¹ map For location see JP4 A1.

² tn Although the first part of v. 7 is not a complete English sentence, it maintains the “From…to” pattern used in all the Pauline letters to indicate the sender and the recipients. Here, however, there are several intervening verses (vv. 2-6), which makes the first half of v. 7 appear as an isolated sentence fragment.

³ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

⁴ tn Grk “First.” Paul never mentions a second point, so J. B. Phillips translated “I must begin by telling you….”

⁵ tn Grk “whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel.”

⁶ tn Grk “as.”

⁷ tn Grk “remember you, always asking.”

⁸ tn Grk “succeed in coming to you in the will of God.”

⁹ tn Grk “the uncircumcision by nature.” The word “man” is supplied here to make clear that male circumcision (or uncircumcision) is in view.

¹⁰ tn Grk “through,” but here the preposition seems to mean “(along) with,” “though provided with,” as BDAG 224 s.v. διά A.3.c indicates.

¹¹ tn Grk “letter.”

¹² tn The two aorist participles translated “freed” and “enslaved” are causal in force; their full force is something like “But now, since you have become freed from sin and since you have become enslaved to God….”

¹³ tn Grk “fruit.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “for the law of the Spirit of life.”

¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

¹⁷ tn Or “life-giving.” Grk “the Spirit is life.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “And it will be in the very place.”

¹⁹ sn A quotation from Hos 1:10.

²⁰ sn A quotation from Deut 30:14.

²¹ tc Some important Alexandrian and Western mss (א B D*^,c 1506 pc bo) read νῦν (nun, “now”) here. A few other mss (33 365 pc sa) have ὕστερον (Justeron, “finally”). mss that lack the word are Ì⁴⁶ A D² F G Ψ 1739 1881 Ï latt. External evidence slightly favors omission with good representatives from the major texttypes, and because of the alliance of Alexandrian and Byzantine mss (with the Byzantine going against its normal tendency to embrace the longer reading). Internally, scribes could have added νῦν here to give balance to the preceding clause (οὗτοι νῦν ἠπείθησαν…αὐτοὶ νῦν ἐλεηθῶσιν [|outoi nun hpeiqhsan…autoi nun elehqwsin; “they have now been disobedient…they may now receive mercy”]). However, it seems much more likely that they would have deleted it because of its seeming inappropriateness in this context. That some witnesses have ὕστερον presupposes the presence of νῦν in their ancestors. A decision is difficult, but νῦν is slightly preferred, since it is the more difficult reading and is adequately represented in the mss.

²² tc ‡ Several important Alexandrian witnesses (א A B C 048) have the relative pronoun ἥν ({hn, “the faith that you have”) at this juncture, but D F G Ψ 1739 1881 Ï lat co lack it. Without the pronoun, the clause is more ambiguous (either “Keep the faith [that] you have between yourself and God” or “Do you have faith? Keep it between yourself and God”). The pronoun thus looks to be a motivated reading, created to clarify the meaning of the text. Even though it is found in the better witnesses, in this instance internal evidence should be given preference. NA²⁷ places the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

²³ sn A quotation from Ps 69:9.

²⁴ tn Grk “of the circumcision”; that is, the Jews.

²⁵ tn Or “to the patriarchs.”

²⁶ tn Grk “now no longer having a place…I have.”

²⁷ tn Grk “but having a desire…for many years.”

²⁸ tn Grk “have sealed this fruit to them.”