2:19 Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be encouraged by hearing news about you.
2:25 But for now 1 I have considered it necessary to send Epaphroditus to you. For he is my brother, 2 coworker and fellow soldier, and your messenger 3 and minister 4 to me in my need. 5
4:7 Tychicus, a dear brother, faithful minister, and fellow slave 6 in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. 7 4:8 I sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are doing 8 and that he may encourage your hearts.
1 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.
2 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.”
3 tn Grk “apostle.”
4 tn The Greek word translated “minister” here is λειτουργός (leitourgo").
5 tn Grk “servant of my need.”
6 tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.
7 tn Grk “all things according to me.”
8 tn Grk “the things concerning us.”
9 tn The word “only,” though not in the Greek text, is supplied in the English translation to bring out the force of the Greek phrase.
10 tn Grk “but the body of Christ.” The term body here, when used in contrast to shadow (σκιά, skia) indicates the opposite meaning, i.e., the reality or substance itself.
11 tn The genitive τοῦ Χριστοῦ (tou Cristou) is appositional and translated as such: “the reality is Christ.”