Psalms 119:8

119:8 I will keep your statutes.

Do not completely abandon me! ¹ 

Psalms 119:112

119:112 I am determined to obey ²  your statutes

at all times, to the very end.

Matthew 10:22

10:22 And you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Matthew 24:13

24:13 But the person who endures to the end will be saved. ³ 

Matthew 24:1

The Destruction of the Temple

24:1 Now ⁴  as Jesus was going out of the temple courts and walking away, his disciples came to show him the temple buildings. ⁵ 

Colossians 1:7-8

1:7 You learned the gospel ⁶  from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave ⁷  – a ⁸  faithful minister of Christ on our ⁹  behalf – 1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Philippians 1:6

1:6 For I am sure of this very thing, ¹⁰  that the one ¹¹  who began a good work in ¹²  you will perfect it ¹³  until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul ¹⁴  and Timothy, slaves ¹⁵  of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, ¹⁶  with the overseers ¹⁷  and deacons.

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. ¹⁸ 

Philippians 2:27

2:27 In fact he became so ill that he nearly died. ¹⁹  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.

Revelation 2:26

2:26 And to the one who conquers ²⁰  and who continues in ²¹  my deeds until the end, I will give him authority over the nations ²²  –

[119:8]  ¹ tn Heb “do not abandon me to excess.” For other uses of the phrase עַד מְאֹד (’ad mÿ’od, “to excess”), see Ps 38:6, 8.

[119:112]  ² tn Heb “I turn my heart to do.”

[24:13]  ³ sn But the person who endures to the end will be saved. Jesus was not claiming here that salvation is by works. He was simply arguing that genuine faith evidences itself in persistence through even the worst of trials.

[24:1]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[24:1]  ⁵ sn The Jerusalem temple was widely admired around the world. See Josephus, Ant. 15.11 [15.380-425]; J. W. 5.5 [5.184-227] and Tacitus, History 5.8, who called it “immensely opulent.” Josephus compared it to a beautiful snowcapped mountain.

[1:7]  ⁶ tn Or “learned it.” The Greek text simply has “you learned” without the reference to “the gospel,” but “the gospel” is supplied to clarify the sense of the clause. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[1:7]  ⁷ tn The Greek word translated “fellow slave” is σύνδουλος (sundoulo"); the σύν- prefix here denotes association. Though δοῦλος 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.

[1:7]  ⁸ tn The Greek text has “who (ὅς, Jos) is a faithful minister.” The above translation conveys the antecedent of the relative pronoun quite well and avoids the redundancy with the following substantival participle of v. 8, namely, “who told” (ὁ δηλώσας, Jo dhlwsa").

[1:7]  ⁹ tc ‡ Judging by the superior witnesses for the first person pronoun ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “us”; Ì⁴⁶ א* A B D* F G 326* 1505 al) vs. the second person pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “you”; found in א² C D¹ Ψ 075 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co), ἡμῶν should be regarded as original. Although it is possible that ἡμῶν was an early alteration of ὑμῶν (either unintentionally, as dittography, since it comes seventeen letters after the previous ἡμῶν; or intentionally, to conform to the surrounding first person pronouns), this supposition is difficult to maintain in light of the varied and valuable witnesses for this reading. Further, the second person is both embedded in the verb ἐμάθετε (emaqete) and is explicit in v. 8 (ὑμῶν). Hence, the motivation to change to the first person pronoun is counterbalanced by such evidence. The second person pronoun may have been introduced unintentionally via homoioarcton with the ὑπέρ (Juper) that immediately precedes it. As well, the second person reading is somewhat harder for it seems to address Epaphras’ role only in relation to Paul and his colleagues, rather than in relation to the Colossians. Nevertheless, the decision must be based ultimately on external evidence (because the internal evidence can be variously interpreted), and this strongly supports ἡμῶν.

[1:6]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “since I am sure of this very thing.” The verse begins with an adverbial participle that is dependent on the main verb in v. 3 (“I thank”). Paul here gives one reason for his thankfulness.

[1:6]  ¹¹ tn The referent is clearly God from the overall context of the paragraph and the mention of “the day of Christ Jesus” at the end, which would be redundant if Christ were referred to here.

[1:6]  ¹² tn Or “among.”

[1:6]  ¹³ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text but has been supplied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[1:1]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.

[1:1]  ¹⁷ 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.

[2:20]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “For I have no one who is like-minded who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.”

[2:27]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “For he became ill to the point of death.”

[2:26]  ²⁰ tn Or “who is victorious”; traditionally, “who overcomes.”

[2:26]  ²¹ tn Grk “keeps.” In a context that speaks of “holding on to what you have,” the idea here is one of continued faithful behavior (BDAG 1002 s.v. τηρέω 3 has “ὁ τηρῶν τὰ ἔργα μου the one who takes my deeds to heart Rv 2:26”).

[2:26]  ²² tn Or “over the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).