AN EXEGETICAL SUMMARY OF PHILIPPIANS

Second Edition

J. Harold Greenlee

SIL International

Second Edition

© 2008 by SIL International

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2008923525

ISBN: 978-155671-199-2

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PREFACE

Exegesis is concerned with the interpretation of a text. Exegesis of the New Testament involves determining the meaning of the Greek text. Translators must be especially careful and thorough in their exegesis of the New Testament in order to accurately communicate its message in the vocabulary, grammar, and literary devices of another language. Questions occurring to translators as they study the Greek text are answered by summarizing how scholars have interpreted the text. This is information that should be considered by translators as they make their own exegetical decisions regarding the message they will communicate in their translations.

The Semi-Literal Translation

As a basis for discussion, a semi-literal translation of the Greek text is given so that the reasons for different interpretations can best be seen. When one Greek word is translated into English by several words, these words are joined by hyphens. There are a few times when clarity requires that a string of words joined by hyphens have a separate word, such as ‘not’ (μή), inserted in their midst. In this case, the separate word is surrounded by spaces between the hyphens. When alternate translations of a Greek word are given, these are separated by slashes.

The Text

Variations in the Greek text are noted under the heading text. The base text for the summary is the text of the fourth revised edition of The Greek New Testament, published by the United Bible Societies, which has the same text as the twenty-sixth edition of the Novum Testamentum Graece (Nestle-Aland). The versions that follow different variations are listed without evaluating their choices.

The Lexicon

The meaning of a key word in context is the first question to be answered. Words marked with a raised letter in the semi-literal translation are treated separately under the heading lexicon. First, the lexicon form of the Greek word is given. Within the parentheses following the Greek word is the location number where, in the author’s judgment, this word is defined in the Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains (Louw and Nida 1988). When a semantic domain includes a translation of the particular verse being ...