Philippians 1:25-27

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Philippians 1:25 tn Grk “for your progress.”
2. Philippians 1:25 sn Paul’s confidence in his release from prison (I know that I will remain and continue with all of you) implies that this Roman imprisonment did not end in his death. Hence, there is the likelihood that he experienced a second Roman imprisonment later on (since the belief of the early church was that Paul died under Nero in Rome). If so, then the pastoral letters (1-2 Tim, Titus) could well fit into a life of Paul that goes beyond any descriptions in the book of Acts (which ends with Paul’s first Roman imprisonment). Some have argued that the pastorals cannot be genuine because they cannot fit into the history of Acts. But this view presupposes that Paul’s first Roman imprisonment was also his last.
3. Philippians 1:26 tn Grk “your boasting may overflow in Christ Jesus because of me,” or possibly, “your boasting in me may overflow in Christ Jesus.” BDAG 536 s.v. καύχημα 1 translates the phrase τὸ καύχημα ὑμῶν (to kauchēma humōn) in Phil 1:26 as “what you can be proud of.”
4. Philippians 1:26 tn Grk “through my coming again to you.”
5. Philippians 1:27 tn Grk “live as citizens.” The verb πολιτεύεσθε (politeuesthe) connotes the life of a freeman in a free Roman colony.sn Conduct yourselves (Grk “live your lives as citizens”). The Philippians lived in a free Roman city, and thus understood from their own experience what it meant to live as citizens. Paul is here picking up on that motif and elevating it to the citizenship of heaven. Cf. 3:20 (our citizenship is in heaven).
6. Philippians 1:27 tn Grk “the things concerning you, [namely,] that.” The ὅτι (hoti) clause is appositional to τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν (ta peri humōn) and therefore “the things concerning you” was not translated.
7. Philippians 1:27 tn The phrase “the faith of the gospel” could mean one of three things: “the faith that is the gospel” (genitive of apposition), “the faith that originates from the gospel” (genitive of source), or “faith in the gospel” (objective genitive).