1:8 First of all, 4 I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. 1:9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit by preaching the gospel 5 of his Son, is my witness that 6 I continually remember you 1:10 and I always ask 7 in my prayers, if perhaps now at last I may succeed in visiting you according to the will of God. 8
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….”
7 tn Grk “whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel.”
8 tn Grk “as.”
10 tn Grk “remember you, always asking.”
11 tn Grk “succeed in coming to you in the will of God.”