Philippians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul ¹  and Timothy, slaves ²  of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, ³  with the overseers ⁴  and deacons.

Philippians 1:18

1:18 What is the result? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed, and in this I rejoice.

Yes, ⁵  and I will continue to rejoice,

Philippians 1:28

1:28 and by not being intimidated in any way by your opponents. This is ⁶  a sign of their ⁷  destruction, but of your salvation – a sign which ⁸  is from God.

Philippians 2:15

2:15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world ⁹ 

Philippians 2:27

2:27 In fact he became so ill that he nearly died. ¹⁰  But God showed mercy to him – and not to him only, but also to me – so that I would not have grief on top of grief.

Philippians 3:3

3:3 For we are the circumcision, ¹¹  the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, ¹²  exult in Christ Jesus, and do not rely on human credentials ¹³ 

Philippians 3:10

3:10 My aim is to know him, ¹⁴  to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, ¹⁵  and to be like him in his death,

Philippians 3:12

Keep Going Forward

3:12 Not that I have already attained this – that is, I have not already been perfected – but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me. ¹⁶ 

Philippians 4:7

4:7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds ¹⁷  in Christ Jesus.

[1:1]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Traditionally, “servants” or “bondservants.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ³ map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.

[1:1]  ⁴ sn The overseers (or “church leaders,” L&N 53.71) is another term for the same official position of leadership as the “elder.” This is seen in the interchange of the two terms in Titus 1:6-7 and in Acts 20:17, 28, as well as in the parallels between Titus 1:6-7 and 1 Tim 3:1-7.

[1:18]  ⁵ tn Or “But.” The conjunction ἀλλά (alla) may be emphatic or contrastive. If the former, the idea may be that Paul will continue rejoicing because of the proclamation of the gospel or because of his imminent release from prison (v. 19); if the latter, Paul is now turning his attention solely to this second reason to rejoice, viz., that he will soon be released from prison. In this latter view the clause should be translated, “But I will also rejoice since I know…”

[1:28]  ⁹ tn Grk “which is,” continuing the sentence begun in v. 27.

[1:28]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “to them.”

[1:28]  ¹¹ tn Grk “this.” The pronoun refers back to “a sign”; thus these words have been repeated for clarity.

[2:15]  ¹³ tn Or “as stars in the universe.”

[2:27]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “For he became ill to the point of death.”

[3:3]  ²¹ tn There is a significant wordplay here in the Greek text. In v. 2 a rare, strong word is used to describe those who were pro-circumcision (κατατομή, katatomh, “mutilation”; see BDAG 528 s.v.), while in v. 3 the normal word for circumcision is used (περιτομή, peritomh; see BDAG 807 s.v.). Both have τομή (the feminine form of the adjective τομός [tomo"], meaning “cutting, sharp”) as their root; the direction of the action of the former is down or off (from κατά, kata), hence the implication of mutilation or emasculation, while the direction of the action of the latter is around (from περί, peri). The similarity in sound yet wide divergence of meaning between the two words highlights in no uncertain terms the differences between Paul and his opponents.

[3:3]  ²² tc The verb λατρεύω (latreuw; here the participial form, λατρεύοντες [latreuonte"]) either takes a dative direct object or no object at all, bearing virtually a technical nuance of “worshiping God” (see BDAG 587 s.v.). In this text, πνεύματι (pneumati) takes an instrumental force (“by the Spirit”) rather than functioning as object of λατρεύοντες. However, the word after πνεύματι is in question, no doubt because of the collocation with λατρεύοντες. Most witnesses, including some of the earliest and best representatives of the Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine texts (א* A B C D² F G 0278^vid 33 1739 1881 Ï co Ambr), read θεοῦ (qeou; thus, “worship by the Spirit of God”). But several other important witnesses (א² D* P Ψ 075 365 1175 lat sy Chr) have the dative θεῷ (qew) here (“worship God by the Spirit”). Ì⁴⁶ is virtually alone in its omission of the divine name, probably due to an unintentional oversight. The dative θεῷ was most likely a scribal emendation intended to give the participle its proper object, and thus avoid confusion about the force of πνεύματι. Although the Church came to embrace the full deity of the Spirit, the NT does not seem to speak of worshiping the Spirit explicitly. The reading θεῷ thus appears to be a clarifying reading. On external and internal grounds, then, θεοῦ is the preferred reading.

[3:3]  ²³ tn Grk “have no confidence in the flesh.”

[3:10]  ²⁵ tn The articular infinitive τοῦ γνῶναι (tou gnwnai, “to know”) here expresses purpose. The words “My aim is” have been supplied in the translation to emphasize this nuance and to begin a new sentence (shorter sentences are more appropriate for English style).

[3:10]  ²⁶ tn Grk “to know him, the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings.”

[3:12]  ²⁹ tn Grk “that for which I also was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” The passive has been translated as active in keeping with contemporary English style.

[4:7]  ³³ tn Grk “will guard the hearts of you and the minds of you.” To improve the English style, the second occurrence of ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “of you”) has not been translated, since it is somewhat redundant in English.