Philippians 4
Beloved and longed-for brothers, my joy and crown — stand in the Lord. He exhorts Euodia and Syntyche to think the same thing and asks the yokefellow to help them — women who contended with him in the gospel, names in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always, again he says. Forbearance to all — the Lord is near. Worry about nothing; by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving make requests known — the peace of God, higher than all mind, garrisons hearts and thoughts. Reckon what is true, dignified, righteous, pure, lovely, well spoken of; practise what was learned from him. He rejoices that their thinking for him bloomed again — not from falling short: he learned to be self-sufficient, initiated into being humbled and abounding, filled and hungry — able for all things in the one who strengthens him. From the beginning of the gospel only Philippi shared the account of giving and receiving — he seeks not the gift but the fruit increasing to their account. He has all in full — a fragrance of sweet aroma, an acceptable sacrifice. God will fill every need. Glory to the ages of the ages. Greetings — even from Caesar’s house. Grace with your spirit.
Why this rendering
Phil.4.3 Observation
Syntactic observation
ὥστε, ἀδελφοί μου ἀγαπητοὶ καὶ ἐπιπόθητοι, χαρὰ καὶ στέφανός μου, οὕτως στήκετε ἐν κυρίῳ, ἀγαπητοί. Εὐοδίαν παρακαλῶ καὶ Συντύχην παρακαλῶ τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν ἐν κυρίῳ. ναὶ ἐρωτῶ καὶ σέ, γνήσιε σύζυγε, συλλαμβάνου αὐταῖς, αἵτινες ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ συνήθλησάν μοι — So then, my brothers, beloved and longed-for, my joy and crown, so stand in the Lord, beloved. I exhort Euodia and I exhort Syntyche to think the same thing in the Lord. Yes, I ask you too, genuine yokefellow, help them, who contended together with me in the gospel. ἐπιπόθητος occurs once in the New Testament — the adjective of 1:8 ‘long for’. στέφανος is 1 Cor 9:25 ‘crown’ (the word of the crown plaited of thorns, Matt 27:29). παρακαλῶ once per name, twice — ‘I exhort … I exhort’. τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν is the phrase of 2:2. σύζυγος occurs once — whether ‘yokefellow’ is a common noun or the name Syzygus is left open (⸂⸃). συλλαμβάνω is the site-rule of Luke 5:7 ‘help’ (differing by site from ‘seize’ · ‘conceive’). συναθλέω is 1:27 ‘contend together’ — a word found twice in the New Testament, both in this letter. βίβλος ζωῆς ‘book of life’.
Rendering options · 3
Basis The adjective of γνήσιος ‘genuineness’ (2 Cor 8:8) precedes — if a name, ‘genuine’ becomes a pun (recorded below).
Basis Read as a name it means ‘truly living up to the name’.
Rejected No such name occurs elsewhere in the New Testament and the base text does not capitalise — the openness is recorded.
Basis The middle-voice site-rule of Luke 5:7 ‘to come and help’.
Lost in translation
ἐπιπόθητοι (v.1) / ἐπιποθῶ (1:8) — ‘longed-for / long for’ keep the root.
σύζυγε — open between common noun and name. ‘Yokefellow’ closes it one way.
συνήθλησαν (4:3) / συναθλοῦντες (1:27) — ‘contended together / contending together’ show the same word.
παρακαλῶ … παρακαλῶ (v.2) — the verb repeated for each name, ‘I exhort … I exhort’.
Why this rendering
Phil.4.6 Observation
Syntactic observation
Χαίρετε ἐν κυρίῳ πάντοτε· πάλιν ἐρῶ, χαίρετε. τὸ ἐπιεικὲς ὑμῶν γνωσθήτω πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις. ὁ κύριος ἐγγύς· μηδὲν μεριμνᾶτε, ἀλλ’ ἐν παντὶ τῇ προσευχῇ καὶ τῇ δεήσει μετ’ εὐχαριστίας τὰ αἰτήματα ὑμῶν γνωριζέσθω πρὸς τὸν θεόν· καὶ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ ὑπερέχουσα πάντα νοῦν φρουρήσει τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ νοήματα ὑμῶν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ — Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your forbearance be known to all men. The Lord is near. Worry about nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which is higher than all mind, will garrison your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. χαίρετε twice — three times counting 3:1. ἐπιεικής is the adjective of Acts 24:4 · 2 Cor 10:1 ‘forbearance’ (ἐπιείκεια). ὁ κύριος ἐγγύς has no verb, and ‘near’ is open between time and place. μεριμνάω is one word with 2:20 ‘will worry’ (Timothy’s good worry) — here forbidden. Three words of prayer (προσευχή prayer · δέησις supplication · εὐχαριστία thanksgiving) with αἴτημα (Luke 23:24 ‘demand’) as a fourth. γνωσθήτω (v.5) · γνωριζέσθω (v.6) are two different verbs — ‘be known / be made known’. φρουρέω is 2 Cor 11:32 ‘garrison’ — a military word. νοῦς (mind) and νόημα (thoughts — 2 Cor 10:5) are kept apart.
Rendering options · 3
Basis ‘Garrison the city’ as fixed at 2 Cor 11:32 — one word with Gal 3:23 ‘garrisoned under law’.
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected ‘Keep/guard’ belongs to τηρέω — the picture of troops holding a city would vanish.
Basis Neither ‘is coming soon’ (time) nor ‘is at hand’ (place) is in the text — only ‘near’.
Lost in translation
ὁ κύριος ἐγγύς — a verbless sentence. ‘Is’ is supplied.
γνωσθήτω (v.5) / γνωριζέσθω (v.6) — two different verbs, ‘be known / be made known’.
μεριμνᾶτε (4:6) / μεριμνήσει (2:20) — prohibition and praise in one word. ‘Worry’ once for both.
νοῦν / νοήματα (v.7) — ‘mind / thoughts’ keep the two words apart.
Why this rendering
Phil.4.8 Observation
Syntactic observation
Τὸ λοιπόν, ἀδελφοί, ὅσα ἐστὶν ἀληθῆ, ὅσα σεμνά, ὅσα δίκαια, ὅσα ἁγνά, ὅσα προσφιλῆ, ὅσα εὔφημα, εἴ τις ἀρετὴ καὶ εἴ τις ἔπαινος, ταῦτα λογίζεσθε· ἃ καὶ ἐμάθετε καὶ παρελάβετε καὶ ἠκούσατε καὶ εἴδετε ἐν ἐμοί, ταῦτα πράσσετε — For the rest, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever dignified, whatever righteous, whatever pure, whatever lovely, whatever well spoken of, if there is any virtue and if any commendation, reckon these things; what you also learned and received and heard and saw in me, practise these things. Six ὅσα and two εἴ τις — v.8 is a list of six plus two, v.9 a list of four aorists (learned · received · heard · saw). Both close with ταῦτα (reckon · practise). ἀρετή — of its five New Testament places four are in Peter’s letters — ‘virtue’. προσφιλής · εὔφημος occur once each. σεμνός is ‘dignified’ (again in 1 Timothy · Titus). ἁγνά is the adjective of 1:17 ‘purely’ · δίκαια the word of 1:7 ‘righteous’. λογίζομαι is 3:13 ‘reckon’. πράσσω is Rom 1:32 ‘practise’.
Rendering options · 3
Basis The repetition of the list is the text’s shape — not collapsed.
Basis The familiar rendering collapsed to one.
Rejected Six ὅσα become one — the repetition pairs with the four ‘and’s of v.9.
Basis One word for the five New Testament places — not ‘excellence’.
Lost in translation
Six ὅσα · two εἴ τις — ‘whatever’ six times · ‘if any’ twice keep the repetition.
ἁγνά (4:8) / ἁγνῶς (1:17) — ‘pure / purely’ keep the root.
εὔφημα — ‘well spoken of’ unfolds one word into a phrase.
ἐμάθετε · παρελάβετε · ἠκούσατε · εἴδετε — four aorists, ‘learned and received and heard and saw’.
Why this rendering
Phil.4.12 Observation
Syntactic observation
Ἐχάρην δὲ ἐν κυρίῳ μεγάλως ὅτι ἤδη ποτὲ ἀνεθάλετε τὸ ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ φρονεῖν, ἐφ’ ᾧ καὶ ἐφρονεῖτε ἠκαιρεῖσθε δέ. οὐχ ὅτι καθ’ ὑστέρησιν λέγω, ἐγὼ γὰρ ἔμαθον ἐν οἷς εἰμι αὐτάρκης εἶναι· οἶδα καὶ ταπεινοῦσθαι, οἶδα καὶ περισσεύειν· ἐν παντὶ καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν μεμύημαι, καὶ χορτάζεσθαι καὶ πεινᾶν, καὶ περισσεύειν καὶ ὑστερεῖσθαι· πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με — And I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last you made your thinking for me bloom again — for which you were indeed thinking, but you were lacking opportunity. Not that I speak in terms of falling short, for I learned to be self-sufficient in whatever state I am. I know both how to be humbled and I know how to abound; in everything and in all things I have been initiated — both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to fall short. I am able for all things in the one who strengthens me. Four words occur once in the New Testament — ἀναθάλλω (bloom again — a word of plants) · ἀκαιρέομαι (lack the καιρός, the opportune time) · αὐτάρκης (the adjective of 2 Cor 9:8 ‘sufficiency’) · μυέομαι (the word for initiation into a mystery cult — ‘initiated’). ὑστέρησις occurs twice — the other place is the poor widow’s ‘falling short’ at Mark 12:44. Three pairs of infinitives (humbled/abound · filled/hungry · abound/fall short) — περισσεύειν comes in two of them. ἰσχύω is the site-rule of Acts 15:10 ‘be able’ — the verb of ‘strength’. ἐνδυναμόω is the active of Rom 4:20 ‘be strengthened’ — ‘the one who strengthens’. After ⸀με the Received Text adds ‘Christ’ — the base text has no name.
Rendering options · 4
Basis ‘Be able’ — a verb of strength, kept apart from δύναμαι (recorded below).
Basis A rendering that keeps the root of ἰσχύς (strength).
Rejected It would diverge from the site-rule of Acts 15:10 · Luke 6:48 ‘be able’ — the root is recorded as a loss.
Basis The base text (⸀) — the Received Text’s ‘Christ’ is not rendered.
Basis The mystery-cult word kept in its own register — apart from ‘learned’ (μανθάνω · v.11).
Lost in translation
ἠκαιρεῖσθε — καιρός (the time) sits inside the word. ‘Lacking opportunity’ loses it.
ὑστέρησιν (v.11) / ὑστερεῖσθαι (v.12) — ‘falling short / fall short’ keep the root · the widow’s word of Mark 12:44.
αὐτάρκης (4:11) / αὐτάρκεια (2 Cor 9:8) — ‘self-sufficient / sufficiency’ keep the root.
ἰσχύω (v.13) / ἰσχύς (Eph 1:19) — ‘be able / strength’ cut the root.
περισσεύειν twice (v.12) — the same verb in two pairs. ‘Abound / abound’ ○.
Why this rendering
Phil.4.15 Observation
Syntactic observation
Οἴδατε δὲ καὶ ὑμεῖς, Φιλιππήσιοι, ὅτι ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, ὅτε ἐξῆλθον ἀπὸ Μακεδονίας, οὐδεμία μοι ἐκκλησία ἐκοινώνησεν εἰς λόγον δόσεως καὶ λήμψεως εἰ μὴ ὑμεῖς μόνοι … οὐχ ὅτι ἐπιζητῶ τὸ δόμα, ἀλλὰ ἐπιζητῶ τὸν καρπὸν τὸν πλεονάζοντα εἰς λόγον ὑμῶν. ἀπέχω δὲ πάντα καὶ περισσεύω· πεπλήρωμαι δεξάμενος παρὰ Ἐπαφροδίτου τὰ παρ’ ὑμῶν, ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας, θυσίαν δεκτήν, εὐάρεστον τῷ θεῷ — And you also know, Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I went out from Macedonia, no assembly shared with me in the account of giving and receiving except you alone … Not that I seek after the gift, but I seek after the fruit that increases to your account. But I have all things in full, and I abound; I have been filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things from you — a fragrance of sweet aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. Verse 14 συγκοινωνέω (share in) · v.15 κοινωνέω (share in) · 1:5 κοινωνία (sharing) are one root — ‘share’ links the three. λόγος twice as ‘account’ (v.15 the account of giving and receiving · v.17 your account) — the sense of Luke 16:2 ‘the account of your management’, the language of ledgers. δόσις (Jas 1:17) · λῆμψις (once) are ‘giving and receiving’. ἀπέχω is the commercial idiom (receipt) of Matt 6:2 ‘they have their reward in full’ — the same word. ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας is the phrase of Eph 5:2 · θυσίαν δεκτήν uses the word of Luke 4:19 ‘acceptable’. The doxology of v.20 is the phrase of Gal 1:5; the close of v.23 is the phrase of Gal 6:18 minus ‘brothers’ and ‘Amen’ — the Received Text (⸀) adds the Amen. ⸂τὸ πλοῦτος⸃ (v.19) is neuter, as at Eph 1:7.
Rendering options · 3
Basis The site-rule of Luke 16:2 ‘the account of your management’ · Rom 14:12 ‘give an account’ — the same word in both places.
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected That vv.15 and 17 use the same word would vanish, and the ledger picture would dissolve into ‘matter’.
Basis ‘Have their reward in full’ as fixed at Matt 6:2·5·16 — the language of a receipt.
Lost in translation
συγκοινωνήσαντες (v.14) / ἐκοινώνησεν (v.15) / κοινωνίᾳ (1:5) — ‘sharing in · shared · sharing’ keep the root.
λόγον (v.15) / λόγον (v.17) — ‘account’ twice shows the same word.
ἀπέχω — the same word as Matt 6:2 ‘have in full’ is visible.
ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας — the same phrase as Eph 5:2 ‘a fragrance of sweet aroma’ is visible.
Verse 23 ⸀ — where the Received Text adds ‘Amen’. Closed without it, as the base text.