Filipi 1:15

1:15 Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill.

Filipi 1:22-23

1:22 Now if I am to go on living in the body, ¹  this will mean productive work ²  for me, yet I don’t know which I prefer: ³  1:23 I feel torn between the two, ⁴  because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far,

Filipi 2:16

2:16 by holding on to ⁵  the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.

Filipi 3:15

3:15 Therefore let those of us who are “perfect” embrace this point of view. ⁶  If you think otherwise, God will reveal to you the error of your ways. ⁷ 

Filipi 4:1

Christian Practices

4:1 So then, my brothers and sisters, ⁸  dear friends whom I long to see, my joy and crown, stand in the Lord in this way, my dear friends!

[1:22]  ¹ tn Grk “flesh.”

[1:22]  ² tn Grk “fruit of work”; the genitive ἔργου (ergou) is taken as an attributed genitive in which the head noun, καρπός (karpos), functions attributively (cf. ExSyn 89-91).

[1:22]  ³ tn Grk “what I shall prefer.” The Greek verb αἱρέω (Jairew) could also mean “choose,” but in this context such a translation is problematic for it suggests that Paul could perhaps choose suicide (cf. L&N 30.86).

[1:22]  sn I don’t know what I prefer. Paul is here struggling with what would be most beneficial for both him and the church. He resolves this issue in vv. 24-25.

[1:23]  ⁴ tn Grk “I am hard-pressed between the two.” Cf. L&N 30.18.

[2:16]  ⁵ tn Or “holding out, holding forth.”

[3:15]  ⁶ tn Grk “those of us who are ‘perfect’ should think this,” or possibly “those of us who are mature should think this.”

[3:15]  sn The adjective perfect comes from the same root as the verb perfected in v. 12; Paul may well be employing a wordplay to draw in his opponents. Thus, perfect would then be in quotation marks and Paul would then argue that no one – neither they nor he – is in fact perfect. The thrust of vv. 1-16 is that human credentials can produce nothing that is pleasing to God (vv. 1-8). Instead of relying on such, Paul urges his readers to trust God for their righteousness (v. 9) rather than their own efforts, and at the same time to press on for the prize that awaits them (vv. 12-14). He argues further that perfection is unattainable in this life (v. 15), yet the level of maturity that one has reached should not for this reason be abandoned (v. 16).

[3:15]  ⁷ tn Grk “reveal this to you.” The referent of the pronoun “this” is the fact that the person is thinking differently than Paul does. This has been specified in the translation with the phrase “the error of your ways”; Paul is stating that God will make it known to these believers when they are not in agreement with Paul.

[4:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.