Philippians 1:16-17

Philippians 1:16-17

(KJV) The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: {17} But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.

(1611 KJV) The one preach Christ of contention, not syncerely, supposing to adde affliction to my bonds: {17} But the other of loue, knowing that I am set for the defence of the Gospel.

(1587 Geneva Bible) The one part preacheth Christ of contention and not purely, supposing to adde more affliction to my bandes. {17} But the others of loue, knowing that I am set for the defence of the Gospell.

(1526 Tyndale) The one parte preacheth Christ of stryfe and not purely supposinge to adde more adversitie to my bondes. {17} The other parte of love because they se that I am set to defend the gospell.

 

Counterfeit Versions

(1881 RV) the one do it of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel; (17) but the other proclaim Christ of faction, not sincerely, thinking to raise up affliction for me in my bonds.

(1901 ASV) the one do it of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel; {17} but the other proclaim Christ of faction, not sincerely, thinking to raise up affliction for me in my bonds.

(AMP) ]The latter [proclaim Christ] out of love, because they recognize and know that I am [providentially] put here for the defense of the good news (the Gospel).

(17) But the former preach Christ out of a party spirit, insincerely [out of no pure motive, but thinking to annoy me], supposing they are making my bondage more bitter and my chains more galling.

(CEB) They are motivated by love, because they know that I’m put here to give a defense of the gospel; (17) the others preach Christ because of their selfish ambition. They are insincere, hoping to cause me more pain while I’m in prison.

(CEV) They love Christ and know that I am here to defend the good news about him. (17) But the ones who are jealous of us are not sincere. They just want to cause trouble for me while I am in jail.

(CSB) These preach out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; 17 the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, thinking that they will cause me trouble in my imprisonment.

(1899 Douay-Rheims RC) Some out of charity, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. (17 ) And some out of contention preach Christ not sincerely: supposing that they raise affliction to my bands.

(ESV) The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. (17) The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.

(GNB) These do so from love, because they know that God has given me the work of defending the gospel. (17) The others do not proclaim Christ sincerely, but from a spirit of selfish ambition; they think that they will make more trouble for me while I am in prison.

(HCSB) These do so out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; (17) the others proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely, seeking to cause [me] trouble in my imprisonment.

(THE MESSAGE) But the others do it with the best heart in the world. One group is motivated by pure love, knowing that I am here defending the Message, wanting to help. The others, now that I'm out of the picture, are merely greedy, hoping to get something out of it for themselves. Their motives are bad. They see me as their competition, and so the worse it goes for me, the better—they think—for them.

(NASV) the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; (17) the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment.

(NCV) They preach because they have love, and they know that God gave me the work of defending the Good News. (17) But the others preach about Christ for selfish and wrong reasons, wanting to make trouble for me in prison.

(NIRV) The last group acts out of love. They know I have been put here to stand up for the good news. (17) But the others preach about Christ only to get ahead. They are not honest and true. They think they can stir up trouble for me while I am being held by chains.

(NIV) The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. (17) The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.

(NLV) These do it because of love. They know that I am put here to prove the Good News is true. (17) The others preach about Christ for what they get out of it. Their hearts are not right. They want to make me suffer while I am in prison.

(RSV) The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel; [17] the former proclaim Christ out of partisanship, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.

(NAB-Roman Catholic) The latter act out of love, aware that I am here for the defense of the gospel; (17) the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not from pure motives, thinking that they will cause me trouble in my imprisonment.

(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) The latter are publicizing the Christ out of love, for they know I am set here for the defense of the good news; (17) but the former do it out of contentiousness, not with a pure motive, for they are supposing to stir up tribulation [for me] in my [prison] bonds.

 

Textus Receptus - Traditional Text

οι μεν εξ εριθειας τον χριστον καταγγελλουσιν ουχ αγνως οιομενοι θλιψιν επιφερειν τοις δεσμοις μου {17} οι δε εξ αγαπης ειδοτες οτι εις απολογιαν του ευαγγελιου κειμαι

 

Hort-Westcott - Critical Text

οι μεν εξ αγαπης ειδοτες οτι εις απολογιαν του ευαγγελιου κειμαι {17} οι δε εξ εριθειας τον χριστον καταγγελλουσιν ουχ αγνως οιομενοι θλιψιν εγειρειν τοις δεσμοις μου

 

Corrupted Manuscripts

These verses are reversed in the following manuscripts:

Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century

B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century

D 06 - Paris: Claromontanus - Sixth century

F 010 - Ninth century

G 012 - Ninth century

P 025 - Ninth century

P 46 - circa 200 AD

33 (Minuscule) - Ninth Century

081 - (Minuscule) 1044 AD

365 - (Minuscule) Twelfth century

1739 - (Minuscule) - Tenth Century

1881 - (Minuscule) - Fourteenth century

 

Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for these verses

Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)

D 06 - Paris: Claromontanus - Sixth century

K 018 - Ninth century

 

Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions

Transposes Verses 16 & 17

Greisbach, Johann - 1805

Lachmann, Karl - 1842

Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869

Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871

Tregelles, Samuel - 1857

Wordsworth, Christopher - 1856 revised in 1870

Westcott and Hort - 1881

Nestle - 1927 as revised in seventeenth edition in 1941

Nestle-Aland - 1979 - Twenty Sixth Edition

Nestle-Aland - 1993 - Twenty Seventh Edition

United Bible Societies - 1983 - Fourth Edition

 

Affected Teaching

This week’s verses are a puzzle as to why they have been reversed in the corrupted Greek Texts and then transferred to the English in the same reversed manner. If you look at the King James Text in verse 15, it will show the order for verses 16 and 17.

 

(Phil 1:15 KJV) Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:

 

(Phil 1:16-17 KJV) The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: {17} But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.

 

If you notice in verse 15, Paul states that the first group preaches Christ out of envy and strife but the second out of good will. Verse 16 and 17 follow this order. The first group preaches Christ out of contention but the second group out of love. So the King James Bible follows the flow of the previous verses removing all confusion. Once again the modern versions engender confusion and God is not the author of confusion. (1 Cor 14:33 KJV) For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

Back