Colossians 4:9

4:9 I sent him ¹  with Onesimus, the faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. ²  They will tell ³  you about everything here.

Colossians 4:12

4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ⁴  of Christ, ⁵  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ⁶  in all the will of God.

Ephesians 6:21

Farewell Comments

6:21 Tychicus, my ⁷  dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make everything known to you, so that you too may know about my circumstances, ⁸  how I am doing.

Philippians 2:25

2:25 But for now ⁹  I have considered it necessary to send Epaphroditus to you. For he is my brother, ¹⁰  coworker and fellow soldier, and your messenger ¹¹  and minister ¹²  to me in my need. ¹³ 

[4:9]  ¹ tn The Greek sentence continues v. 9 with the phrase “with Onesimus,” but this is awkward in English, so the verb “I sent” was inserted and a new sentence started at the beginning of v. 9 in the translation.

[4:9]  ² tn Grk “is of you.”

[4:9]  ³ tn Grk “will make known to you.” This has been simplified in the translation to “will tell.”

[4:12]  ⁴ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ⁵ tc ‡ Strong Alexandrian testimony, along with some other witnesses, suggests that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) follows Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “Christ”; so א A B C I L 0278 33 81 365 629 1175 2464 al lat), but the evidence for the shorter reading is diverse (Ì⁴⁶ D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï it sy Hier), cutting across all major texttypes. There can be little motivation for omitting the name of Jesus; hence, the shorter reading is judged to be original. NA²⁷ has ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[4:12]  ⁶ tn Or “filled.”

[6:21]  ⁷ tn Grk “the.” The Greek article ὁ (Jo) was translated with the possessive pronoun, “my.” See ExSyn 215.

[6:21]  ⁸ tn Grk “the things according to me.”

[2:25]  ⁹ 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.

[2:25]  ¹⁰ 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.”

[2:25]  ¹¹ tn Grk “apostle.”

[2:25]  ¹² tn The Greek word translated “minister” here is λειτουργός (leitourgo").

[2:25]  ¹³ tn Grk “servant of my need.”