Genesis 43:3

43:3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned ¹  us, ‘You will not see my face ²  unless your brother is with you.’

Genesis 43:1

The Second Journey to Egypt

43:1 Now the famine was severe in the land. ³ 

Genesis 8:9

8:9 The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered ⁴  the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah ⁵  in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove, ⁶  and brought it back into the ark. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 11:7

11:7 For I solemnly warned your ancestors to obey me. ⁸  I warned them again and again, ⁹  ever since I delivered them out of Egypt until this very day.

Zechariah 3:6

3:6 Then the angel of the Lord exhorted Joshua solemnly:

Philippians 3:3

3:3 For we are the circumcision, ¹⁰  the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, ¹¹  exult in Christ Jesus, and do not rely on human credentials ¹² 

¹ tn The infinitive absolute with the finite verb stresses the point. The primary meaning of the verb is “to witness; to testify.” It alludes to Joseph’s oath, which was tantamount to a threat or warning.

² tn The idiom “see my face” means “have an audience with me.”

³ tn The disjunctive clause gives supplemental information that is important to the storyline.

⁴ tn The words “still covered” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the dove) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “and he brought it to himself to the ark.”

⁸ tn Heb “warned them…saying, ‘Obey me.’” However, it allows the long sentence to be broken up easier if the indirect quote is used.

⁹ tn For the explanation for this rendering see the note on 7:13.

¹⁰ tn There is a significant wordplay here in the Greek text. In v. 2 a rare, strong word is used to describe those who were pro-circumcision (κατατομή, katatomh, “mutilation”; see BDAG 528 s.v.), while in v. 3 the normal word for circumcision is used (περιτομή, peritomh; see BDAG 807 s.v.). Both have τομή (the feminine form of the adjective τομός [tomo"], meaning “cutting, sharp”) as their root; the direction of the action of the former is down or off (from κατά, kata), hence the implication of mutilation or emasculation, while the direction of the action of the latter is around (from περί, peri). The similarity in sound yet wide divergence of meaning between the two words highlights in no uncertain terms the differences between Paul and his opponents.

¹¹ tc The verb λατρεύω (latreuw; here the participial form, λατρεύοντες [latreuonte"]) either takes a dative direct object or no object at all, bearing virtually a technical nuance of “worshiping God” (see BDAG 587 s.v.). In this text, πνεύματι (pneumati) takes an instrumental force (“by the Spirit”) rather than functioning as object of λατρεύοντες. However, the word after πνεύματι is in question, no doubt because of the collocation with λατρεύοντες. Most witnesses, including some of the earliest and best representatives of the Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine texts (א* A B C D² F G 0278^vid 33 1739 1881 Ï co Ambr), read θεοῦ (qeou; thus, “worship by the Spirit of God”). But several other important witnesses (א² D* P Ψ 075 365 1175 lat sy Chr) have the dative θεῷ (qew) here (“worship God by the Spirit”). Ì⁴⁶ is virtually alone in its omission of the divine name, probably due to an unintentional oversight. The dative θεῷ was most likely a scribal emendation intended to give the participle its proper object, and thus avoid confusion about the force of πνεύματι. Although the Church came to embrace the full deity of the Spirit, the NT does not seem to speak of worshiping the Spirit explicitly. The reading θεῷ thus appears to be a clarifying reading. On external and internal grounds, then, θεοῦ is the preferred reading.

¹² tn Grk “have no confidence in the flesh.”