▼ Grk “what you heard from me” (cf. 1:13).

▼ Grk “through many witnesses.” The “through” is used here to show attendant circumstances: “accompanied by,” “in the presence of.”

▼ Grk “faithful men”; but here ἀνθρώποις (anthrōpois) is generic, referring to both men and women.

▼ Or “able” (see Paul’s use of this word in regard to ministry in 2 Cor 2:16; 3:5–6).

▼ Grk “suffer hardship together,” implying “join with me and others in suffering” (cf. 1:8).

▼ Grk “that he may please.”

▼ Grk “will not be crowned,” speaking of the wreath awarded to the victor.

▼ According to the rules (Grk “lawfully, by law”) referring to the rules of competition. In the ancient world these included requirements for training as well as rules for the competition itself.

▼ The Greek word here usually means “for,” but is used in this verse for a milder continuation of thought.

▼ Grk “in all things.”

▼ Grk “of David’s seed” (an idiom for physical descent).

▼ Grk “according to my gospel.”

▼ Or “chains,” “bonds.”

▼ Or “word.”

▼ Or “chained,” “bound.”

▼ Grk “the elect.”

▼ Grk “with eternal glory.”

▼ This saying (Grk “the saying”) refers to the following citation. See 1 Tim 1:15; 3:1; 4:9; Titus 3:8 for other occurrences of this phrase.

▼ The following passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188–89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

▼ Grk “died together…will live together…will reign together,” without “him” stated explicitly. But “him” is implied by the parallel ideas in Rom 6:8; 8:17 and by the reference to Christ in vv. 12b–13.

▼ Or “renounce,” “disown,” “repudiate.” It is important to note that the object of Christ’s denial is “us.” The text does not contain an implied object complement (“he will deny us [x]”), which would mean that Christ was withholding something from us (for example, “The owner denied his pets water”), since the verb ἀρνέομαι (arneomai) is not one of the category of verbs that normally occurs in these constructions (see ExSyn 182–89).

▼ Grk “if we renounce,” but the “him” is implied by the parallel clauses.

▼ If we are unfaithful…he cannot deny himself. This could be (1) a word of warning (The Lord will exact punishment; he cannot deny his holiness) or (2) a word of hope (Because of who he is, he remains faithful to us despite our lapses). The latter is more likely, since Paul consistently cites God’s faithfulness as a reassurance, not as a warning (cf. especially Rom 3:3; also 1 Cor 1:9; 10:13; 2 Cor 1:18; 1 Thess 5:24; 2 Thess 3:3).

▼ Grk “remind of these things,” implying “them” or “people” as the object.

▼ Grk “solemnly charging.” The participle διαμαρτυρόμενος (diamarturomenos) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

▼ ‡ Most witnesses (A D Ψ 048 1739 1881 Maj. sy) have κυρίου (kuriou, “Lord”) instead of θεοῦ (qeou, “God”) here, while a few have Χριστοῦ (Christou, “Christ”; 206 {429 1758}). θεοῦ, however, is well supported by א C F G I 614 629 630 1175 al. Internally, the Pastorals never elsewhere use the expression ἐνώπιον κυρίου (enōpion kuriou, “before the Lord”), but consistently use ἐνώπιον θεοῦ (“before God”; cf. 1 Tim 2:3; 5:4, 21; 6:13; 2 Tim 4:1). But this fact could be argued both ways: The author’s style may be in view, or scribes may have adjusted the wording to conform it to the Pastorals’ universal expression. Further, only twice in the NT (Jas 4:10 [v.l. θεοῦ]; Rev 11:4 [v.l. θεοῦ]) is the expression ἐνώπιον κυρίου found. That such an expression is not found in the corpus Paulinum seems to be sufficient impetus for scribes to change the wording here. Thus, although the external evidence is somewhat on the side of θεοῦ, the internal evidence is on the side of κυρίου. A decision is difficult, but κυρίου is the preferred reading.

▼ Grk “[it is] beneficial for nothing, for the ruin of those who listen.”

▼ Accurately is a figure of speech that literally means something like “cutting a straight road.” In regard to the message of truth, it means “correctly handling” or “imparting it without deviation.”

▼ Profane chatter was apparently a characteristic of the false teachers in Ephesus (cf. 1 Tim 1:3–4; 4:7; 6:20).

▼ Grk “they [who engage in it] will progress even more in ungodliness.”

▼ Or “eat away.”

▼ Grk “of whom are Hymenaeus and Philetus.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, this last clause has been made a new sentence in the translation.

▼ Grk “have deviated concerning the truth.”

▼ A quotation from Num 16:5.

▼ Grk “names the name of the Lord.”

▼ Grk “a great house.”

▼ Grk “for dishonor,” probably referring to vessels used for refuse or excrement.

▼ Grk “from these,” alluding to the errors and deeds of the false teachers described in vv. 14–19.

▼ Grk “and peace, with those.”

▼ In company with others who call on the Lord from a pure heart alludes to the value of the community of believers for the development of Christian virtues.

▼ Or “uninstructed,” “silly.”

▼ Or “fights,” although this could suggest weapons and blows, whereas in the present context this is not the primary focus. Although “quarrel” is frequently used here (NAB, NIV, NRSV) it may be understood to refer to a relatively minor disagreement.

▼ Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

▼ Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s slave or servant is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For a Jew this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Josh 14:7), David (Ps 89:3; cf. 2 Sam 7:5, 8) and Elijah (2 Kgs 10:10); all these men were “servants (or slaves) of the Lord.”

▼ Grk “must not fight” or “must not quarrel.” The Greek verb is related to the noun translated “infighting” in v. 23.

▼ Correcting is the word for “child-training” or “discipline.” It is often positive (training, educating) but here denotes the negative side (correcting, disciplining).

▼ Grk “repentance unto knowledge of the truth.”

▼ Grk “having been captured by him.”

▼ Grk “for that one’s will,” referring to the devil, but with a different pronoun than in the previous phrase “by him.” Some have construed “for his will” with the earlier verb and referred the pronoun to God: “come to their senses and escape the devil’s trap (though they have been captured by him) in order to do His will.” In Classical Greek the shift in pronouns would suggest this, but in Koine Greek this change is not significant. The more natural sense is a reference to the devil’s will.