Philippians 1:14

1:14 and most of the brothers and sisters, ¹  having confidence in the Lord ²  because of my imprisonment, now more than ever ³  dare to speak the word ⁴  fearlessly.

Philippians 1:28-30

1:28 and by not being intimidated in any way by your opponents. This is ⁵  a sign of their ⁶  destruction, but of your salvation – a sign which ⁷  is from God. 1:29 For it has been granted to you ⁸  not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for him, 1:30 since you are encountering ⁹  the same conflict that you saw me face and now hear that I am facing. ¹⁰ 

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

² tn Or “most of the brothers and sisters in the Lord, having confidence.”

³ tn Grk “even more so.”

⁴ tc A number of significant mss have “of God” after “word.” Although τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) is amply supported in the Alexandrian and Western texts (א A B [D*] P Ψ 048^vid 075 0278 33 81 1175 al lat co), the omission is difficult to explain as either an intentional deletion or unintentional oversight. To be sure, the pedigree of the witnesses is not nearly as great for the shorter reading (Ì⁴⁶ D² 1739 1881 Ï), but it explains well the rise of the other reading. Further, it explains the rise of κυρίου (kuriou, “of the Lord”), the reading of F and G (for if these mss had followed a Vorlage with τοῦ θεοῦ, κυρίου would not have been expected). Further, τοῦ θεοῦ is in different locations among the mss; such dislocations are usually signs of scribal additions to the text. Thus, the Byzantine text and a few other witnesses here have the superior reading, and it should be accepted as the original.

⁵ tn Grk “which is,” continuing the sentence begun in v. 27.

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.

⁶ tn Grk “to them.”

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).

⁷ tn Grk “this.” The pronoun refers back to “a sign”; thus these words have been repeated for clarity.

⁸ tn Grk “For that which is on behalf of Christ has been granted to you – namely, not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him.” The infinitive phrases are epexegetical to the subject, τὸ ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ (to Juper Cristou), which has the force of “the on-behalf-of-Christ thing,” or “the thing on behalf of Christ.” To translate this in English requires a different idiom.

⁹ tn Grk “having,” most likely as an instrumental participle. Thus their present struggle is evidence that they have received the gift of suffering.

¹⁰ tn Grk “that you saw in me and now hear [to be] in me.”