2:25 But for now 4 I have considered it necessary to send Epaphroditus to you. For he is my brother, 5 coworker and fellow soldier, and your messenger 6 and minister 7 to me in my need. 8
1 map For location see JP1-C1; JP2-C1; JP3-C1; JP4-C1.
2 tn Or “several times”; Grk, “both once and twice.” The literal expression “once and twice” is frequently used as a Greek idiom referring to an indefinite low number, but more than once (“several times”); see L&N 60.70.
3 tn Or “according to the riches of his glory.” The phrase “of his glory” is treated as an attributive genitive in the translation.
5 tn Grk “But.” The temporal notion (“for now”) is implied in the epistolary aorist (“I have considered”), for Epaphroditus was dispatched with this letter to the Philippians.
6 tn Grk “my brother” instead of “For he is my brother.” Verse 25 constitutes one sentence in Greek, with “my brother…” functioning appositionally to “Epaphroditus.”
7 tn Grk “apostle.”
8 tn The Greek word translated “minister” here is λειτουργός (leitourgo").
9 tn Grk “servant of my need.”