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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with thematically matched Old and New Testament readings.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 64

Psalm 64^[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

64 Listen to me,^[b] O God, as I offer my lament!
Protect^[c] my life from the enemy’s terrifying attacks.^[d]
²Hide me from the plots of evil men,
from the crowd of evildoers.^[e]
³They^[f] sharpen their tongues like swords;
they aim their arrows, a slanderous charge,^[g]
⁴in order to shoot down the innocent^[h] in secluded places.
They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation.^[i]
⁵They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed.^[j]
They plan how to hide^[k] snares,
and boast,^[l] “Who will see them?”^[m]
⁶They devise^[n] unjust schemes;
they disguise^[o] a well-conceived plot.^[p]
Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered.^[q]
⁷But God will shoot^[r] at them;
suddenly they will be^[s] wounded by an arrow.^[t]
⁸Their slander will bring about their demise.^[u]
All who see them will shudder,^[v]
⁹and all people will fear.^[w]
They will proclaim what God has done,^[x]
and reflect on his deeds.
¹⁰The godly will rejoice in the Lord
and take shelter in him.
All the morally upright^[y] will boast.^[z]

Footnotes

Psalm 64:1 sn Psalm 64. The psalmist asks God to protect him from his dangerous enemies and then confidently affirms that God will destroy his enemies and demonstrate his justice in the sight of all observers.
Psalm 64:1 tn Heb “my voice.”
Psalm 64:1 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s request.
Psalm 64:1 tn Heb “from the terror of [the] enemy.” “Terror” is used here metonymically for the enemy’s attacks that produce fear because they threaten the psalmist’s life.
Psalm 64:2 tn Heb “workers of wickedness.”
Psalm 64:3 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
Psalm 64:3 tn Heb “a bitter word.”
Psalm 64:4 tn The psalmist uses the singular because he is referring to himself here as representative of a larger group.
Psalm 64:4 tn Heb “and are unafraid.” The words “of retaliation” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
Psalm 64:5 tn Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].”
Psalm 64:5 tn Heb “they report about hiding.”
Psalm 64:5 tn Heb “they say.”
Psalm 64:5 tn If this is a direct quotation (cf. NASB, NIV), the pronoun “them” refers to the snares mentioned in the previous line. If it is an indirect quotation, then the pronoun may refer to the enemies themselves (cf. NEB, which is ambiguous). Some translations retain the direct quotation but alter the pronoun to “us,” referring clearly to the enemies (cf. NRSV).
Psalm 64:6 tn Heb “search out, examine,” which here means (by metonymy) “devise.”
Psalm 64:6 tc The MT has תַּמְנוּ (tamnu, “we are finished”), a Qal perfect first common plural form from the verbal root תָּמַם (tamam). Some understand this as the beginning of a quotation of the enemies’ words and translate, “we have completed,” but the Hiphil would seem to be required in this case. The present translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading טָמְנוּ (tam^enu, “they hide”), a Qal perfect third common plural form from the verbal root טָמַן (taman).
Psalm 64:6 tn Heb “a searched-out search,” which is understood as referring here to a thoroughly planned plot to destroy the psalmist.
Psalm 64:6 tn Heb “and the inner part of man, and a heart [is] deep.” The point seems to be that a man’s inner thoughts are incapable of being discovered. No one is a mind reader! Consequently the psalmist is vulnerable to his enemies’ well-disguised plots.
Psalm 64:7 tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive is normally used in narrative contexts to describe completed past actions. It is possible that the conclusion to the psalm (vv. 7-10) was added to the lament after God’s judgment of the wicked in response to the psalmist’s lament (vv. 1-6). The translation assumes that these verses are anticipatory and express the psalmist’s confidence that God would eventually judge the wicked. The psalmist uses a narrative style as a rhetorical device to emphasize his certitude. See GKC 329-30 §111.w.
Psalm 64:7 tn The perfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s certitude about the coming demise of the wicked.
Psalm 64:7 tn The translation follows the traditional accentuation of the MT. Another option is to translate, “But God will shoot them down with an arrow, suddenly they will be wounded” (cf. NIV, NRSV).
Psalm 64:8 tc The MT reads literally, “and they caused him [or it] to stumble upon them, their tongue.” Perhaps the third plural subject of the verb is indefinite with the third singular pronominal suffix on the verb being distributive (see Ps 63:10). In this case one may translate, “each one will be made to stumble.” The preposition עַל (ʿal) might then be taken as adversative, “against them [is] their tongue.” Many prefer to emend the text to וַיַּכְשִׁילֵמוֹ עֲלֵי לְשׁוֹנָם (vayyakhshilemo ʿale l^eshonam, “and he caused them to stumble over their tongue”). However, if this reading is original, it is difficult to see how the present reading of the MT arose. Furthermore, the preposition is not collocated with the verb כָּשַׁל (kashal) elsewhere. Perhaps a better option is that the third singular pronominal suffix “it” refers to the following noun “tongue” translated “they caused it, their tongue, to stumble on themselves” (see GKC 425-26 §131.m, o).
Psalm 64:8 tn The Hitpolel verbal form is probably from the root נוּד (nud; see HALOT 678 s.v. נוד), which is attested elsewhere in the Hitpolel stem, not the root נָדַד (nadad, as proposed by BDB 622 s.v. I נָדַד), which does not occur elsewhere in this stem.
Psalm 64:9 tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read וַיִּרְאוּ (vayyirʾu, “and they will see”) instead of וַיִּירְאוּ (vayyir^eʾu, “and they will fear”).
Psalm 64:9 tn Heb “the work of God,” referring to the judgment described in v. 7.
Psalm 64:10 tn Heb “upright in heart.”
Psalm 64:10 tn That is, about the Lord’s accomplishments on their behalf.

Job 19:1-22

Job’s Reply to Bildad^[a]

19 Then Job answered:

²“How long will you torment me^[b]
and crush^[c] me with your words?^[d]
³These ten times^[e] you have been reproaching me;^[f]
you are not ashamed to attack me.^[g]
⁴But even if it were^[h] true that I have erred,^[i]
my error^[j] remains solely my concern!
⁵If indeed^[k] you would exalt yourselves^[l] above me
and plead my disgrace against me,^[m]
⁶know^[n] then that God has wronged me^[o]
and encircled^[p] me with his net.^[q]

Job’s Abandonment and Affliction

⁷“If^[r] I cry out,^[s] ‘Violence!’^[t]
I receive no answer;^[u]
I cry for help,
but there is no justice.
⁸He has blocked^[v] my way so I cannot pass,
and has set darkness^[w] over my paths.
⁹He has stripped me of my honor
and has taken the crown off my head.^[x]
¹⁰He tears me down^[y] on every side until I perish;^[z]
he uproots^[aa] my hope^[ab] like an uprooted^[ac] tree.
¹¹Thus^[ad] his anger burns against me,
and he considers me among his enemies.^[ae]
¹²His troops^[af] advance together;
they throw up^[ag] a siege ramp against me,
and they camp around my tent.

Job’s Forsaken State

¹³“He has put my relatives^[ah] far from me;
my acquaintances only^[ai] turn away from me.
¹⁴My kinsmen have failed me;
my friends^[aj] have forgotten me.^[ak]
¹⁵My guests^[al] and my servant girls
consider^[am] me a stranger;
I am a foreigner^[an] in their eyes.
¹⁶I summon^[ao] my servant, but he does not respond,
even though I implore^[ap] him with my own mouth.
¹⁷My breath is repulsive^[aq] to my wife;
I am loathsome^[ar] to my brothers.^[as]
¹⁸Even youngsters have scorned me;
when I get up,^[at] they scoff at me.^[au]
¹⁹All my closest friends^[av] detest me;
and those whom^[aw] I love have turned against me.^[ax]
²⁰My bones stick to my skin and my flesh;^[ay]
I have escaped^[az] alive^[ba] with only the skin of my teeth.
²¹Have pity on me, my friends, have pity on me,
for the hand of God has struck me.
²²Why do you pursue me like God does?^[bb]
Will you never be satiated with my flesh?^[bc]

Footnotes

Job 19:1 sn Job is completely stunned by Bildad’s speech, and feels totally deserted by God and his friends. Yet from his despair a new hope emerges with a stronger faith. Even though he knows he will die in his innocence, he knows that God will vindicate him and that he will be conscious of the vindication. There are four parts to this reply: Job’s impatience with the speeches of his friends (2-6), God’s abandonment of Job and his attack (7-12), Job’s forsaken state and appeal to his friends (13-22), and Job’s confidence that he will be vindicated (23-29).
Job 19:2 tn Heb “torment my soul,” with “soul” representing the self or individual. The MT has a verb from יָגָה (yagah, “to afflict; to torment”). This is supported by the versions. But the LXX has “to tire” which is apparently from יָגַע (yagaʿ). The form in the MT is unusual because it preserves the final (original) yod in the Hiphil (see GKC 214 §75.gg). So this unusual form has been preserved, and is the correct reading. A modal nuance for the imperfect fits best here: “How long do you intend to do this?”
Job 19:2 tn The MT has דָּכָא (dakhaʾ), “to crush” in the Piel. The LXX, however, has a more general word which means “to destroy.”
Job 19:2 tn The LXX adds to the verse: “only know that the Lord has dealt with me thus.”
Job 19:3 sn The number “ten” is a general expression to convey that this has been done often (see Gen 31:7; Num 14:22).
Job 19:3 tn The Hiphil of the verb כָּלַם (kalam) means “outrage; insult; shame.” The verbs in this verse are prefixed conjugations, and may be interpreted as preterites if the reference is to the past time. But since the action is still going on, progressive imperfects work well.
Job 19:3 tn The second half of the verse uses two verbs, the one dependent on the other. It could be translated “you are not ashamed to attack me” (see GKC 385-86 §120.c), or “you attack me shamelessly.” The verb חָכַר (hakhar) poses some difficulties for both the ancient versions and the modern commentators. The verb seems to be cognate to Arabic hakara, “to oppress; to ill-treat.” This would mean that there has been a transformation of ח (khet) to ה (he). Three Hebrew mss actually have the ח (khet). This has been widely accepted; other suggestions are irrelevant.
Job 19:4 tn Job has held to his innocence, so the only way that he could say “I have erred” (שָׁגִיתִי, shagiti) is in a hypothetical clause like this.
Job 19:4 tn There is a long addition in the LXX: “in having spoken words which it is not right to speak, and my words err, and are unreasonable.”
Job 19:4 tn The word מְשׁוּגָה (m^eshugah) is a hapax legomenon. It is derived from שׁוּג (shug, “to wander; to err”) with root paralleling שָׁגַג (shagag) and שָׁגָה (shagah). What Job is saying is that even if it were true that he had erred, it did not injure them—it was solely his concern.
Job 19:5 tn The introductory particles repeat אָמְנָם (ʾamnam, “indeed”) but now with אִם (ʾim, “if”). It could be interpreted to mean “is it not true,” or as here in another conditional clause.
Job 19:5 tn The verb is the Hiphil of גָּדַל (gadal); it can mean “to make great” or as an internal causative “to make oneself great” or “to assume a lofty attitude, to be insolent.” There is no reason to assume another root here with the meaning of “quarrel” (as Gordis does).
Job 19:5 sn Job’s friends have been using his shame, his humiliation in all his sufferings, as proof against him in their case.
Job 19:6 tn The imperative is used here to introduce a solemn affirmation. This verse proves that Job was in no way acknowledging sin in v. 4. Here Job is declaring that God has wronged him, and in so doing, perverted justice.
Job 19:6 tn The Piel of עָוַת (ʿavat) means “to warp justice” (see 8:3), or here, to do wrong to someone (see Ps 119:78). The statement is chosen to refute the question that Bildad asked in his first speech.
Job 19:6 tn The verb נָקַף (naqaf) means “to turn; to make a circle; to encircle.” It means that God has encircled or engulfed Job with his net.
Job 19:6 tn The word מְצוּדוֹ (m^etsudo) is usually connected with צוּד (tsud, “to hunt”), and so is taken to mean “a net.” Gordis and Habel, however, interpret it to mean “siegeworks” thrown up around a city—but that would require changing the ד (dalet) to a ר (resh) (cf. NLT, “I am like a city under siege”). The LXX, though, has “bulwark.” Besides, the previous speech used several words for “net.”
Job 19:7 tn The particle is used here as in 9:11 (see GKC 497 §159.w).
Job 19:7 tc The LXX has “I laugh at reproach.”
Job 19:7 tn The same idea is expressed in Jer 20:8 and Hab 1:2. The cry is a cry for help, that he has been wronged, that there is no justice.
Job 19:7 tn The Niphal is simply “I am not answered.” See Prov 21:13b.
Job 19:8 tn The verb גָּדַר (gadar) means “to wall up; to fence up; to block.” God has blocked Job’s way so that he cannot get through. See the note on 3:23. Cf. Lam 3:7.
Job 19:8 tn Some commentators take the word to be חָשַׁךְ (hasak), related to an Arabic word for “thorn hedge.”
Job 19:9 sn The images here are fairly common in the Bible. God has stripped away Job’s honorable reputation. The crown is the metaphor for the esteem and dignity he once had. See 29:14; Isa 61:3; see Ps 8:5 [6].
Job 19:10 tn The metaphors are changed now to a demolished building and an uprooted tree. The verb is נָתַץ (natats, “to demolish”). Since it is Job himself who is the object, the meaning cannot be “demolish” (as of a house so that an inhabitant has to leave), but more of the attack or the battering.
Job 19:10 tn The text has הָלַךְ (halakh, “to leave”). But in view of Job 14:20, “perish” or “depart” would be a better meaning here.
Job 19:10 tn The verb נָסַע (nasaʿ) means “to travel” generally, but specifically it means “to pull up the tent pegs and move.” The Hiphil here means “uproot.” It is used of a vine in Ps 80:9. The idea here does not contradict Job 14:7, for there the tree still had roots and so could grow.
Job 19:10 tn The NEB has “my tent rope,” but that seems too contrived here. It is absurd to pull up a tent-rope like a tree.
Job 19:10 tn Heb “like a tree.” The words “one uproots” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
Job 19:11 tn The verb is a nonpreterite vayyiqtol perhaps employed to indicate that the contents of v. 11 are a logical sequence to the actions described in v. 10.
Job 19:11 tn This second half of the verse is a little difficult. The Hebrew has “and he reckons me for him like his adversaries.” Most would change the last word to a singular in harmony with the versions, “as his adversary.” But some retain the MT pointing and try to explain it variously: Weiser suggests that the plural might have come from a cultic recitation of Yahweh’s deeds against his enemies; Fohrer thinks it refers to the primeval enemies; Gordis takes it as distributive, “as one of his foes.” If the plural is retained, this last view makes the most sense.
Job 19:12 sn Now the metaphor changes again. Since God thinks of Job as an enemy, he attacks with his troops, builds the siege ramp, and camps around him to besiege him. All the power and all the forces are at God’s disposal in his attack of Job.
Job 19:12 tn Heb “they throw up their way against me.” The verb סָלַל (salal) means “to build a siege ramp” or “to throw up a ramp”; here the object is “their way.” The latter could be taken as an adverbial accusative, “as their way.” But as the object it fits just as well. Some delete the middle clause; the LXX has “Together his troops fell upon me, they beset my ways with an ambush.”
Job 19:13 tn Heb “brothers.”
Job 19:13 tn The LXX apparently took אַךְ־זָרוּ (ʾakh, “even, only,” and zaru, “they turn away”) together as if it was the verb אַכְזָרוּ (ʾakhzaru, “they have become cruel,” as in 20:21). But the grammar in the line would be difficult with this. Moreover, the word is most likely from זוּר (zur, “to turn away”). See L. A. Snijders, “The Meaning of zar in the Old Testament,” OTS 10 (1964): 1-154 (especially p. 9).
Job 19:14 tn The Pual participle is used for those “known” to him, or with whom he is “familiar,” whereas קָרוֹב (qarov, “near”) is used for a relative.
Job 19:14 tn Many commentators add the first part of v. 15 to this verse, because it is too loaded and this is too short. That gives the reading “My kinsmen and my familiar friends have disappeared, they have forgotten me (15) the guests I entertained.” There is not much support for this, nor is there much reason for it.
Job 19:15 tn The Hebrew גָּרֵי בֵיתִי (gare veti, “the guests of my house”) refers to those who sojourned in Job’s house—not residents, but guests.
Job 19:15 tn The form of the verb is a feminine plural, which would seem to lend support to the proposed change of the lines (see last note to v. 14). But the form may be feminine primarily because of the immediate reference. On the other side, the suffix of “their eyes” is a masculine plural. So the evidence lies on both sides.
Job 19:15 tn This word נָכְרִי (nokhri) is the person from another race, from a strange land, the foreigner. The previous word, גֵּר (ger), is a more general word for someone who is staying in the land but is not a citizen, that is, a sojourner.
Job 19:16 tn The verb קָרָא (qaraʾ) followed by the ל (lamed) preposition means “to summon.” Contrast Ps 123:2.
Job 19:16 tn Heb “plead for grace” or “plead for mercy” (ESV).
Job 19:17 tn The Hebrew appears to have “my breath is strange to my wife.” This would be the meaning if the verb was from זוּר (zur, “to turn aside; to be a stranger”). But it should be connected to זִיר (zir), cognate to Assyrian zaru, “to feel repugnance toward.” Here it is used in the intransitive sense, “to be repulsive.” L. A. Snijders, following Driver, doubts the existence of this second root, and retains “strange” (“The Meaning of zar in the Old Testament,” OTS 10 [1964]: 1-154).
Job 19:17 tn The normal meaning here would be based on the root חָנַן (khanan, “to be gracious”). And so we have versions reading “although I entreated” or “my supplication.” But it seems more likely it is to be connected to another root meaning “to be offensive; to be loathsome.” For the discussion of the connection to the Arabic, see E. Dhorme, Job, 278.
Job 19:17 tn The text has “the sons of my belly [= body].” This would normally mean “my sons.” But they are all dead. And there is no suggestion that Job had other sons. The word “my belly” will have to be understood as “my womb,” i.e., the womb I came from. Instead of “brothers,” the sense could be “siblings” (both brothers and sisters; G. R. Driver and G. B. Gray, Job [ICC], 2:168).
Job 19:18 sn The use of the verb “rise” is probably fairly literal. When Job painfully tries to get up and walk, the little boys make fun of him.
Job 19:18 tn The verb דִּבֵּר (dibber) followed by the preposition ב (bet) indicates speaking against someone, namely, scoffing or railing against someone (see Pss 50:20; 78:19). Some commentators find another root with the meaning “to turn one’s back on; to turn aside from.” The argument is weak philologically because it requires a definition “from” for the preposition ב. See among others I. Eitan, “Studies in Hebrew Roots,” JQR 14 (1923-24): 31-52, especially 38-41.
Job 19:19 tn Heb “men of my confidence,” or “men of my council,” i.e., intimate friends, confidants.
Job 19:19 tn The pronoun זֶה (zeh) functions here in the place of a nominative (see GKC 447 §138.h).
Job 19:19 tn T. Penar translates this “turn away from me” (“Job 19, 19 in the Light of Ben Sira 6, 11, ” Bib 48 [1967]: 293-95).
Job 19:20 tn The meaning would be “I am nothing but skin and bones” in current English idiom. Both lines of this verse need attention. The first half seems to say, “My skin and my flesh sticks to my bones.” Some think that this is too long, and that the bones can stick to the skin, or the flesh, but not both. Dhorme proposes “in my skin my flesh has rotted away” (רָקַב, raqav). This involves several changes in the line, however. He then changes the second line to read “and I have gnawed my bone with my teeth” (transferring “bone” from the first half and omitting “skin”). There are numerous other renderings of this; some of the more notable are: “I escape, my bones in my teeth” (Merx); “my teeth fall out” (Duhm); “my teeth fall from my gums” (Pope); “my bones protrude in sharp points” (Kissane). A. B. Davidson retains “the skin of my teeth,” meaning “gums.” This is about the last thing that Job has, or he would not be able to speak. For a detailed study of this verse, D. J. A. Clines devotes two full pages of textual notes (Job [WBC], 430-31). He concludes with “My bones hang from my skin and my flesh, I am left with only the skin of my teeth.”
Job 19:20 tn Or “I am left.”
Job 19:20 tn The word “alive” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
Job 19:22 sn Strahan comments, “The whole tragedy of the book is packed into these extraordinary words.”
Job 19:22 sn The idiom of eating the pieces of someone means “slander” in Aramaic (see Dan 3:8), Arabic and Akkadian.

Ephesians 2:11-22

New Life Corporately

¹¹Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh—who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body^[a] by human hands— ¹²that you were at that time without the Messiah,^[b] alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise,^[c] having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.^[d] ¹⁴For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one^[e] and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, ¹⁵when he nullified^[f] in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man^[g] out of two,^[h] thus making peace, ¹⁶and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed.^[i] ¹⁷And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, ¹⁸so that^[j] through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, ²⁰because you have been built^[k] on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,^[l] with Christ Jesus himself as^[m] the cornerstone.^[n] ²¹In him^[o] the whole building,^[p] being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, ²²in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Footnotes

Ephesians 2:11 tn Grk “in the flesh.”
Ephesians 2:12 tn Or “without Christ.” Both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Because the context refers to ancient Israel’s messianic expectation, “Messiah” was employed in the translation at this point rather than “Christ.”
Ephesians 2:12 tn Or “covenants of the promise.”
Ephesians 2:13 tn Or “have come near in the blood of Christ.”sn See the note on “his blood” in 1:7.
Ephesians 2:14 tn Grk “who made the both one.”
Ephesians 2:15 tn Or “rendered inoperative.” This is a difficult text to translate because it is not easy to find an English term which communicates well the essence of the author’s meaning, especially since legal terminology is involved. Many other translations use the term “abolish” (so NRSV, NASB, NIV), but this term implies complete destruction which is not the author’s meaning here. The verb καταργέω (katargeō) can readily have the meaning “to cause someth. to lose its power or effectiveness” (BDAG 525 s.v. 2, where this passage is listed), and this meaning fits quite naturally here within the author’s legal mindset. A proper English term which communicates this well is “nullify” since this word carries the denotation of “making something legally null and void.” This is not, however, a common English word. An alternate term like “rendered inoperative [or ineffective]” is also accurate but fairly inelegant. For this reason, the translation retains the term “nullify”; it is the best choice of the available options, despite its problems.
Ephesians 2:15 tn In this context the author is not referring to a new individual, but instead to a new corporate entity united in Christ (cf. BDAG 497 s.v. καινός 3.b: “All the Christians together appear as κ. ἄνθρωπος Eph 2:15”). This is clear from the comparison made between the Gentiles and Israel in the immediately preceding verses and the assertion in v. 14 that Christ “made both groups into one.” This is a different metaphor than the “new man” of Eph 4:24; in that passage the “new man” refers to the new life a believer has through a relationship to Christ.
Ephesians 2:15 tn Grk “in order to create the two into one new man.” Eph 2:14-16 is one sentence in Greek. A new sentence was started here in the translation for clarity since contemporary English is less tolerant of extended sentences.
Ephesians 2:16 tn Grk “by killing the hostility in himself.”
Ephesians 2:18 tn Or “for.” BDAG gives the consecutive ὅτι (hoti) as a possible category of NT usage (BDAG 732 s.v. 5.c).
Ephesians 2:20 tn Grk “having been built.”
Ephesians 2:20 sn Apostles and prophets. Because the prophets appear after the mention of the apostles and because they are linked together in 3:5 as recipients of revelation about the church, they are to be regarded not as Old Testament prophets, but as New Testament prophets.
Ephesians 2:20 tn Grk “while Christ Jesus himself is” or “Christ Jesus himself being.”
Ephesians 2:20 tn Or perhaps “capstone” (NAB). The meaning of ἀκρογωνιαῖος (akrogōniaios) is greatly debated. The meaning “capstone” is proposed by J. Jeremias (TDNT 1:792), but the most important text for this meaning (T. Sol. 22:7-23:4) is late and possibly not even an appropriate parallel. The only place ἀκρογωνιαῖος is used in the LXX is Isa 28:16, and there it clearly refers to a cornerstone that is part of a foundation. Furthermore, the imagery in this context has the building growing off the cornerstone upward, whereas if Christ were the capstone, he would not assume his position until the building was finished, which vv. 21-22 argue against.
Ephesians 2:21 tn Grk “in whom” (v. 21 is a relative clause, subordinate to v. 20).
Ephesians 2:21 tc Although several significant witnesses (א¹ A C P 6 81 326 1739^c 1881) have πᾶσα ἡ οἰκοδομή (pasa hē oikodomē), instead of πᾶσα οἰκοδομή (the reading of א* B D F G Ψ 33 1175 1505 1739* M), the article is almost surely a scribal addition intended to clarify the meaning of the text, for with the article the meaning is unambiguously “the whole building.”tn Or “every building.” Although “every building” is a more natural translation of the Greek, it does not fit as naturally into the context, which (with its emphasis on corporate unity) seems to stress the idea of one building.

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 64[a]

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Footnotes

Psalm 64^[a]

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