʾ), a Piel from נָאָה (naʾah), and translate “may choice oil not adorn my head” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 271). In this case, choice oil, like delicacies in v. 4, symbolize the pleasures of sin.
- Psalm 141:5 sn May my head not refuse choice oil. The psalmist compares the constructive criticism of the godly (see the previous line) to having refreshing olive oil poured over one’s head.
- Psalm 141:5 tc Heb “for still, and my prayer [is] against their evil deeds.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult; the sequence -כִּי־עוֹד וּ (ki ʿod u-, “for still and”) occurs only here. The translation assumes an emendation to כִּי עֵד תְּפִלָּתִי (ki ʿed tefillati, “indeed a witness [is] my prayer”). The psalmist’s lament about the evil actions of sinful men (see v. 4) testifies against the wicked in the divine court.
- Psalm 141:6 tn Heb “they are thrown down by the hands of a cliff, their judges.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult and the meaning uncertain. The perfect verbal form is understood as rhetorical; the psalmist describes the anticipated downfall of the wicked as if it had already occurred. “Their judges” could be taken as the subject of the verb, but this makes little, if any, sense. The translation assumes the judges are the agents and that the wicked, mentioned earlier in the psalm, are the subjects of the verb.
- Psalm 141:6 tn It is unclear how this statement relates to the preceding sentence. Perhaps the judges are the referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) of the verb “will listen,” and “my words” are the referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) of the phrase “are pleasant.” The psalmist may be affirming here his confidence that he will be vindicated when he presents his case before the judges, while the wicked will be punished.
- Psalm 141:7 tn Heb “like splitting and breaking open in the earth.” The meaning of the statement and the point of the comparison are not entirely clear. Perhaps the psalmist is suggesting that he and other godly individuals are as good as dead; their bones are scattered about like dirt that is dug up and tossed aside.
- Psalm 141:8 tn Heb “my eyes [are] toward you.”
- Psalm 141:8 tn Heb “do not lay bare my life.” Only here is the Piel form of the verb collocated with the term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”). In Isa 53:12 the Lord’s servant “lays bare (the Hiphil form of the verb is used) his life to death.”
- Psalm 141:9 tn Heb “and the traps of the doers of evil.”
- Psalm 141:10 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate, “the wicked will fall.”
- Psalm 141:10 tn Heb “his.”
- Psalm 141:10 tn Heb “at the same [that] I, until I pass by.” Another option is to take יַחַד (yakhad) with the preceding line, “let the wicked fall together into their own nets.”
Ezekiel 11:14-25
New English Translation
14 Then the Lord’s message came to me: 15 “Son of man, your brothers,[a] your relatives,[b] and the whole house of Israel, all of them are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘They have gone far away[c] from the Lord; to us this land has been given as a possession.’
16 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Although I have removed them far away among the nations and have dispersed them among the countries, I have been a little[d] sanctuary for them among the lands where they have gone.’
17 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I regather you from the peoples and assemble you from the lands where you have been dispersed, I will give you back the country of Israel.’
18 “When they return to it, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. 19 I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within them;[e] I will remove the hearts of stone from their bodies[f] and I will give them tender hearts,[g] 20 so that they may follow my statutes and observe my regulations and carry them out. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.[h] 21 But those whose hearts are devoted to detestable things and abominations, I hereby repay them for what they have done,[i] says the Sovereign Lord.”
22 Then the cherubim spread[j] their wings with their wheels alongside them while the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them. 23 The glory of the Lord rose up from within the city and stopped[k] over the mountain east of it. 24 Then a wind[l] lifted me up and carried me to the exiles in Babylonia,[m] in the vision given to me by the Spirit of God.
Then the vision I had seen went up from me. 25 So I told the exiles everything[n] the Lord had shown me.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ezekiel 11:15 tc The MT reads “your brothers, your brothers” either for emphasis (D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:341, n. 1; 346) or as a result of dittography.
- Ezekiel 11:15 tc The MT reads גְאֻלָּתֶךָ (geʾullatekha, “your redemption-men”), referring to the relatives responsible for deliverance in times of hardship (see Lev 25:25-55). The LXX and Syriac read “your fellow exiles,” assuming an underlying Hebrew text of גָלוּתֶךָ (galutekha) or having read the א (alef) as an internal mater lectionis for holem.
- Ezekiel 11:15 tc The MT has an imperative form (“go far!”), but it may be read with different vowels as a perfect verb (“they have gone far”).
- Ezekiel 11:16 tn Or “have been partially a sanctuary”; others take this as temporal (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV “a little while”).
- Ezekiel 11:19 tc The MT reads “you”; many Hebrew mss along with the LXX and other ancient versions read “within them.”
- Ezekiel 11:19 tn Heb “their flesh.”
- Ezekiel 11:19 tn Heb “heart of flesh.”
- Ezekiel 11:20 sn The expression They will be my people, and I will be their God occurs as a promise to Abraham (Gen 17:8), Moses (Exod 6:7), and the nation (Exod 29:45).
- Ezekiel 11:21 tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.”
- Ezekiel 11:22 tn Heb “lifted.”
- Ezekiel 11:23 tn Heb “stood.”
- Ezekiel 11:24 tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.
- Ezekiel 11:24 tn Heb “to Chaldea.”
- Ezekiel 11:25 tn Heb “all the words of.”
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
New English Translation
25 Therefore, having laid aside falsehood, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor,[a] because we are members of one another. 26 Be angry and do not sin;[b] do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger.[c] 27 Do not give the devil an opportunity. 28 The one who steals must steal no longer; instead he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. 29 You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need,[d] that it would give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 You must put away all bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and slanderous talk—indeed all malice.[e] 32 Instead,[f] be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.
Live in Love
5 Therefore, be[g] imitators of God as dearly loved children 2 and live[h] in love, just as Christ also loved us[i] and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering[j] to God.
Footnotes
- Ephesians 4:25 sn A quotation from Zech 8:16.
- Ephesians 4:26 sn A quotation from Ps 4:4. Although several translations render the phrase Be angry and do not sin as “If you are angry, do not sin” such is unlikely on a grammatical, lexical, and historical level (see D. B. Wallace, “᾿Οργίζεσθε in Ephesians 4:26: Command or Condition?” CTR 3 [1989]: 352-72). The idea of vv. 26-27 is as follows: Christians are to exercise a righteous indignation over sin in the midst of the believing community (v. 26a; note that v. 25 is restricting the discussion to those in the body of Christ). When other believers sin, such people should be gently and quickly confronted (v. 26b), for if the body of Christ does not address sin in its midst, the devil gains a foothold (v. 27). “Entirely opposite of the ‘introspective conscience’ view, this text seems to be a shorthand expression for church discipline, suggesting that there is a biblical warrant for δικαία ὀργή [dikaia orgē] (as the Greeks put it)—righteous indignation” (ExSyn 492).
- Ephesians 4:26 tn The word παροργισμός (parorgismos), typically translated “anger” in most versions is used almost exclusively of the source of anger rather than the results in Greek literature (thus, it refers to an external cause or provocation rather than an internal reaction). The notion of “cause of your anger” is both lexically and historically justified. The apparently proverbial nature of the statement (“Do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger”) finds several remarkable parallels in Pss. Sol. 8:8-9: “(8) God laid bare their sins in the full light of day; All the earth came to know the righteous judgments of God. (9) In secret places underground their iniquities (were committed) to provoke (Him) to anger” (R. H. Charles’ translation). Not only is παροργισμός used, but righteous indignation against God’s own people and the laying bare of their sins in broad daylight are also seen.
- Ephesians 4:29 tn Grk “but if something good for the building up of the need.” The final genitive τῆς χρείας (tēs chreias) may refer to “the need of the moment” or it may refer to the need of a particular person or group of people as the next phrase “give grace to those who hear” indicates.
- Ephesians 4:31 tn Grk “with all malice.” This final phrase provides a cumulative point of focus for this list and presents a summary vice encompassing all the others. The translation attempts to make this nuance clear.
- Ephesians 4:32 tc ‡ Although most witnesses have either δέ (de; P49 א A D2 Ψ 33 1505 1739mg 2464 M lat) or οὖν (oun; D* F G 1175) here, a few significant mss lack a conjunction (P46 B 0278 6 1739* 1881). If either conjunction were originally in the text, it is difficult to explain how the asyndetic construction could have arisen (although the dropping of δέ could have occurred via homoioteleuton). Further, although Hellenistic Greek rarely joined sentences without a conjunction, such does occur in the corpus Paulinum on occasion, especially to underscore a somber point. “Instead” has been supplied in the translation because of stylistic requirements, not textual basis. NA28 places δέ in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.
- Ephesians 5:1 tn Or “become.”
- Ephesians 5:2 tn Grk “walk.” The NT writers often used the verb “walk” (περιπατέω, peripateō) to refer to ethical conduct (cf. Rom 8:4; Gal 5:16; Col 4:5).
- Ephesians 5:2 tc A number of significant witnesses have ὑμᾶς (humas, “you”; e.g., א*,2b A B P 0159 81 1175 al it co as well as several fathers). Other, equally valuable witnesses read ἡμᾶς (hēmas, “us”; P46 א2a D F G Ψ 0278 33 1505 1739 1881 2464 al lat sy). It is possible that ἡμᾶς was accidentally introduced via homoioarcton with the previous word (ἠγάπησεν, ēgapēsen). On the other hand, ὑμᾶς may have been motivated by the preceding ὑμῖν (humin) in 4:32 and second person verbs in 5:1, 2. Further, the flow of argument seems to require the first person pronoun. A decision is difficult to make, but the first person pronoun has a slightly greater probability of being authentic.
- Ephesians 5:2 tn Grk “an offering and sacrifice to God as a smell of fragrance.” The first expression, προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν (prosphoran kai thusian), is probably a hendiadys and has been translated such that “sacrificial” modifies “offering.” The second expression, εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας (eis osmēn euōdias, “as a smell of fragrance”) has been translated as “a fragrant offering”; see BDAG 728-29 s.v. ὀσμή 2. Putting these two together in a clear fashion in English yields the translation: “a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.”
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