2:3a
Do nothing out of: This means “Do not do anything from,” that is, “Never act in accord with” or “…in a spirit of.”
selfish ambition: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as selfish ambition also occurs in 1:17a. See note there. You may need to translate it with a verb. For example, “trying to make yourself [or yourselves] seem more important than others.”
empty pride: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as empty pride can also be translated as “conceit” or “vanity.” A person who has empty pride is one who is proud and who boasts. He praises himself and thinks that his ideas are always the best.
2:3b
humility: The word humility is the opposite of “selfish ambition” and “empty pride” in 2:3a. The Greek word refers to someone who has the characteristics of meekness or lowliness. If you need to translate this as a verb, you could say:
act as if you were not important
-or-
submit yourselves to others
consider others more important than yourselves: A believer should not think of himself as more important than or superior to others, as some in Philippi may have been doing. Each believer should think of other people as more important than himself. This is another way of saying “be humble.” Another way to say this could be:
give more honor to others than you give to yourselves
General Comment on 2:3
In some languages it may be helpful to reverse this sentence in order to make the negative command “Do nothing” into a positive command “Do everything.” A suggested model is:
Do everything in humility and by considering others better than yourselves. Do not be ambitious for yourself or try to make yourself look great.
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