Filipi 1:3-5

Prayer for the Church

1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you. ¹  1:4 I always pray with joy in my every prayer for all of you 1:5 because of your participation ²  in the gospel from the first day until now. ³ 

Filipi 2:20

2:20 For there is no one here like him who will readily demonstrate his deep concern for you. ⁴ 

Filipi 4:5

4:5 Let everyone see your gentleness. ⁵  The Lord is near!

Filipi 4:23

4:23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. ⁶ 

[1:3]  ¹ tn This could also be translated “for your every remembrance of me.” See discussion below.

[1:5]  ² sn Your participation (Grk “fellowship”) could refer to Paul rejoicing because of the Philippian converts’ “fellowship” in the gospel along with him, but it is more likely that this refers to their active “participation” with him in the gospel by means of the financial support they sent to Paul on more than one occasion, discussed later in this letter (4:10-19, esp. 4:15-16).

[1:5]  ³ tn Several alternatives for translating vv. 3-5 are possible: (1) “I thank my God every time I remember you, yes, always in my every prayer for all of you. I pray with joy because of your participation…” (see NAB; also M. Silva, Philippians [BECNT], 43-44; G. D. Fee, Philippians [NICNT], 76-80); (2) “I thank my God because of your every remembrance of me. Always in my every prayer for all of you I pray with joy. [I am grateful] for your participation…” (see Moffatt; also P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 58-61). Option (1) is quite similar to the translation above, but sees v. 4a as more or less parenthetical. Option (2) is significantly different in that Paul thanks God because the Philippians remember him rather than when he remembers them.

[2:20]  ⁴ tn Grk “For I have no one who is like-minded who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.”

[4:5]  ⁵ tn Grk “let your gentleness be seen by all.” The passive voice construction has been converted to active voice in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[4:23]  ⁶ tc Most witnesses, including several important ones (Ì⁴⁶ א A D Ψ 33 Ï lat sy bo), have ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”) at the end of this letter, while an impressive combination of Alexandrian and Western mss (B F G 075 6 1739* 1881 sa) lack the valedictory particle. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Thus, on internal grounds, with sufficient support from external evidence, the preferred reading is the omission of ἀμήν.