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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Php 4 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23
OET (OET-LV) What both you_all_learned and you_all_received, both you_all_heard and you_all_saw, in me, these things be_practicing, and the god of_ the _peace will_be with you_all.
OET (OET-RV) Continue to do everything you all learnt or received from me, and everything you heard or saw in me, and the God of peace will be with you all.
Paul asked the believers in Philippi to behave peaceably toward one another. This was important, especially in the context of suffering for their faith. As a way to help them do that, he encouraged them to help one another, to be happy, to pray rather than worry, and to focus on thinking about good things.
In this paragraph, Paul told the believers another way that they could achieve peace among themselves: they should keep their minds on things that are good and follow the example that Paul had already set for them.
Scholars do not agree about how the first four verbs in 4:9 (“learned,” “received,” “heard,” “seen”) connect together. There are three possibilities:
There are two pairs of verbs. The first two verbs refer to the instructions Paul gave the Philippians when he was away from them. The last two verbs may refer to what the Philippians learned from Paul when he was with them. (GNT, NJB, REB, GW, NCV)
The four verbs are all separate and do not fit into any smaller group. (KJV, RSV)
The first three verbs go together, and the last one is by itself. (BSB, NIV)
It is recommended that you follow the first option as it has the strongest support from commentaries (1).
Whatever you have learned or received
Continue doing the things that I taught you and that you accepted.
Whatever you have learned or received: This refers to the things the Philippians had learned and accepted from Paul. Some versions have combined this into one phrase, for example:
the teachings I gave you (CEV)
all you learned from me (NLT)
or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice.
Do the things which you heard me say and saw me do.
heard from me, or seen in me: This refers to the messages the Philippians heard Paul preach and the things they saw him do while he was with them.
in me: Paul was telling the believers at Philippi how he had acted when he was among them. They saw in what he did an example of each of the qualities he described in 4:8. The phrase in me is thus related in meaning to all four verbs “learned,” “received,” “heard,” and “seen,” but grammatically it is connected just to “seen.” It may be necessary to supply “from me” with the other three verbs, as the BSB has done.
put it into practice: Paul was asking them to follow his example, to obey his teaching and to imitate how he had acted.
And the God of peace will be with you.
And as a result, God, who gives you peace, will be with you.
And: That is, “as a result of doing all this.”
the God of peace will be with you: God would give the Philippian believers peace of heart and peace with one another if they would follow the instructions that Paul had been giving them.
the God of peace: This means “the God who gives peace” (GNT, GW, CEV, NCV).
ἃ καὶ ἐμάθετε καὶ παρελάβετε, καὶ ἠκούσατε καὶ εἴδετε, ἐν ἐμοί
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἅ καί ἐμάθετε καί παρελάβετε καί ἠκούσατε καί εἴδετε ἐν ἐμοί ταῦτα πράσσετε καί ὁ Θεός τῆς εἰρήνης ἔσται μεθʼ ὑμῶν)
Alternate translation: [And everything that I have taught and shown you]
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet
ἃ καὶ ἐμάθετε καὶ παρελάβετε
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἅ καί ἐμάθετε καί παρελάβετε καί ἠκούσατε καί εἴδετε ἐν ἐμοί ταῦτα πράσσετε καί ὁ Θεός τῆς εἰρήνης ἔσται μεθʼ ὑμῶν)
The words learned and received mean basically the same thing. If it would be clearer in your language, you could combine them into one idea. Alternate translation: [And what you learned]
ταῦτα πράσσετε
these_‹things› ˓be˒_practicing
Alternate translation: [put these things into practice]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / yousingular
πράσσετε
˓be˒_practicing
The word do is a command or instruction to all of the Philippian Christians. Use the most natural form in your language to give direction to a group of people.
Note 3 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result
(Occurrence 5) καὶ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἅ καί ἐμάθετε καί παρελάβετε καί ἠκούσατε καί εἴδετε ἐν ἐμοί ταῦτα πράσσετε καί ὁ Θεός τῆς εἰρήνης ἔσται μεθʼ ὑμῶν)
The word and shows that what follows it is the result of practicing what comes before it. Consider the best way to show this relationship in your language. Alternate translation: [and then] or [and the result will be that]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / possession
ὁ Θεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης
the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἅ καί ἐμάθετε καί παρελάβετε καί ἠκούσατε καί εἴδετε ἐν ἐμοί ταῦτα πράσσετε καί ὁ Θεός τῆς εἰρήνης ἔσται μεθʼ ὑμῶν)
The phrase the God of peace could mean: (1) that God is the giver of peace. Alternate translation: [the God who gives peace] or [God, who gives peace,] (2) that God is characterized by peace. Alternate translation: [the God who is characterized by peace] or [our God who is characterized by peace] (3) God, the source of peace and the giver of peace. Alternate translation: [God, who is both the source of peace and the giver of peace,]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
καὶ ὁ Θεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης ἔσται μεθ’ ὑμῶν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἅ καί ἐμάθετε καί παρελάβετε καί ἠκούσατε καί εἴδετε ἐν ἐμοί ταῦτα πράσσετε καί ὁ Θεός τῆς εἰρήνης ἔσται μεθʼ ὑμῶν)
If your readers would better understand it, you could express the idea behind the abstract noun peace with an adjective such as “peaceful” or in some other way. Alternate translation: [the God who gives us a peaceful spirit will be with you]
OET (OET-LV) What both you_all_learned and you_all_received, both you_all_heard and you_all_saw, in me, these things be_practicing, and the god of_ the _peace will_be with you_all.
OET (OET-RV) Continue to do everything you all learnt or received from me, and everything you heard or saw in me, and the God of peace will be with you all.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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