Filipi 1:28

1:28 and by not being intimidated in any way by your opponents. This is ¹  a sign of their ²  destruction, but of your salvation – a sign which ³  is from God.

Filipi 2:3

2:3 Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition ⁴  or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.

[1:28]  ¹ tn Grk “which is,” continuing the sentence begun in v. 27.

[1:28]  sn The antecedent of the pronoun This is conceptual, most likely referring to the Philippian Christians standing firm for the gospel. Thus, their stand for the gospel is the dual sign of their opponents’ destruction and of their own salvation.

[1:28]  ² tn Grk “to them.”

[1:28]  sn Paul uses the dative “to them” (translated here as their) to describe the coming destruction of the gospel’s enemies, but the genitive “your” to describe the believers’ coming salvation. The dative accents what will happen to the enemies (called a dative of disadvantage [see ExSyn 143-44]), while the genitive accents what the believers will possess (and, in fact, do already possess, as v. 29 makes clear).

[1:28]  ³ tn Grk “this.” The pronoun refers back to “a sign”; thus these words have been repeated for clarity.

[2:3]  ⁴ tn Grk “not according to selfish ambition.” There is no main verb in this verse; the subjunctive φρονῆτε (fronhte, “be of the same mind”) is implied here as well. Thus, although most translations supply the verb “do” at the beginning of v. 3 (e.g., “do nothing from selfish ambition”), the idea is even stronger than that: “Don’t even think any thoughts motivated by selfish ambition.”