3:6 But now Timothy has come 1 to us from you and given us the good news of your faith and love and that you always think of us with affection 2 and long to see us just as we also long to see you! 3
3:11 Now may God our Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you.
13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. 14 He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot. 15
A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness. 17
63:1 O God, you are my God! I long for you! 18
My soul thirsts 19 for you,
my flesh yearns for you,
in a dry and parched 20 land where there is no water.
1 tn Grk “but now Timothy having come,” a subordinate clause leading to the main clause of v. 7.
2 tn Grk “you have a good remembrance of us always.”
3 tn Grk “just as also we you.”
4 tn Grk “to see your face.”
7 tn Heb “and now.” The words “I understand that” have been supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
8 tn The infinitive absolute appears before the perfect verbal form to emphasize the certainty of the action.
9 tn The infinitive absolute appears before the perfect verbal form to emphasize the degree of emotion involved.
10 sn Yet why did you steal my gods? This last sentence is dropped into the speech rather suddenly. See C. Mabee, “Jacob and Laban: The Structure of Judicial Proceedings,” VT 30 (1980): 192-207, and G. W. Coats, “Self-Abasement and Insult Formulas,” JBL 91 (1972): 90-92.
10 tn On the meaning of the Hebrew verb פָּלַל (palal) here, see E. A. Speiser, “The Stem pll in Hebrew,” JBL 82 (1963): 301-6. Speiser argues that this verb means “to estimate” as in Exod 21:22.
11 tn Heb “your face.”
12 tn Heb “offspring.”
13 tn Heb “and one told and said.” The verbs have no expressed subject and can be translated with the passive voice.
14 tn Heb “Look, your son Joseph.”
16 tn Or “the South [country]” (also in v. 3).
17 tn Heb “And Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all which was his, and Lot with him, to the Negev.”
19 sn Psalm 63. The psalmist expresses his intense desire to be in God’s presence and confidently affirms that God will judge his enemies.
20 sn According to the psalm superscription David wrote the psalm while in the “wilderness of Judah.” Perhaps this refers to the period described in 1 Sam 23-24 or to the incident mentioned in 2 Sam 15:23.
21 tn Or “I will seek you.”
22 tn Or “I thirst.”
23 tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” This may picture the land as “faint” or “weary,” or it may allude to the effect this dry desert has on those who are forced to live in it.
22 tn This phrase parallels a Hebrew infinitive absolute and serves to underline Jesus’ enthusiasm for holding this meal (BDF §198.6).
25 sn The expression “I do not want you to be unaware [Grk ignorant]” also occurs in 1 Cor 10:1; 12:1; 1 Thess 4:13. Paul uses the phrase to signal that he is about to say something very important.
26 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).
27 tn Grk “in order that I might have some fruit also among you just as also among the rest of the Gentiles.”
28 tn Grk “now no longer having a place…I have.”
29 tn Grk “but having a desire…for many years.”
31 tn Grk “flesh.”
32 tn Grk “fruit of work”; the genitive ἔργου (ergou) is taken as an attributed genitive in which the head noun, καρπός (karpos), functions attributively (cf. ExSyn 89-91).
33 tn Grk “what I shall prefer.” The Greek verb αἱρέω (Jairew) could also mean “choose,” but in this context such a translation is problematic for it suggests that Paul could perhaps choose suicide (cf. L&N 30.86).
34 tn Grk “I am hard-pressed between the two.” Cf. L&N 30.18.
37 tn Grk “But to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.”
38 tn Grk “the flesh.”
40 tn Grk “for your progress.”
41 sn Paul’s confidence in his release from prison (I know that I will remain and continue with all of you) implies that this Roman imprisonment did not end in his death. Hence, there is the likelihood that he experienced a second Roman imprisonment later on (since the belief of the early church was that Paul died under Nero in Rome). If so, then the pastoral letters (1-2 Tim, Titus) could well fit into a life of Paul that goes beyond any descriptions in the book of Acts (which ends with Paul’s first Roman imprisonment). Some have argued that the pastorals cannot be genuine because they cannot fit into the history of Acts. But this view presupposes that Paul’s first Roman imprisonment was also his last.
43 tn Grk “your boasting may overflow in Christ Jesus because of me,” or possibly, “your boasting in me may overflow in Christ Jesus.” BDAG 536 s.v. καύχημα 1 translates the phrase τὸ καύχημα ὑμῶν (to kauchma jJumwn) in Phil 1:26 as “what you can be proud of.”
44 tn Grk “through my coming again to you.”