Philippians 2:30

2:30 since it was because of the work of Christ that he almost died. He risked his life so that he could make up for your inability to serve me. ¹ 

Philippians 2:2

2:2 complete my joy and be of the same mind, ²  by having the same love, being united in spirit, ³  and having one purpose.

Philippians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul ⁴  and Timothy, slaves ⁵  of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, ⁶  with the overseers ⁷  and deacons.

Psalms 107:18

107:18 They lost their appetite for all food, ⁸ 

and they drew near the gates of death.

Ecclesiastes 9:1-2

Everyone Will Die

9:1 So I reflected on all this, ⁹  attempting to clear ¹⁰  it all up.

I concluded that ¹¹  the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God;

whether a person will be loved or hated ¹²  –

no one knows what lies ahead. ¹³ 

9:2 Everyone shares the same fate ¹⁴  –

the righteous and the wicked,

the good and the bad, ¹⁵ 

the ceremonially clean and unclean,

those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.

What happens to the good person, also happens to the sinner; ¹⁶ 

what happens to those who make vows, also happens to those who are afraid to make vows.

John 11:3-4

11:3 So the sisters sent a message ¹⁷  to Jesus, ¹⁸  “Lord, look, the one you love is sick.” 11:4 When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not lead to death, ¹⁹  but to God’s glory, ²⁰  so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” ²¹ 

Acts 9:37

9:37 At that time ²²  she became sick ²³  and died. When they had washed ²⁴  her body, ²⁵  they placed it in an upstairs room.

[2:30]  ¹ tn Grk “make up for your lack of service to me.”

[2:2]  ² tn Or “and feel the same way,” “and think the same thoughts.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated “and be of the same mind” to reflect its epexegetical force to the imperative “complete my joy.”

[2:2]  ³ tn The Greek word here is σύμψυχοι (sumyucoi, literally “fellow souled”).

[1:1]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.

[1:1]  ⁷ 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.

[107:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “all food their appetite loathed.”

[9:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “I laid all this to my heart.”

[9:1]  ¹⁰ tn The term וְלָבוּר (velavur, conjunction + Qal infinitive construct from בּוּר, bur, “to make clear”) denotes “to examine; to make clear; to clear up; to explain” (HALOT 116 s.v. בור; BDB 101 s.v. בּוּר). The term is related to Arabic baraw “to examine” (G. R. Driver, “Supposed Arabisms in the Old Testament,” JBL 55 [1936]: 108). This verb is related to the Hebrew noun בֹּר (bor, “cleanness”) and adjective בַּר (bar, “clean”). The term is used in the OT only in Ecclesiastes (1:13; 2:3; 7:25; 9:1). This use of the infinitive has a connotative sense (“attempting to”), and functions in a complementary sense, relative to the main verb.

[9:1]  ¹¹ tn The words “I concluded that” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:1]  ¹² tn Heb “whether love or hatred.”

[9:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “man does not know anything before them.”

[9:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all things just as to everyone, one fate.”

[9:2]  ¹⁵ tc The MT reads simply “the good,” but the Greek versions read “the good and the bad.” In contrast to the other four pairs in v. 2 (“the righteous and the wicked,” “those who sacrifice, and those who do not sacrifice,” “the good man…the sinner,” and “those who make vows…those who are afraid to make vows”), the MT has a triad in the second line: לַטּוֹב וְלַטָּהוֹר וְלַטָּמֵא (lattov vÿlattahor vÿlattame’, “the good, and the clean, and the unclean”). This reading in the Leningrad Codex (ca. a.d. 1008) – the basis of the BHS and BHK publications of the MT – is also supported by the Ben Asher text of the First Rabbinic Bible (“the Soncino Bible”) published in a.d. 1488-94. On the other hand, the Greek version in B (Aquila) has two pairs: τῷ ἀγαθῷ καὶ τῷ κακῷ, καὶ τῷ καθαρῷ καὶ τῷ ἀκαθάρτῳ (“the good and the bad, and the clean and the unclean”). Either Aquila inserted καὶ τῷ κακῷ (kai tw kakw, “and the bad”) to fill out a pair and to create six parallel pairs in v. 2, or Aquila reflects an early Hebrew textual tradition tradition of לַטּוֹב וְלַרָע (lattov vÿlara’, “the good and the bad”). Since Aquila is well known for his commitment to a literal – at times even a mechanically wooden – translation of the Hebrew, with no room for improvisation, it is more than likely that Aquila is reflecting an authentic Hebrew textual tradition. Aquila dates to a.d. 130, while the Leningrad Codex dates to a.d. 1008; therefore, the Vorlage of Aquila might have been the original Hebrew textual tradition, being much earlier than the MT of the Leningrad Codex. The alternate textual tradition of Aquila is also seen in the Syriac and Latin versions (but these are dependent upon the Greek = Aquila). On the other hand, the editors of BHK and BHS suggest that the presence of the anomalous לַטּוֹב was an addition to the Hebrew text, and should be deleted. They also suggest that the Greek pair τῷ ἀγαθῷ καὶ τῷ κακῷ (tw agaqw kai tw kakw, “the good and the bad”) does not reflect an alternate textual tradition, but that their Vorlage contained only לַטּוֹב: the Greek version intentionally added καὶ τῷ κακῷ (kai tw kakw, “and the bad”) to create a pair. The English versions are divided. Several follow the Greek: “the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean” (NEB, NAB, RSV, NRSV, NIV, Moffatt, NLT). Others follow the Hebrew: “the good and the clean and the unclean” (KJV, ASV, MLB, NJPS). None, however, delete “the good” (לַטּוֹב) as suggested by the BHK and BHS editors. If the shorter text were original, the addition of καὶ τῷ κακῷ would be intentional. If the longer text were original, the omission of וְלַרָע (“and the bad”) could have caused by unintentional homoioarcton (“similar beginning”) in the three-fold repetition of לט in וְלַרָע וְלַטָּהוֹר וְלַטָּמֵא לַטּוֹב (lattov vÿlara’ vÿlattahor vÿlattame’, “the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean”). The term וְלַרָע (“and the bad”) was accidentally omitted when a scribe skipped from the first occurrence of לט in לַטּוֹב to its second occurrence in the word וְלַטָּהוֹר (“the clean”).

[9:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “As is the good (man), so is the sinner.”

[11:3]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase “a message” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from context.

[11:3]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “to him, saying”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:4]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “This sickness is not to death.”

[11:4]  ²⁰ tn Or “to God’s praise.”

[11:4]  ²¹ sn So that the Son of God may be glorified through it. These statements are highly ironic: For Lazarus, the sickness did not end in his death, because he was restored to life. But for Jesus himself, the miraculous sign he performed led to his own death, because it confirmed the authorities in their plan to kill Jesus (11:47-53). In the Gospel of John, Jesus’ death is consistently portrayed as his ‘glorification’ through which he accomplishes his return to the Father.

[9:37]  ²² tn Grk “It happened that in those days.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[9:37]  ²³ tn Grk “becoming sick, she died.” The participle ἀσθενήσασαν (asqenhsasan) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[9:37]  ²⁴ tn The participle λούσαντες (lousante") is taken temporally.

[9:37]  ²⁵ tn Grk “washed her,” but the reference is to her corpse.