3:17 Be imitators of me, 4 brothers and sisters, 5 and watch carefully those who are living this way, just as you have us as an example.
4:1 So then, my brothers and sisters, 6 dear friends whom I long to see, my joy and crown, stand in the Lord in this way, my dear friends!
1 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.
2 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).
3 tn Grk “this.” The pronoun refers back to “a sign”; thus these words have been repeated for clarity.
4 tn Or “become fellow imitators with me [of Christ].”
5 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.
6 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.