Proverbs 11:30

11:30 The fruit of the righteous is like ¹  a tree producing life, ² 

and the one who wins souls ³  is wise. ⁴ 

Acts 20:33

20:33 I have desired ⁵  no one’s silver or gold or clothing.

Acts 20:1

Paul Travels Through Macedonia and Greece

20:1 After the disturbance had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging ⁶  them and saying farewell, ⁷  he left to go to Macedonia. ⁸ 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁹  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Philippians 4:1

Christian Practices

4:1 So then, my brothers and sisters, ¹⁰  dear friends whom I long to see, my joy and crown, stand in the Lord in this way, my dear friends!

Philippians 4:17

4:17 I do not say this because I am seeking a gift. ¹¹  Rather, I seek the credit that abounds to your account.

Philippians 4:1

Christian Practices

4:1 So then, my brothers and sisters, ¹²  dear friends whom I long to see, my joy and crown, stand in the Lord in this way, my dear friends!

Philippians 2:5-6

2:5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, ¹³ 

2:6 ¹⁴ who though he existed in the form of God ¹⁵ 

did not regard equality with God

as something to be grasped,

Philippians 2:8

2:8 He humbled himself,

by becoming obedient to the point of death

– even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:19-20

Models for Ministry

2:19 Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be encouraged by hearing news about you. 2:20 For there is no one here like him who will readily demonstrate his deep concern for you. ¹⁶ 

Philippians 2:1

Christian Unity and Christ’s Humility

2:1 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, ¹⁷  any affection or mercy, ¹⁸ 

Philippians 1:2-4

1:2 Grace and peace to you ¹⁹  from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Prayer for the Church

1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you. ²⁰  1:4 I always pray with joy in my every prayer for all of you

[11:30]  ¹ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[11:30]  ² tn Heb “tree of life” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV). The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “life”) is genitive of product. What the righteous produce (“fruit”) is like a tree of life – a long and healthy life as well as a life-giving influence and provision for others.

[11:30]  ³ tc The Leningrad Codex mistakenly vocalized ש (sin or shin) as שׂ (sin) instead of שׁ (shin) in the term נְפָשׂוֹת (nefashot) which is vocalized as נְפָשׁוֹת (nefasot, “souls”) in the other medieval Hebrew mss and early printed editions of the Masoretic Text.

[11:30]  ⁴ tc The MT reads חָכָם (khakham, “wise”) and seems to refer to capturing (לָקַח, laqakh; “to lay hold of; to seize; to capture”) people with influential ideas (e.g., 2 Sam 15:6). An alternate textual tradition reads חָמָס (khamas) “violent” (reflected in the LXX and Syriac) and refers to taking away lives: “but the one who takes away lives (= kills people) is violent” (cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV). The textual variant was caused by orthographic confusion of ס (samek) and כ (kaf), and metathesis of מ (mem) between the 2nd and 3rd consonants. If the parallelism is synonymous, the MT reading fits; if the parallelism is antithetical, the alternate tradition fits. See D. C. Snell, “‘Taking Souls’ in Proverbs 11:30,” VT 33 (1083): 362-65.

[20:33]  ⁵ tn Traditionally, “coveted.” BDAG 371 s.v. ἐπιθυμέω 1 has “to have a strong desire to do or secure someth., desire, long for w. gen. of the thing desired…silver, gold, clothing Ac 20:33.” The traditional term “covet” is not in common usage and difficult for many modern English readers to understand. The statement affirms Paul’s integrity. He was not doing this for personal financial gain.

[20:1]  ⁶ tn Or “exhorting.”

[20:1]  ⁷ tn Or “and taking leave of them.”

[20:1]  ⁸ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[1:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[4:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

[4:17]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Not that I am seeking the gift.” The phrase “I do not say this…” has been supplied in the translation to complete the thought for the modern reader.

[4:1]  ¹² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

[2:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “Have this attitude in/among yourselves which also [was] in Christ Jesus,” or “Have this attitude in/among yourselves which [you] also [have] in Christ Jesus.”

[2:6]  ¹⁴ sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[2:6]  ¹⁵ sn The Greek term translated form indicates a correspondence with reality. Thus the meaning of this phrase is that Christ was truly God.

[2:20]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “For I have no one who is like-minded who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.”

[2:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or “spiritual fellowship” if πνεύματος (pneumato") is an attributive genitive; or “fellowship brought about by the Spirit” if πνεύματος is a genitive of source or production.

[2:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and any affection and mercy.” The Greek idea, however, is best expressed by “or” in English.

[1:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:3]  ²⁰ tn This could also be translated “for your every remembrance of me.” See discussion below.