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Philippians Chapter 1

Philippians Chapter 1

(Underlining marks a quotation/allusion. [Brackets] mark a textual variant.fnWhen two (or more) different copies of an original manuscript disagree on any given word or phrase — addition, omission, word order, etc. — the disagreement is called a "textual variant". ~99% of existing textual variants are either minor (like spelling), obviously not original (often appearing only in a few late manuscripts), or don't affect meaning (like "Jesus Christ" vs. "Christ Jesus"). The ~1% that remain do not affect any central doctrine of Christianity. The BOS Bible only marks significant textual variants that affect the meaning; smaller variants that do not affect meaning won't be marked for readability.  "Love" with a caret ("^love") is agapé.fn"agapé" The Greek words ἀγάπη (agapé, noun), and ἀγαπάω (agapaó; verb) are typically translated "love".  However, unlike our English word "love" – which primarily speaks of affection and feelings — agapé centers on choice and behavior.  It’s the "love" based on will, choice, behavior, and action; not feelings.  (Feelings-based love is the Greek word φιλέω (phileó), which properly means "brotherly love/affection".)  Thus, you could hate someone passionately and still treat him with "agapé".  Agapé "love" is best understood as the pursuit of what is most beneficial to someone or something, regardless of the cost to yourself or the type of response received from the person or thing.  It can also indicate a preference for someone or something over other things. An asterisk (*) indicates a verb in the Greek perfect tense.fnThe Greek perfect tense signifies a completed action in the past with a result and/or an ongoing state that extends into the present. For example, Hebrews 12:2 says in part: "He *sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"; the verb for "sat" is in the perfect tense, indicating that He sat down once (completed action in the past), and also that He remains seated until the present moment (ongoing state).)

Glossary

Note: this glossary is currently a work in progress; entries that do not expand will be added as time permits

Ages/of ages
“ages” and “of ages” are the Greek words “αἰών” (aión, noun form) and “αἰώνιος” (aiónios, adjective form) respectively.  The adjective form is typically translated “eternal”, as in “eternal life”. The noun form refers to a whole time period, (Keizer, “Life Time Entirety”) such as a person’s lifetime (an older Greek sense), an age/epoch (e.g., 2 Cor 4:4), or even time in its entirety, making its meaning similar to “forever” (e.g., John 14:16). The adjective form is similarly context-dependent, and the New Testament context often dictates a meaning similar to “forever” (but not always: e.g. 2 Tim 1:9).  Alternately or additionally, it can indicate the quality of a time period — indicating greatness/severity — like the English idiom “of ages” (e.g. “battle of the ages”). Thus, “of ages” was chosen for the adjective form so that both the time and quality senses remain visible.

Clean/unclean

Covenant

Faith

Flesh

Forgive/forgiveness

Grace
The Greek word is “χάρις” (charis), most often translated “grace”, “gift”, or “thanks”. It was a technical term in the 1st century, referring to the Patronage system in place. The Patron (from “pater” = “father”) would give gifts or do favors (both called a charis). A charis was always given/done freely to anyone who would be grateful for it, and this person then became a “client” of the patron. The clients were expected to reciprocate by telling everyone what the patron had done, and offering their services to the patron whenever the patron needed them. This reciprocal act was also called “charis”, and the ones who reciprocated were “being faithful” by giving thanks in this way. Both were done out of gratitude, not legal obligation. A client who wasn’t faithful and grateful probably wouldn’t receive any more charis from his patron, or any other patrons. The patron was responsible for taking care of all his clients, and making sure their needs were met. New Testament usage typically casts God the Father as a Heavenly Patron, to whom Christians should be grateful and faithful because of the gifts He has given us. (e.g. salvation, provision, protection, etc.)

Holy

Justification

Law (Torah)

Make purification

Pure/Impure

Purification offering
In the Old Testament, this is typically the Hebrew “חַטָּ֖את” (khat-tat); in the New Testament, it’s typically “περὶ ἁμαρτίας” (peri hamartias), which is what the Septuagint (an ancient translation of the Old Testament into Greek) used to translate the Hebrew. It’s traditionally translated “sin offering”, but that translation has less support in high-level scholarship. The Hebrew word can mean “sin”, but it can also mean “purification” (e.g. Numbers 8:7). This offering was used to purify uncleanness, whether or not a sin was committed. Thus, it was required even when no sin was committed, such as after childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-8), for certain diseases (Leviticus 14), etc. High-level, peer-reviewed scholarship dedicated to the field (e.g. Milgrom, Levine, Gane, Sklar, Wright, Gorman, etc.) is largely united on the “purification offering” understanding. The BOS Bible has aligned itself with that high-level, peer-reviewed scholarship in its translation.

Ransom

Redemption

Repent/repentance

Righteous/righteousness

Salvation/save

Soul
“soul” is the Greek word “ψυχή/psuché” and Hebrew word “נֶפֶשׁ/nephesh”. The BOS Bible translates these words as “soul” for consistency, and so the full meaning of “soul” isn’t obscured by different translations in different places. They closely overlap in meaning and are typically translated “soul” or “life”. They refer to the animating force of a living thing, and thus can also refer to its life, or to the whole of any person or creature, including animals (e.g. fish in Revelation 8:9 and Genesis 1). They are frequently used as an emphatic reference to a person’s whole self, including longings, deep emotions, and inner life. (e.g. Ps 42:11) Note: while “soul” has significant overlap in meaning with “spirit”, the words have distinct meanings and usages throughout scripture. For example, lions tear apart a soul in Psalm 7:2, and a “dead soul” is mentioned in Leviticus 21:11; “spirit” has no analogous usages, and it returns to God at death (Ecc 12:7; Acts 7:59). The adjective forms of soul and spirit are contrasted in 1 Corinthians 2:14-15; see also: Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

Sin

Click to Collapse the Glossary
Greetings and Thanks from Paul and Timothy

(Parallel teachings: Colossians 1:9-14; Ephesians 1:15-19)

  • 1 Paul and Timothy, slaves of Jesus the Anointed, to all the holy ones in Jesus the Anointed who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons,
  • 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus the Anointed.
  • 3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
  • 4 always in every prayer of mine for all of you, making the prayer with joy
  • 5 on account of your partnership in the good news from the first day until now,
  • 6 *convinced of this very thing: that the One who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus the Anointed.
  • 7 Accordingly, it’s right for me to feel this concerning all of you, because I have you in my heart.  All of you are fellow partakers of grace with me, in both my bonds and in the verbal defense and confirmation of the good news.
  • 8 For God is my witness of how I long for all of you in the affection of Jesus the Anointed.
  • 9 And I pray this: that your ^love might overflow still more and more in true knowledge and all discernment,
  • 10 for you to test and prove genuine the excellent things so that you might be sincerely purefn“sincerely pure” is one word in Greek. It comes from two other Greek words, the first meaning the shining of the sun, the second to judge.  Together, it means to be judged righteous or pure and sincere after being seen in the full light, with the implication of being thoroughly examined and still found pure. and blameless until the day of the Anointed,
  • 11 being *filled with the fruit of righteousness through Jesus the Anointed, to God’s glory and praise.
Advancing the Good News

(Parallel teachings: 2 Corinthians 5:6-9; 2 Timothy 2:8-10)

  • 12 And brothers, I want you to know that the things which happened to me have come about for more advancement of the good news,
  • 13 for my bonds in the Anointed to become obvious in the whole Praetorium,fn“Praetorium” could refer to either the governor’s residence or the camp of the Roman military.  It’s sometimes applied to military men who guard the governor’s residence, and in this sense could be translated “palace guard”. and to all the rest.
  • 14 And *trusting in the Lord because of my bonds, most of the brothers more abundantly dare to speak the word [of God] fearlessly.
  • 15 And indeed, some proclaim the Anointed because of envy and strife, but also some because of goodwill.
  • 16 Indeed, the men of goodwill proclaim out of ^love, *knowing that I’m appointed to the verbal defense of the good news.
  • 17 But the other men proclaim the Anointed out of selfish ambition, not out of pure motives, but expecting to increase the affliction of my bonds.
  • 18 For why does that matter?  Except that in every way – whether because of pretext or truth – the Anointed is proclaimed, and I rejoice in this; yes, and I will rejoice!
  • 19 For I *know that this will result in my deliverancefnquotation/allusion to Job 13:16. through your prayer and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus the Anointed,
  • 20 according to the eager expectation and my confident hope that I’ll be ashamed in nothing.  But in all boldness – as always and also now – the Anointed will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.
  • 21 For to me, to live is the Anointed and to die is gain.
  • 22 But if I’m to live in the flesh, this allows my fruitful work.  And which will I choose?  I don’t know.
  • 23 And I’m hard-pressed by the two, having a longing to depart and be with the Anointed, for that’s very much better.
  • 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.
  • 25 And being *confident of this, I *know that I will remain and stay with all of you for your advancement and joy in the faith,
  • 26 so that your boast in me might overflow in Jesus the Anointed through my coming to you again.
Behave as Heavenly Citizens

(Parallel teachings: Ephesians 4:1-3; 1 Peter 4:12-16)

  • 27 Only behave as heavenly citizensfn“behave as… …citizens” is one word in Greek, which means to behave like a citizen ought to by obeying the laws and conducting yourself accordingly. worthy of the good news of the Anointed, so that whether having come and seen you or being absent, I might hear about you, that you stand firm in one spirit, striving together as one soul in the faith of the good news,
  • 28 and without being terrified in anything by the men opposing you, which is a sign of their destruction but is salvation to you.  And this is from God,
  • 29 because for the sake of the Anointed, it was granted to you not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,
  • 30 having the same struggle such as you saw in me, and now hear about in me.

 

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