Galatians 5:6

5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision carries any weight – the only thing that matters is faith working through love. ¹ 

Galatians 5:1

Freedom of the Believer

5:1 For freedom ²  Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke ³  of slavery.

Galatians 1:3

1:3 Grace and peace to you ⁴  from God the Father and our ⁵  Lord Jesus Christ,

Galatians 4:9-10

4:9 But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless ⁶  basic forces? ⁷  Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? ⁸  4:10 You are observing religious ⁹  days and months and seasons and years.

Galatians 4:2

4:2 But he is under guardians ¹⁰  and managers until the date set by his ¹¹  father.

Galatians 1:3

1:3 Grace and peace to you ¹²  from God the Father and our ¹³  Lord Jesus Christ,

Philemon 1:5

1:5 because I hear ¹⁴  of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love ¹⁵  for all the saints. ¹⁶ 

Philemon 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁷  a prisoner of Christ Jesus, ¹⁸  and Timothy our ¹⁹  brother, to Philemon, our dear friend ²⁰  and colaborer,

Philemon 1:21-23

1:21 Since I was confident that you would obey, I wrote to you, because I knew that you would do even more than ²¹  what I am asking you to do. 1:22 At the same time also, prepare a place for me to stay, for I hope that through your prayers I will be given back to you.

Concluding Greetings

1:23 Epaphras, ²²  my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you.

Philemon 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²³  a prisoner of Christ Jesus, ²⁴  and Timothy our ²⁵  brother, to Philemon, our dear friend ²⁶  and colaborer,

Philemon 1:14

1:14 However, ²⁷  without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your good deed would not be out of compulsion, but from your own willingness.

Philemon 1:23

Concluding Greetings

1:23 Epaphras, ²⁸  my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you.

Philemon 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁹  a prisoner of Christ Jesus, ³⁰  and Timothy our ³¹  brother, to Philemon, our dear friend ³²  and colaborer,

Philemon 1:16

1:16 no longer as a slave, ³³  but more than a slave, as a dear brother. He is especially so to me, and even more so to you now, both humanly speaking ³⁴  and in the Lord.

[5:6]  ¹ tn Grk “but faith working through love.”

[5:1]  ² tn Translating the dative as “For freedom” shows the purpose for Christ setting us free; however, it is also possible to take the phrase in the sense of means or instrument (“with [or by] freedom”), referring to the freedom mentioned in 4:31 and implied throughout the letter.

[5:1]  ³ sn Here the yoke figuratively represents the burdensome nature of slavery.

[1:3]  ⁴ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:3]  ⁵ tc ‡ The unusual order καὶ κυρίου ἡμῶν (kai kuriou Jhmwn), which produces the reading “our Lord Jesus Christ” instead of “God our Father,” is read by Ì^46,51vid B D F G H 1739 1881 Ï sy sa, while the more normal ἡμῶν καὶ κυρίου (Jhmwn kai kuriou) is found in א A P Ψ 33 81 326 365 2464 pc. Thus, the reading adopted in the translation is more widespread geographically and is found in the two earliest witnesses, along with several good representatives of the Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine texttypes. Internally, there would be a strong motivation for scribes to change the order: “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” is Paul’s normal greeting; here alone is the pronoun attached to “Jesus Christ” (except in the pastorals, though the greeting in these letters is nevertheless unlike the rest of the corpus Paulinum). Intrinsically, the chosen reading is superior as well: Scribes would be prone to emulate Paul’s regular style, while in an early letter such as this one his regular style was yet to be established (for a similar situation, cf. the text-critical discussion at 1 Thess 1:1). Hence, there is a strong probability that the reading in the translation is authentic. Although B. M. Metzger argues that “the apostle’s stereotyped formula was altered by copyists who, apparently in the interest of Christian piety, transferred the possessive pronoun so it would be more closely associated with ‘Lord Jesus Christ’” (TCGNT 520), one might expect to see the same alterations in other Pauline letters. That this is not the case argues for “our Lord Jesus Christ” as the authentic reading here.

[4:9]  ⁶ tn Or “useless.” See L&N 65.16.

[4:9]  ⁷ tn See the note on the phrase “basic forces” in 4:3.

[4:9]  ⁸ tn Grk “basic forces, to which you want to be enslaved…” Verse 9 is a single sentence in the Greek text, but has been divided into two in the translation because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence.

[4:10]  ⁹ tn The adjective “religious” has been supplied in the translation to make clear that the problem concerns observing certain days, etc. in a religious sense (cf. NIV, NRSV “special days”). In light of the polemic in this letter against the Judaizers (those who tried to force observance of the Mosaic law on Gentile converts to Christianity) this may well be a reference to the observance of Jewish Sabbaths, feasts, and other religious days.

[4:2]  ¹⁰ tn The Greek term translated “guardians” here is ἐπίτροπος (epitropo"), whose semantic domain overlaps with that of παιδαγωγός (paidagwgo") according to L&N 36.5.

[4:2]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the,” but the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[1:3]  ¹² tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:3]  ¹³ tc ‡ The unusual order καὶ κυρίου ἡμῶν (kai kuriou Jhmwn), which produces the reading “our Lord Jesus Christ” instead of “God our Father,” is read by Ì^46,51vid B D F G H 1739 1881 Ï sy sa, while the more normal ἡμῶν καὶ κυρίου (Jhmwn kai kuriou) is found in א A P Ψ 33 81 326 365 2464 pc. Thus, the reading adopted in the translation is more widespread geographically and is found in the two earliest witnesses, along with several good representatives of the Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine texttypes. Internally, there would be a strong motivation for scribes to change the order: “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” is Paul’s normal greeting; here alone is the pronoun attached to “Jesus Christ” (except in the pastorals, though the greeting in these letters is nevertheless unlike the rest of the corpus Paulinum). Intrinsically, the chosen reading is superior as well: Scribes would be prone to emulate Paul’s regular style, while in an early letter such as this one his regular style was yet to be established (for a similar situation, cf. the text-critical discussion at 1 Thess 1:1). Hence, there is a strong probability that the reading in the translation is authentic. Although B. M. Metzger argues that “the apostle’s stereotyped formula was altered by copyists who, apparently in the interest of Christian piety, transferred the possessive pronoun so it would be more closely associated with ‘Lord Jesus Christ’” (TCGNT 520), one might expect to see the same alterations in other Pauline letters. That this is not the case argues for “our Lord Jesus Christ” as the authentic reading here.

[1:5]  ¹⁴ tn The Greek present participle ἀκούων (akouwn, “hearing”) is an adverbial participle of cause relating to εὐχαριστῶ (eucaristw, “I give thanks”).

[1:5]  ¹⁵ sn Your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. In accord with Paul, John also advocates this combination of “faith in Christ and love for the saints.” The believers’ invisible faith becomes visible in the demonstration of love for others. This, of course, is not only desired, but commanded (1 John 3:23). Although Paul’s comment here may appear as a stock expression to the casual reader, praising Philemon for his track record of faithfulness to Christ demonstrated in love for the saints is actually integral to the author’s argument in this short but pithy letter. Paul will soon ask Philemon to demonstrate this love toward Onesimus, his runaway slave.

[1:5]  ¹⁶ tn The Greek is somewhat awkward here. It appears as though the text reads “…the love and faith which you have for the Lord Jesus and for all the saints.” In other Pauline letters the emphasis seems to be “faith in Christ Jesus and love for all of the saints.” Some ancient mss have altered the wording to produce a smoother reading; scribes changed the wording to resemble the more readable versions in Eph 1:15 and Col 1:4, “your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have to all the saints.”

[1:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ¹⁸ sn The phrase a prisoner of Christ Jesus implies that Paul was being held prisoner because of his testimony for Christ Jesus. Paul’s imprisonment was due to his service to Christ, in the same manner as John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos because of his testimony (Rev 1:9).

[1:1]  ¹⁹ tn “our” is not present in the Greek text, but was supplied to bring out the sense in English.

[1:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “dear.” The adjective is functioning as a substantive; i.e., “dear one” or “dear friend.”

[1:21]  ²¹ tn Grk “that you would even go beyond.”

[1:23]  ²² sn Epaphras is probably a shortened form of the name Epaphroditus. This is probably the same individual whom Paul spoke of as “my brother, coworker, and fellow soldier” in Phil 2:25 (see also Phil 4:18). He is also mentioned in Col 1:7 and 4:12, where he is a founder of the church in Colossae (BDAG 360 s.v. ᾿Επαφρᾶς).

[1:1]  ²³ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ²⁴ sn The phrase a prisoner of Christ Jesus implies that Paul was being held prisoner because of his testimony for Christ Jesus. Paul’s imprisonment was due to his service to Christ, in the same manner as John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos because of his testimony (Rev 1:9).

[1:1]  ²⁵ tn “our” is not present in the Greek text, but was supplied to bring out the sense in English.

[1:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “dear.” The adjective is functioning as a substantive; i.e., “dear one” or “dear friend.”

[1:14]  ²⁷ tn Though the Greek text does not read the term “however,” it is clearly implied and thus supplied in the English translation to accent the contrastive nature of Paul’s statement.

[1:23]  ²⁸ sn Epaphras is probably a shortened form of the name Epaphroditus. This is probably the same individual whom Paul spoke of as “my brother, coworker, and fellow soldier” in Phil 2:25 (see also Phil 4:18). He is also mentioned in Col 1:7 and 4:12, where he is a founder of the church in Colossae (BDAG 360 s.v. ᾿Επαφρᾶς).

[1:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ³⁰ sn The phrase a prisoner of Christ Jesus implies that Paul was being held prisoner because of his testimony for Christ Jesus. Paul’s imprisonment was due to his service to Christ, in the same manner as John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos because of his testimony (Rev 1:9).

[1:1]  ³¹ tn “our” is not present in the Greek text, but was supplied to bring out the sense in English.

[1:1]  ³² tn Grk “dear.” The adjective is functioning as a substantive; i.e., “dear one” or “dear friend.”

[1:16]  ³³ tn Although the Greek word δοῦλος (doulos) is sometimes translated “servant” here (so KJV), the word “slave” is a much more candid and realistic picture of the relationship between Philemon and Onesimus. In the Greco-Roman world of the 1st century the slave was considered a “living tool” of the master. The slave was “property” in every sense of the word. This understanding heightens the tense scenario that is in view here. It is likely that Onesimus may have even feared for his life upon returning to Colossae. Undoubtedly Paul has asked this runaway slave to return to what could amount to a potentially severe and life-endangering situation.

[1:16]  ³⁴ tn Grk “in the flesh.”