Thursday, June 30, 2005

Philippians 2:24

Textus Receptus:
πεποιθα δε εν κυριω οτι και αυτος ταχεως ελευσομαι

King James:
But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.

Comments:
The whole arrangement of sending Timothy in anticipation of Paul's own visit, which may or may not take place, is very similar to what he expresses to Timothy himself regarding the church at Ephesus, with the particular exception that in that correspondence the letter itself serves as his envoy. 1 Timothy 3:14-15. The point here is not just that Timothy's presence will substitute for Paul's presence, but that the epistle will serve as a guide to them in his absence. The written Word plays a similar role in the lives of Christians who anticipate but cannot predict the return of Christ. The Jews express the same sentiment about the Word in Psalm 119:81.

Expanded Paraphrase:
Beyond this letter and Timothy's visit, however, I am confident that I myself will come to you soon.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Philippians 2:23

Textus Receptus:
τουτον μεν ουν ελπιζω πεμψαι ως αν απιδω τα περι εμε εξαυτης

King James:
Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.

Comments:
I hope to send: Paul is picking back up what he said in verse 19, using the same vocabulary translated there as "I trust...to send." Between that verse and this, Paul has been explaining why he would choose to send Timothy if he himself is unable to visit the Philippians. In the last portion of this verse he returns to his first desire, to visit the himself, by saying that his sending of Timothy depends on Paul's own condition. If Paul himself can come, he may not have to send Timothy. Delegation is not a relief for Paul, it is a "next-best" solution when he cannot himself do what he considers his own responsibility. That attitude of delegation makes all the difference.

Expanded Paraphrase:
I hope to send that capable and caring substitute to you shortly; but only after I find out whether there is any possibility that I myself might be able to come to you.

Friday, June 17, 2005

Philippians 2:22

Textus Receptus:
την δε δοκιμην αυτου γινωσκετε οτι ως πατρι τεκνον συν εμοι εδουλευσεν εις το ευαγγελιον

King James:
But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.

Comments:
proof: Words related to the one translated as "proof" here are used everywhere throughout the New Testament. The idea is that some test evidences that something is acceptable. Here, the implication is that while Christians cannot cause others to think well of them, they can give proof in the face of trials that they merit trust and respect, a relationship inherent in passages like 1 Peter 2:12.

son with the father: Paul also refers to his relationship with Timothy in these terms in 1 Corinthians 4:17, 1 Timothy 1:2,18, and 2 Timothy 1:2. By the nature of language, every description is a metaphor. There is no sacerdotal implication here, for instance, which would create the problem Jesus eschews in Matthew 23:9. But there is a sense in which Paul is Timothy's progenitor (2 Timothy 2:2) and in which he is his mentor (1 Timothy 3:15).

Expanded Paraphrase:
But through the trials he has faced Timothy has proven to you that he is not self-serving like them. He has learned from me the faith I taught him, and with that faith he learned faithfulness in the service of proclaiming the good news.

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Philippians 2:21

Textus Receptus:
οι παντες γαρ τα εαυτων ζητουσιν ου τα του χριστου ιησου

King James:
For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.

Comments:
seek their own: Paul is contrasting the behavior of those who fall short of Timothy's care with those who would be obedient to the imperative he gives in verse 4, to look not on the things of self but the things of others.

things which are Jesus Christ's: Since this description is parallel to verse 4's command, but the suggested alternative in verse 4 (the things of others) is replaced here by the things which are Jesus Christ's, then it seems obvious that the way to care for Christ is to care for others, a teaching not incompatible with 1 John 4:20.

Expanded Paraphrase:
What the others lack is a genuine concern for the things of Jesus Christ. They are too busy searching for the things that will benefit themselves.

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Philippians 2:20

Textus Receptus:
ουδενα γαρ εχω ισοψυχον οστις γνησιως τα περι υμων μεριμνησει

King James:
For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.

Comments:
no man likeminded: Paul is most likely claiming that there is no one to send to the Philippians as sincere in his concern as Timothy is, not that no one else genuinely or naturally cares for them. In other words, "likeminded" is more likely a comparison to Timothy than Paul.

naturally: The word used here for "naturally" provides the etymology for the English word "genuine" and is a relative of the Greek word for which "genesis" is a transliteration. In other words, Timothy's concern, like Paul's, comes from who he has become in Christ, not just a feigned or assumed interest. The "natural" concern of Christians for each other, missing in their lives outside of Christ, is explained by passages like Ephesians 2:19.

Expanded Paraphrase:
There is no one else I can send to you who will have the sincere care for your things that Timothy does.

Monday, June 13, 2005

Philippians 2:19

Textus Receptus:
ελπιζω δε εν κυριω ιησου τιμοθεον ταχεως πεμψαι υμιν ινα καγω ευψυχω γνους τα περι υμων

King James:
But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.

Comments:
to send Timotheus shortly: There is an obvious parallel between Paul's comfort of and with the Philippians with Timothy and Jesus' comfort of the disciples with the Holy Spirit. There may not be a direct type, but there is certainly an acknowledgment that relationships between believers are complex and capable of producing encouragement in a variety of ways. On a different subject, that complexity is apparent in Peter's wording in 1 Peter 5:5.

Expanded Paraphrase:
My position and faith in Christ causes me to anticipate confidently that I will be able to send Timothy to you soon so that I may have an encouraged mind as I learn how things are around you.

Friday, June 10, 2005

Philippians 2:18

Textus Receptus:
το δ αυτο και υμεις χαιρετε και συγχαιρετε μοι

King James:
For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.

Comments:
joy, and rejoice with: Paul uses the same two words in the preceding verse about himself. He joys and they joy (or ought to joy--whether it is imperative or indicative is not certain). He joys with them and they (ought to) joy with him. The point is that they are not more important than him just as he is not more important than them. But each has chosen to "esteem other better than themselves" (verse 3) in acknowledgment of the supremacy of Christ.

Expanded Paraphrase:
But it is also true that believers' sacrifices for the sake of God's will being done in other believers also gives you a reason to have joy and to share in that joy with me.

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Philippians 2:17

Textus Receptus:
αλλ ει και σπενδομαι επι τη θυσια και λειτουργια της πιστεως υμων χαιρω και συγχαιρω πασιν υμιν

King James:
Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.

Comments:
offered: The Greek word means "poured out" like a drink offering would have been, and provides the etymology for the English word "spend."

sacrifice and service: Here, "sacrifice" refers to what Paul has been teaching the Philippians throughout the first half of this chapter, the commitment he wants them to make to foregoing their own glory in favor of caring for one another and therefore the will of God. "Service," which is the Greek word transliterated into "liturgy" in English, refers to the public ministry of, for instance, a priest. In this case it is about the Philippians "holding forth the word of life" as in the previous verse.

Expanded Paraphrase:
Indeed, if my entire life is used up to bring about the maturity of your faith and what will come from that faith--your being given completely to God's will, serving Him in this world--then it will have been worth it all. I rejoice just thinking about it, knowing my life would have been spent so. I rejoice with all of you knowing that your lives would be so used by God.

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Philippians 2:16

Textus Receptus:
λογον ζωης επεχοντες εις καυχημα εμοι εις ημεραν χριστου οτι ουκ εις κενον εδραμον ουδε εις κενον εκοπιασα

King James:
Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

Comments:
Holding forth the word of life: In Greek the word for "holding forth" is the word "having" with the word for "upon" prefixed to it. The idea communicated by the phrase is similar to the point of verses 12 and 13. They already have the word of life. Now they need to have it out.

that I may rejoice: Literally, this phrase is "toward boasting-glorying-rejoicing." He uses the same word for "rejoice" in chapter 1:26 and chapter 3:3. The same word is translated as "glory" in Galatians 6:14.

in vain: Literally, this phrase is "toward vanity." Paul uses the same word for "vanity" here that he combined with "glory" in verse 3 to describe the shallowness of self-promotion and which he used as a verb in verse 7 to describe the willing self-humiliation of Christ.

Expanded Paraphrase: As all of you who are believers in Philippi take the word of life which is in you and hold it out for the world to see, I will be moved toward glory as Christ's return approaches, rather than toward vanity--since otherwise I would have run my race and worn myself weary with labor for no benefit.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Philippians 2:15

Textus Receptus:
ινα γενησθε αμεμπτοι και ακεραιοι τεκνα θεου αμωμητα εν μεσω γενεας σκολιας και διεστραμμενης εν οις φαινεσθε ως φωστηρες εν κοσμω

King James:
That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

Comments:
blameless: Of course, being blameless does not imply not being blamed, only not giving cause for being blamed. Peter recognizes this distinction and makes a significant point of it in 1 Peter 2:20. Paul uses the same word for "blameless" in chapter 3:6.

harmless: This word is translated as "simple" in the King James in Romans 16:19 because what Paul means by being harmless is being without ulterior motive--not mixed in purpose but pure.

sons of God: This use of this phrase makes the meaning of passages like Matthew 5:45 clearer. His point is not that they do something in order to become children of God, but in order that they act like God would act and therefore fill the role of the inheritors of the kingdom.

nation...ye shine: Paul assumes that the world around believers will be corrupt, and that the role of Christians in that world will always be to shine as lights in darkness. In other words, sin will continue in the world. Persecution will continue in the world. Christians will not usher in the kingdom. Christians will stand in opposition to the world. That fact is not a limitation on the impact of Christians on the lives of the lost but a context in which Christian faithfulness will be best defined and most needed. Jesus teaches about the same context in John 15:18-19.

crooked and perverse: "Crooked" emphasizes the wrong bent of their own nature. "Perverse" points to something that has happened to them--that they have been turned aside from the good to evil. The same two elements are present in James' description of temptation in James 1:14.

Expanded Paraphrase:
The result of thinking like Christ--of learning to put others first and of acting without the dissatisfaction that brings strife--will be that you take away every real justification for being condemned, that you have integrity in everything you do with no ulterior motives to create suspicion. You really will be like Jesus, representing your Father in this world. And the world needs it. You will be shining like lights in a world filled with darkness, with people who are not pointed in the right direction and have been thoroughly turned against everything good and right.

Friday, June 03, 2005

Philippians 2:14

Textus Receptus:
παντα ποιειτε χωρις γογγυσμων και διαλογισμων

King James:
Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

Comments:
without murmurings: The same word is used to describe the disharmony and grumbling of one group of believers (gentiles) against another group of believers (Jews) in the early church at Jerusalem in Acts 6:1. It is just such a self-seeking (even when self is defined broadly, for instance, as kin or kind) attitude Paul rebukes here.

and disputings: These "disputings" are the "evil thoughts" at the beginning of the list of sins Jesus says come from the heart in Matthew 15:19, consistent with the theme that genuine transformation begins on the inside. In Exodus 16:7, the Septuagint uses both of these Greek words (murmurings and disputings) to describe first what the people do to express their dissatisfaction with God (murmuring) and then their disagreement with Moses and Aaron (disputings, also translated as murmuring in the King James).

Expanded Paraphrase:
Do everything outside the realm of complaining about your dissatisfaction and outside the realm of arguing both with each other and with those who lead you.

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Philippians 2:13

Textus Receptus:
ο θεος γαρ εστιν ο ενεργων εν υμιν και το θελειν και το ενεργειν υπερ της ευδοκιας

King James:
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Comments:
God which worketh in you...to do: "Which worketh" and "to do" are the same Greek word, of which the English word "energy" is a transliteration. The source of Christian living is Christian life. Genuine transformation is from the inside out. It does not begin outside. And it does not stop inside. Jesus addresses the impossibility of becoming good as a result of doing right things in Matthew 15:16-20. That cleansing begins on the inside is Jesus' point in Matthew 23:26-27.

both to will and to do: The will to obey God has its origin in God. So does the will to reject God's will and become a waste, as in Romans 8:20.

Expanded Paraphrase:
Your salvation will be apparent because your salvation is real. God is already doing the work in you. And His work makes it possible not only for you to make the right choices, but to live those choices out according to His kindness toward us.

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Philippians 2:12

Textus Receptus:
ωστε αγαπητοι μου καθως παντοτε υπηκουσατε μη ως εν τη παρουσια μου μονον αλλα νυν πολλω μαλλον εν τη απουσια μου μετα φοβου και τρομου την εαυτων σωτηριαν κατεργαζεσθε

King James:
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Comments:
Wherefore: This "wherefore" points back to Paul's desire for the Philippians to be "like-minded" in verse 2.

presence...absence: This is the second time in this book (1:27) Paul has used his presence or absence to motivate the same response Christ's presence or absence should motivate. Language about the church as the body of Christ and passages like 1 John 4:17-21 make such a parallel appropriate.

work out your own salvation: This phrase is not the common colloquialism, "figure it out for yourself." Instead, as the next verse makes clear, Paul is telling those who already have salvation to apply that salvation thoroughly, to live it out. It is the same point he makes to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:12--to lay hold on that which is already his.

fear and trembling: While Christians are freed from fear through salvation (as in Romans 8:15) they are obligated to fear God (and only God) in passages like 2 Corinthians 7:1. Romans 13:7 makes it clear that the appropriateness of fear is in its object, not inherent in its nature. The trembling Paul mentions indicates the humility of those who know they cannot in themselves fulfill their obligation.

Expanded Paraphrase:
As one who loves you and knows you have always acted in obedience, I charge you, since your goal is to have the same mind as Christ and therefore to be in harmony with each other, to fashion your lives according to the salvation which is already yours, to do it whether I am there to see it or not, and to do it out of your fear of and respect for God knowing that you could not in yourselves ever satisfy His demands.