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 

Ephesians 6:23

6:23 Peace to the brothers and sisters, ²  and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 6:1

6:1 Children, ³  obey your parents in the Lord ⁴  for this is right.

Ephesians 1:5

1:5 He did this by predestining ⁵  us to adoption as his ⁶  sons ⁷  through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure ⁸  of his will –

Philemon 1:5

1:5 because I hear ⁹  of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love ¹⁰  for all the saints. ¹¹ 

Philemon 1:2

1:2 to Apphia ¹²  our sister, ¹³  to Archippus our ¹⁴  fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your house.

Philemon 1:1-3

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁵  a prisoner of Christ Jesus, ¹⁶  and Timothy our ¹⁷  brother, to Philemon, our dear friend ¹⁸  and colaborer, 1:2 to Apphia ¹⁹  our sister, ²⁰  to Archippus our ²¹  fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your house. 1:3 Grace and peace to you ²²  from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

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,

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

[6:23]  ² tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[6:1]  ³ tn The use of the article τά (ta) with τέκνα (tekna) functions in a generic way to distinguish this group from husbands, wives, fathers and slaves and is left, therefore, untranslated. The generic article is used with γύναῖκες (gunaikes) in 5:22, ἄνδρες (andres) in 5:25, δοῦλοι (douloi) in 6:5, and κύριοι (kurioi) in 6:9.

[6:1]  ⁴ tc B D* F G as well as a few versional and patristic representatives lack “in the Lord” (ἐν κυρίῳ, en kuriw), while the phrase is well represented in Ì⁴⁶ א A D¹ I^vid Ψ 0278 0285 33 1739 1881 Ï sy co. Scribes may have thought that the phrase could be regarded a qualifier on the kind of parents a child should obey (viz., only Christian parents), and would thus be tempted to delete the phrase to counter such an interpretation. It is unlikely that the phrase would have been added, since the form used to express such sentiment in this Haustafel is ὡς τῷ κυρίῳ/Χριστῷ (Jw" tw kuriw/Cristw, “as to the Lord/Christ”; see 5:22; 6:5). Even though the witnesses for the omission are impressive, it is more likely that the phrase was deleted than added by scribal activity.

[1:5]  ⁵ tn Grk “by predestining.” Verse 5 begins with an aorist participle dependent on the main verb in v. 4 (“chose”).

[1:5]  ⁶ tn Grk “to himself” after “through Jesus Christ.”

[1:5]  ⁷ tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).” Although some modern translations remove the filial sense completely and render the term merely “adoption” (cf. NAB, ESV), the retention of this component of meaning was accomplished in the present translation by the phrase “as…sons.”

[1:5]  ⁸ tn Or “good pleasure.”

[1:5]  ⁹ tn The Greek present participle ἀκούων (akouwn, “hearing”) is an adverbial participle of cause relating to εὐχαριστῶ (eucaristw, “I give thanks”).

[1:5]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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.”

[1:2]  ¹² sn Apphia is thought to be the wife of Philemon.

[1:2]  ¹³ tc Most witnesses (D² Ψ Ï) here read τῇ ἀγαπητῇ (th agaphth, “beloved, dear”), a reading that appears to have been motivated by the masculine form of the same adjective in v. 1. Further, the earliest and best witnesses, along with a few others (א A D* F G I P 048 0278 33 81 104 1739 1881 pc), have ἀδελφῇ (adelfh, “sister”). Thus on internal and external grounds, ἀδελφῇ is the strongly preferred reading.

[1:2]  ¹⁴ tn Though the term “our” does not appear in the Greek text it is inserted to bring out the sense of the passage.

[1:1]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn “our” is not present in the Greek text, but was supplied to bring out the sense in English.

[1:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “dear.” The adjective is functioning as a substantive; i.e., “dear one” or “dear friend.”

[1:2]  ¹⁹ sn Apphia is thought to be the wife of Philemon.

[1:2]  ²⁰ tc Most witnesses (D² Ψ Ï) here read τῇ ἀγαπητῇ (th agaphth, “beloved, dear”), a reading that appears to have been motivated by the masculine form of the same adjective in v. 1. Further, the earliest and best witnesses, along with a few others (א A D* F G I P 048 0278 33 81 104 1739 1881 pc), have ἀδελφῇ (adelfh, “sister”). Thus on internal and external grounds, ἀδελφῇ is the strongly preferred reading.

[1:2]  ²¹ tn Though the term “our” does not appear in the Greek text it is inserted to bring out the sense of the passage.

[1:3]  ²² tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[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.”